TAROT CARD GUIDE

Four of Pentacles Tarot Card Meaning & Interpretations

← Suit of Pentacles

Four of Pentacles Card from the Rider Waite Smith Deck

Introduction

The Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) deck depicts the 4 of Pentacles as a minor, modestly dressed, king hoarding 4 pentacles, or coins. He sits on a stone box with a town or city visible in the background. The 4 of Pentacles is the bankers card where wealth is stored and safely guarded. The wealth that is stored there belongs to the King Of Pentacles. This RWS card is an unusual card for two reasons.

The first reason is because the Tarot deck contains only 4 Kings and 1 Emperor but the artist chose to add an additional king in this card. There is also a king in the Death card, lying dead on the ground, because the Kings and The Emperor are linked to Death through their numerological symbolism of the number 4 (Death is 13 which reduces to 4. 1 + 3 = 4). This connection between death and wealth may refer, on rare occasions, to an inheritance.

The second reason is because this character is looking directly at you with his attention in the present moment. This is a rare feature for a minor arcana card as it can only be found in the King Of Swords and the 9 Of Cups where as in the Major Arcana approximately half of the cards in that suit have this symbolism of present moment attention and contentment. Therefore the symbolism portrayed by the king's attention in the 4 of Pentacles is one of being happy with what you have materially even though it is just a modest amount.

The negative aspects of the 4 of Pentacles are depicted in this minor king having each foot on a pentacle embossed coin while tightly clutching one to his chest with both arms. This contentment with your material wealth makes you unwilling to invest, spend or share any of it. This is a stagnant situation which doesn't allow for growth or change. A common trait of the number 4 and part of the symbology of the Kings, the Emperor and Tarot's Death card. If something stagnates, and stops growing and evolving, it risks death and extinction. Life is cyclic and constantly changing, death breaks cycles. As you browse through the cards in the Suit of Pentacles notice how the wealthy and materially prosperous cards are set in rich gardens or lands. The cards without wealth have little or no plant life to be seen and it is in this category the 4 of Pentacles falls.

The 4 of Pentacles, or the 4 of Coins, is a card of financial security, stubbornness, greed and inflexibility. The element here is Earth which relates to wealth and material possessions. The aspects of the number 4 in numerology are security, patience, endurance, restriction, hard work, and rigidity. The 4 is thought of in many cultures as an unlucky number and this card's appearance would not be a good long term omen for personal wealth. Nothing is coming into the bank and although it may seem prudent not to spend in these circumstances it is preventing investment for the future.

4 of Pentacles (4 of Coins) in a Tarot Reading

The 4 of Pentacles, also known as the 4 of Coins, protects what has already been acquired. It can describe security, careful custody and contentment with a modest amount. The figure's attention is in the present, suggesting that material satisfaction does not always require more.

The difficulty begins when protection prevents circulation, growth or necessary change. Holding every coin in place may preserve the immediate total while limiting what those resources can do. The card asks where prudent care becomes a rigid attachment to possession itself.

Upright Meaning

Upright, the 4 of Pentacles can indicate keeping resources safe and maintaining a dependable material base. You may value predictability, want to protect a reserve or feel satisfied with what you already own. Resisting unnecessary expenditure can be appropriate when it serves a clear purpose.

The number 4 brings endurance and structure, but also restriction. The same arrangement that creates security can become stagnant if no resource is ever allowed to support maintenance, development or another person's legitimate needs.

This is the banker's card: wealth is stored and guarded. Consider whether you are reading the function of safekeeping or the attitude of the person doing it. A secure store has value, but its usefulness depends on the life and obligations it is intended to support.

Upright keywords: safekeeping, material security, reserves, contentment, possession, caution, restriction, guarded resources.

Reversed Meaning

Reversed, the 4 of Pentacles can describe a grip beginning to loosen. Spending, sharing or changing a material arrangement may become possible after a period of excessive caution. The release can be constructive when it has a considered purpose.

Alternatively, fear of loss may become stronger, leading to tighter control and less willingness to discuss the resources involved. The reversal can also concern security being weakened through a careless release. It is therefore not automatically an instruction to spend or give more.

Context helps distinguish healthy circulation from loss of control. Ask whether the decision supports the purpose of the resources, and whether the fear or relief surrounding it is proportionate to the actual circumstances.

Reversed keywords: loosening control, fear of loss, hoarding, reluctant spending, released resources, insecure boundaries, material inflexibility.

Love and Relationships

In relationships, the 4 of Pentacles can concern the security of a shared home or the way possessions and money are protected. Practical dependability may be reassuring, but it can become restrictive if one person's need for control determines every decision.

Reversed, the couple may begin discussing resources more openly, or anxiety may make sharing harder. Possessiveness can also appear metaphorically in the wish to hold a partner close without allowing independence. Examine whether the pursuit of security is supporting mutual trust or substituting control for it.

Work and Career

At work, this card can describe protecting an established position, controlling budgets or maintaining resources carefully. The role may reward consistency and caution. Its limitation appears when preserving the current arrangement becomes more important than allowing useful development.

Reversed, a department may release needed resources or become even more defensive about them. A person may also cling to familiar work because change threatens a sense of security. Review what the existing position protects and whether that purpose can be preserved through a more flexible approach.

Money and Finances

For finances, the 4 of Pentacles can indicate saving and guarding what is available. The important distinction is between a reserve with a purpose and an inability to use money even for necessary needs. Keeping everything fixed can also create material stagnation.

Reversed, the balance may shift towards spending or towards stronger anxiety about loss. Neither direction is automatically helpful. Consider actual obligations, the purpose of the reserve and the consequences of leaving everything unchanged before deciding whether to hold or release resources.

Advice from the 4 of Pentacles

Give security a purpose beyond simply keeping the total intact. Protect what genuinely needs protection, while allowing resources to maintain and support the life for which they were gathered. Contentment is valuable when it remains compatible with necessary change.

Ask yourself: What am I protecting these resources for, and is my grip preventing them from serving that purpose?

The 4 of Pentacles becomes secure rather than stagnant when safekeeping remains connected with living needs.

4 of Pentacles According to A. E. Waite

The Pictorial Key to the Tarot
Arthur Edward Waite (1911)

A crowned figure, having a pentacle over his crown, clasps another with hands and arms; two pentacles are under his feet. He holds to that which he has. Divinatory Meanings: The surety of possessions, cleaving to that which one has, gift, legacy, inheritance. Reversed: Suspense, delay, opposition.