Tarot diary | Four of Pentacles
Four of pentacles, Pagan Otherworlds Tarot
Tarot Diary is a weekly conversation with the Tarot about my creative journey. Perhaps some of what I share will be of service. As always, take what resonates and leave the rest.
Interpreting the Four of Pentacles
The four of pentacles is often read as indicating someone is hoarding their wealth. This interpretation is primarily based on the imagery in the Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) tarot deck, which depicts a person with their back to the city, a pentacle above their head, one beneath each foot, and one held tightly in their arms. I’ve also come across interpretations that say the person is “turning their back on the city,” closing themselves off to any outside support.
Sometimes, those interpretations may be accurate (particularly if one is doing a cursory reading of the RWS imagery). But interpretations of the four of pentacles that end there are leaving so much out. They never quite feel “right” to me - they leave me asking, “what else?” They’re one-dimensional, flattening out the deeper message offered by this card.
Four of Pentacles, Rider-Waite-Smith deck
Four of Stones, The Gentle Tarot
My own interpretation of this card is informed by tarot teachers like Lindsay Mack (Tarot for the Wild Soul) and Sarah Faith Gottesdiener (the Moon Studio). I’m also inspired by the four of stones (pentacles) card in the Gentle Tarot, which I’ll share here.
One of the reasons the “traditional” interpretation doesn’t resonate with me is that the pentacles are interpreted as wealth - particularly money or material goods. And that is one aspect of the pentacles, surely. But pentacles represent the Earth element, which applies not only to wealth but also our physical bodies, our work, our families, the land, the Earth, the ancestors, etc.
In addition to solely viewing coins or pentacles as “wealth,” interpretations that stop at “hoarding” and “turning your back to the city” don’t explore the potential strength found in the choice to limit others’ access to us and to our labor (physical, emotional, spiritual). In a poor reading, they can imply that holding any kind of boundary is wrong. These interpretations often assume that we should be willing to give of ourselves and be open energetically at all times - or else we’re considered “selfish.” This doesn’t give us space to honor and trust our knowing around our own capacity and safety. It also doesn’t recognize the way that colonization, patriarchy, racism, etc., control (and often limit) our access to material wealth.
Perhaps the person on the card isn’t hoarding, but protecting. Maybe they appear apart from the city not because they’re turning their backs on others but because the city has cast them aside - or never welcomed them in to begin with.
Many interpretations of this card automatically assume that the person in the image is doing something wrong. They have too much and they don’t want to share it - they’re turning their back on the city that needs them (or, perhaps turning their back on help from the city, believing they can or must tend to the pentacles on their own). And yes, sometimes that interpretation is accurate - every reading is different, and the cards must be read in the context of the querent and the spread positions, and where they fall in relation to other cards. But this negative assumption means that the reader will often miss the many ways that this protective stance can be necessary.
Leaning into a deeper interpretation
There are so many ways to interpret the Tarot. I like to consider the meaning of each aspect (number and suit) separately and then combine these to see how they apply to the question at hand.
Fours are related to stability, firm foundations, and avoiding stagnation. When considered in the realm of Earth (pentacles), this can indicate the need to create a solid, safe, protected structure that can hold our many projects (these can be related to work, family, our physical and emotional bodies, etc.) as they grow. This card is also about holding inner and external boundaries as we move forward. It’s about continuing to progress on our path - but in order to do that, we have to be safe. How can we create that safety for ourselves? Sometimes that means we reach out for help - other times it means we turn inward and create safe spaces for ourselves and the things we value (not in a hoarding energy, but in the spirit of nurturing and protection).
When I see this card in a daily reading, I often think about where I might be leaking energy. Where is my physical, emotional, and/or spiritual health suffering because my boundaries are too lax? Or, conversely, where am I closing myself off to what would nourish me?
This is where I find myself with the four of pentacles today. I’m feeling called to reevaluate my energetic boundaries and figure out where I'm misplacing the energy and focus that should be funneled into my creative practice.
Honoring boundaries in my creative practice
My creative practice is suffering lately and is in need of some constructive boundary setting.
I’ve recently fallen back into old habits around social media. I’ve been sucked into mindless scrolling, consuming other people’s art and commentary rather than making space for my own. On the positive side, this means I’m finding some form of connection to other artists and like-minded people. On the negative side, I’m finding myself overwhelmed by graphic shares and advertisements. (I absolutely believe it’s important to bear witness to the horrific events occurring around the world - but I know that I need to be careful with how much I ingest visually. There are ways to be of service in these moments and for me, pushing past my capacity and into freeze mode via instagram isn’t the way. Instead, I need to seek tangible ways to be of service. Perhaps I’ll share more on that in a future post.)
When I allow myself to numb with social media, I lose on multiple levels. On the one hand, I become disconnected from my own experience. I’m no longer feeling my feelings, because I’ve tuned out of my own reality and tuned in to someone else’s. I’ve essentially turned my back on myself and my own creativity. Instead of protecting my energetic boundaries, I’m allowing all of my energy to be sucked out by these platforms. Nothing is left for my own creative practice.
It’s difficult to be a parent, a partner, and an artist in the face of worldwide horrors. Sometimes spending any time on creativity feels selfish. But I know that by tuning in to my own creative practice, I’m nourishing my spirit and honoring the ancestors - and this puts me in a better position to respond to the call to action when it comes.
My creative practice requires dedication, time, effort, and spiritual & emotional resources. My body needs to be nourished and I need to know that I’ve tended to my daily responsibilities. When I spend time on social media platforms, I waste the time that I could and should be spending creating - and I’m left feeling depleted, rather than nourished.
I need to find balance and structure in order to create a better foundation for my creativity. I need to turn off social media - or create (and honor) a set of social media boundaries that will allow me to post without scrolling. I need to tune into my own inner voice. I need to re-learn how to be ok with the discomfort of solitude and how to engage in quiet time without constant visual and auditory inputs. (This includes podcasts and audiobooks in addition to social media like Instagram and YouTube.)
So often, I turn to social media to avoid the discomfort of the present moment. I drown out my own truth by ingesting the truths of others, who are shouting from the rooftops. I want to stop and reflect on this - and find new ways to come back to this moment, be with the discomfort, and really get to know myself here and now. What gifts can I offer? What am I afraid of uncovering within myself? Sometimes, this kind of numbing is a sign that we are contracting in the face of big expansion. I need to look at the ways I’m hiding in what’s familiar because I’m afraid of the expansion and growth that are ready to begin (or that are already happening).
The four of pentacles is inviting me into greater expansion, encouraging me to protect my energetic and spiritual boundaries, and reminding me that I can’t fill from an empty cup. I will only be of service to others if I am resourced - and to do this, I need to break free from the numbing effects of social media platforms.
Some questions I’ll be working with this week:
How might I be using social media to hide from the truths that I’m currently holding? How is this impacting my art practice?
Am I holding back rather than sharing my art and my practice? Why?
Where am I draining energy? How can I fill those gaps and call my energy back?
How can I restructure my time to create more focus and dedication in my art practice?
Four: stability, rationality, containment, structure, foundations, progression, organization, avoiding stagnation, systems.
Pentacles: Earth, the physical/sensual. The realm of the body, home, work, craft.