Pentacles
Pentacles (also called Coins or Discs) are one of the four suits of the minor arcana of the tarot, associated with the Earth element. They rule the material realm: money, work, properties, physical health, resources, everything concrete and tangible. In the English playing-card deck they correspond to the suit of diamonds.
Origin and symbolism
In the original Italian tarot, this suit was Denari (coins or gold coins). The Marseille tarot kept Deniers. It was 19th-century occultism, especially the Golden Dawn and A.E. Waite, that renamed it Pentacles ("pentacles"), evoking the ritual discs with five-pointed stars used in ceremonial magic. The five-pointed star (pentagram) represents the four elements plus spirit integrated in matter.
As Earth element, Pentacles rule the tangible and lasting. If Cups flow and Swords think, Pentacles build, harvest, sustain. In astrology, Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) resonate naturally with this suit. It is the most practical suit of the tarot.
The most relevant cards of the suit
Ace of Pentacles: concrete material offer, new economic opportunity, seed of prosperity. Three of Pentacles: well-done teamwork, technical quality, recognition by merit. Eight of Pentacles: learning, specialisation, improving the craft. Nine of Pentacles: economic independence achieved, fruits of effort. Ten of Pentacles: heritage, family stability, inheritance.
More difficult cards: Five of Pentacles (scarcity, economic hardship), Four of Pentacles (attachment to material control). Court cards: Queen of Pentacles (prosperous and maternal-pragmatic woman), King of Pentacles (stable and economically successful man). Pentacles are the most practical cards of the tarot — they describe daily material life well.
Also known as
- Coins
- Denari (Italian)
- Diamonds (in poker)
- Discs