Learn Tarot Together is a series by Jocelyn where they draw a single card and analyze the meaning. They got their first ever tarot deck for Christmas last year, and still have to browse the book definitions with every reading. The goal of this series is to go in-depth into one specific card to understand it better.

This week’s Learn Tarot Together is picking up right where we left off: with the next Pentacle in the deck, the four. I am genuinely learning so much by doing research for this series, and I hope that you all are learning too!

Disclaimer that while I believe fully in the power of tarot, I am not an expert in any way! This is a beginner’s guide, and I’ll be using the book provided in the essential Tarot book and card set, as well as internet googling to provide my analysis.

Four of Pentacles

The Card

The Four of Pentacles in my deck (which can be seen in the featured image for this post) features a miserly old man grasping tightly to one of the pentacles. On his head sits a crown atop which you can find pentacle number two. The third and fourth pentacles rest under his feet. The man sits with his knees pulled up to his chest, with his arms wrapped tightly around the pentacle in his hand.

The Meaning

The Four of Pentacles is perhaps more aptly known by its other name, the Four of Coins. In the image, the man is tightly grasping onto one of the coins which symbolize his wealth. This card typically indicates that you are accumulating vast amounts of wealth. You value money, and it is now something you have in surplus.

You may think that being rich is a good thing, but unfortunately this card more commonly symbolizes the negative side of wealth: never having enough. The man in the card is trapped there, since moving would mean freeing the pentacles which rest under his feet. If you draw this card, it is likely that you are constantly grasping at ways to accumulate more, never satisfied with what you are given. In its most base state, the Four of Pentacles represents greed and cheapness in the pursuit of becoming rich.

The key takeaway here is that while collecting enough money to be financially independent is a noble goal, it’s much less noble to be conniving and cheap once you get there.

The Reverse Meaning

In reverse, there are multiple potential meanings for this card. On the one hand, it may be that money is no longer important to you. You don’t treasure it as you once did because you found that other elements of your life are more important. On the other hand, it may be that you are allowing money to get away from you. Are you spending frivolously where you don’t need to, or perhaps not looking at money at all? If you feel like money is important to you and you draw this card in reverse, it’s a sign that you should take stock of your situation and stop allowing carelessness to get in the way of your accumulation of wealth.

If neither of these sound like you, it’s likely because the reverse meaning of the Four of Pentacles is an indicator of your extreme stinginess. This may sound similar to the upright meaning, but there’s a key difference. While upright, you are dancing through dreams of richness which fuel you to save money wherever possible. While in reverse, you are plagued by fears of poverty that lead you to penny pinch whenever possible.

The key takeaway here is that you are being stingy with money, going past mere frugality and into a darker realm.

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