VII, Suit of PentaclesSeven of Pentacles tarot card meaning
Upright and reversedSeven of Pentacles in shortIn short
The Seven of Pentacles waits for the harvest. A young man leans on his staff and looks at a leafy vine hung with pentacles, one more lying at his feet. Patience, taking stock of what your work has grown, and deciding what comes next.
- Patience
- Assessment
- Investment
Piece oneThe lilac sky
Flat lilac-grey sky over rolling bands of purple and green. Waite calls the card's meanings contradictory. The dusky colours fit: a pause at the end of the day, before you know how the harvest turns out.
"These are exceedingly contradictory..."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe dusk sets the mood of the pause. Work is done for today, the harvest is still on the vine, and nothing can hurry it. The young man leans on his staff under this sky because evening is when you stop and count. The fallen coin and the vine wait with him.
Piece twoThe vine
A tall green vine, thick with leaves and tendrils, holds the pentacles like fruit. Waite describes seven pentacles attached to a clump of greenery. In ours six hang on the vine and the seventh lies on the ground at his feet.
"...looks intently at seven pentacles attached to a clump of greenery..."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe vine is what the work has grown. It stands chest-high beside the man, so the effort was real, and the coins hang on it like fruit not yet picked. He looks at it, and the coin at his feet shows that some of it has already come in.
Piece threeThe young man
He rests his folded hands on his staff and looks down, tired and thoughtful. Waite says the pentacles seem to be his treasures, and his heart is there. He has stopped working to look at what the work produced, and to weigh it.
"...one would say that these were his treasures and that his heart was there."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereHe gives the card its question. His hands rest on the staff, so the digging has stopped, and his eyes go down to the vine and the coin. He's tired and thinking. His heart is in what he planted, and he has to judge whether it was worth the effort.
Piece fourThe fallen pentacle
One pentacle lies among new green shoots, between his boots and beside the foot of his staff. Waite says that in the main this is a card of money, business and barter. That coin at his feet is the harvest already in hand.
"...in the main, it is a card of money, business, barter..."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe coin on the ground is the part of the harvest already in. The others still hang on the vine. It lies by his staff, close enough to pick up, so he can measure the work against something real while the rest grows.
Colour, and where else it appearsEchoes
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The lilac sky
Grey lilac over deep plum, dusk colours for looking back at the work. The Eight of Pentacles has the same lilac-grey wall, but there a young man bends over his bench and keeps cutting. Here the tools are down. One card waits for the crop, the next one gets back to work.
Also in -
The vine
Gold coins among sage leaves, a crop almost ready. In the Nine of Pentacles vines fill a whole garden with grapes, and a woman stands among them at ease. On the King of Pentacles the vines grow over his robe itself. Here the vine is young and half-picked, still in the middle of the work.
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The young man
Bright orange on dusky grey: he's warmer than the gold. In the Three of Wands a man stands with a wand at a cliff edge and watches his ships, waiting for a venture to come home. In the Nine of Wands a bandaged man grips a wand, tired and watchful. Here the waiting is calm.
Also in -
The fallen pentacle
Gold on brown earth and purple ground, low and close. In the Eight of Pentacles a finished disc lies on the floor beside the bench, waiting its turn. The Page of Pentacles lifts his coin to his eyes and stares at it. This one stays on the soil, and the young man looks down at it from his staff.
Colour notes are ours, read from the picture; Waite does not explain the colours.
Seven of PentaclesUpright
Upright, you pause to take stock. You've worked, planted and waited, and now you look at what grew. Waite admits the meanings are exceedingly contradictory, and in the main reads it as money, business and barter. He also records quarrel, and innocence, ingenuity and purgation.
The picture is clearer: effort turning slowly into results. Be patient, judge honestly if the work is paying off, and choose where your effort goes next.
Seven of PentaclesReversed
Reversed, Waite's meaning is cause for anxiety about money that may be lent. Worry about an investment, a loan or a project that won't grow.
Or impatience: wanting the harvest early, or quitting just before it pays. Check the numbers calmly. Lend and invest only what you can afford to lose.
Yes or noNot yet.
Not yet. It's growing and isn't ripe. Keep tending it and the answer can turn to yes.
Seven of Pentacles in your lifeIn your life
Love
Love that needs time. Look at what you've built together and what you still want.
Work
A long project, a career slowly paying off, or a moment to check your effort is going to the right place.
Money
Long-term investment and patience. Review what's growing and what isn't. Be careful with loans.
Health
Slow, steady progress. Good habits take time to show. A card can't diagnose you; if something's wrong, see a doctor.
Spirituality
Quiet growth. Practice that seems to do nothing is still working underground.
Advice
Be patient. Take stock. Keep tending what you planted.
As a person
Patient, hardworking, thoughtful. They play the long game.
Past, present, future
Past: effort and investment still growing. Present: a pause to assess. Future: a harvest, in time.
Written by us, from Waite's meanings and the picture.
Symbols and correspondencesAt a glance
- Suit
- Pentacles
- Element
- Earth
- Astrology
- Saturn in Taurus
- Sephira
- Netzach
- Upright
- Money
- Reversed
- Anxiety
QuestionsCommon questions
Mostly yes. Work bearing fruit, slowly. Waite admits the meanings contradict each other, and in the main reads it as money and business.
Love growing slowly that needs patience. Look at what you're both putting in.
Not yet. The harvest is coming, and it isn't ripe.
Waite describes him leaning on his staff and looking intently at the pentacles, as if his heart were there. He's stopped working to look at what the work has grown.
It's slow growth. The Golden Dawn gives it Saturn in Taurus, and Saturn is the planet of time. Think weeks or seasons.
Waite says the young man looks at the pentacles like treasures that hold his heart. In the main the card speaks of money and business.
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911Card meanings and quotes: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911. Element, decan and sephira: the Golden Dawn's Book T. Colours, life situations, yes or no and questions: written by us, from Waite's meanings and the picture.
All 14 Pentacles