Two of Pentacles Tarot Card Meaning & Interpretations

The Rider Waite Smith (RWS) deck evolved the 2 of Pentacles from the traditional Marseilles decks by closing the belt, that its pip card has looping around its coins, creating a figure of eight infinity symbol. In the RWS deck two other cards include the infinity symbol, The Magician and Strength. Why did the artist, Pamela Coleman Smith, include this symbol of eternity in a minor card? The large evolutionary step that the RWS took with Tarot was to include pictures in the pip cards and Smith chose to illustrate a man standing on one leg and performing, what appears to be, a juggling act with two gold pentacles. In the background two trading ships can be seeing riding stormy seas. His body faces forward but his head is facing right, towards the future, and down at the earth symbolising the material. The coin in his right hand therefore represents the past and the coin in his left the future. There's no gain in wealth in this symbolism as would be suggested by the Ace of Pentacles. What is received in one had is taken away from the other. The infinity loop connects them together binding the past and the future together. This is the infinite juggling act of trying to match income to expenditure which is why he faces the future. The ships in the background are never guaranteed to come in.

The numerology of the number 2, in combination with the element of earth, symbolises balance, fairness and tactfulness applied to material matters. This includes the art of negotiation and anyone skilled at it will understand the need for secrecy because knowledge of your opponents position can provide sufficient power to tip the negotiations in your favour. Like a game of cards you need to keep them covered and not give away any hint of what you really have to offer. Not only keeping your cards close to your chest but attempting to mislead your opponent and furnish them with inaccurate information. The art of negotiation is a morally ambiguous one and when the 2 of Pentacles appears care must be taken with what you reveal about yourself as well as believing all of what you are being told or shown. This links the 2 of Pentacles to The High Priestess who is the keeper of secrets and, by virtue of this, the master negotiator. This link to The High Priestess may also suggest studying finance, accountancy or some other materially related academic discipline.

The 2 of Pentacles, or 2 of Coins, is card of financial balance or juggling. All wealth that comes in must be balanced with expenditure going out. The element here is Earth which relates to wealth and material possessions. The positive aspects of the number 2 in numerology are harmony, balance, adaptability, diplomacy and co-operation. In the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot a man juggles two pentacles with a figure of 8 representing infinity. In the background two trading ships are thrown about on heavy seas. These are the seas of commerce and the infinite loop of capital income and expenditure.

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THE PICTORIAL KEY TO THE TAROT

By Arthur Edward Waite (1911)

A young man, in the act of dancing, has a pentacle in either hand, and they are joined by that endless cord which is like the number 8 reversed. Divinatory Meanings: On the one hand it is represented as a card of gaiety, recreation and its connexions, which is the subject of the design; but it is read also as news and messages in writing, as obstacles, agitation, trouble, embroilment. Reversed: Enforced gaiety, simulated enjoyment, literal sense, handwriting, composition, letters of exchange.

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