Ace of Pentacles Tarot Card Meaning & Interpretations

Aces are numerically the lowest ranking card in any deck of cards, playing or tarot. Probably due to modern concept of Aces High, which has been popularised in music, media and card games, we place great value on the ace as it has become a modern symbol of good luck. Before printed playing cards, when dice playing was more common, the 1 represented bad luck due to its low value. In reading tarot it is good practice not to jump to immediate, and literal, conclusions when particular cards appear. A tempered, open minded and intuitive approach should always be taken to all negative cards, and supposedly positive cards, in interpreting their meaning. The Ace of Pentacles is one such card that can inspire excitement at its appearance, supposedly promising a new, unexpected, material endowment. Sometimes it does herald a gift or an unexpected windfall but more often it signifies other aspects of an Ace's symbology.

Material endowments require an initial seed investment to start them off followed by careful cultivation and nurture to keep them growing larger and stronger. The Ace of Pentacles symbolises something materially new, it is like a seed placed in the earth that has the potential to grow into something of greater value. It is not alone in the Suit of Pentacles as a card with a single Pentacle as each character in the court cards holds one. The Page lacks the experience, or responsibility, to handle this new wealth. The Knight guards wealth preventing unnecessary distribution or loss. The Queen uses it to nurture growth through patronage. The King maintains wealth keeping what he has and ensuring healthy, risk free, growth.

Numerology isn't well known or understood but there is no need to explain what the number 1 symbolises to most people. It's the number of a winner, a leader. It is premium and premier. These are the desired traits we all easily associate with 1 but we must remember that 1 is also symbolic of a beginning, a first step in a sequence, cycle or journey. It can also symbolise independence and individualism.

The Rider Waite Smith (RWS) deck added a walled garden, with lilies growing in it, as a background to the Ace of Pentacles and included a hand, holding the pentacle, coming out of a cloud hovering over the ground. The Lily is symbolic of chastity, innocence and purity. The inclusion of the cloud, as the source of the hand, is there to symbolise the divine origin of all things. It serves to remind us of the greatest mystery of all - where does everything come from, and return to, including ourselves?

The Ace of Pentacles can herald a new material endeavour or project rather than simply receiving something unexpectedly. This can be both positive or negative. For example a new investment or job which will take time, and further steps, to realise any gain. Or it could be a new and unexpected expense, or financial commitment, that maybe a one time payment or a cycle of payments. A Tarot deck has five Aces, if you include The Magician from the Major Arcana, but it also has five 10s, including the The Wheel of Fortune. This is an important point to keep in mind as the Ace is symbolic of only a beginning. It does not symbolise completion and achievement because that attribute belongs to 10. In numerology the number 10 reduces to 1 (1+0=1). In the 10 Of Pentacles we see the results of one, or many, completed cycles that are material in nature. The relationships between the Wheel of Fortune, card 10 of the Major Arcana, and the Aces should remind us that each cycle can be different. Some will be rewarding and others difficult as luck depends on the outcome of spinning the wheel of fortune. It's tempting, especially as a beginner, to pull just a single card using Tarot for divination but this runs the risk of "a little knowledge is dangerous". The bigger picture, given by larger spreads, will always help to temper interpretation of cards that roll the dice of luck like Aces.

The Ace of Pentacles, or the Ace of Coins, is traditionally represented as a single pentacle, or coin. It's symbology is simple, it has the element of earth and a numerological value of 1. In numerology the 1 represents both rank and beginning. The Ace of Pentacles could symbolise one's most prized, or valuable, possession e.g. a car, a home etc. As a beginning it could represent a new job, income source or investment.

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THE PICTORIAL KEY TO THE TAROT

By Arthur Edward Waite (1911)

A hand issuing, as usual, from a cloud holds up a pentacle. Divinatory Meanings: Perfect contentment, felicity, ecstasy; also speedy intelligence; gold. Reversed: The evil side of wealth, bad intelligence; also great riches. In any case it shews prosperity, comfortable material conditions, but whether these are of advantage to the possessor will depend on whether the card is reversed or not.

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