Four Pentacles for February

Four of Pentacles
Rider Waite Smith Tarot

It’s that time again.

A new month brings a check-in with my New Year Reading. For February, I drew the Four of Pentacles.

Pentacles represents the physical aspect of our life; material, prosperity, abundance, etc. It also represents what we do or need; i.e., resources, work, labor, career, etc. to achieve the level of prosperity or abundance we require, however we define it, 

It can also reflect our connection to Earth and the resources the Earth provides us and our trust and commitment to the planet.

Each suit tells a story beginning with the Ace and culminating with the Ten. Pentacles tells a rags-to-riches story with the Ace offering a material opportunity and the Ten being the legacy left to the succeeding generation. By the time we reach the Four, some success has been achieved and the figure is clinging to his earnings fearful of overspending in case of a return to darker times yet wanting to maintain the current lifestyle to which the figure has now become accustomed. If the figure isn’t aware of his clinging, this could also lead to a hoarding situation, particularly if the card is reversed.

As Four is an even number, it can suggest balance in the story of the card. This is reflected in the save or spend mentality facing the person in the card. Does the figure save a little and spend a lot, or save a lot and spend a little? How does the figure maintain balance of his resources?

Numerologically, Four is also a number of stability. A stool can stand on three legs, yet four legs are more stable. So, here we see a beginning of a stable material situation.

Four of Pentacles,
Bianco Nero Tarot
by Marco Proietto

Yet, how did this apply to me in February?

I always see this card as a lesson to better manage my finances, especially now that I am retired. I must learn to control my impulsive spending or seek other avenues of revenue. Or, both.

Yet, I feel there was another lesson for these Pentacles, not necessarily of a material kind, though I’m not ignoring that message.

Mercury went retrograde this month. It hit me very hard. Harder than past Mercury retrogrades.

Retrograde is an astronomical phenomenon where a planet appears to be moving backwards in its orbit as the Earth moves along its own path, then catches up with and passes the planet in question. All planets go retrograde at some point and for varying lengths of time depending on their journey around the sun as it interacts with Earth’s orbit. Because of Mercury’s shorter orbit, it goes retrograde three times a year for about three weeks at a time whereas Pluto goes retrograde about once a year for about a six month period.

So what does this mean astrologically and how does this relate to me? I’m getting there.

When any planet goes retrograde, it can offer us a time to slow down and reflect on the lessons we supposedly learned during its latest transit, meaning which sign it is in for this current retrograde.

In general, Mercury is the planet of communication and short travel. Think of the guy with the winged shoes and hat who was the messenger of the Olympian gods. So, if he were sick and he couldn’t make the trip to deliver his messages, what could possibly go wrong? 

Mhm, you got it. Miscommunication, misunderstandings and the fallout from them. Also, as technology serves as a vehicle for telecommunication, it, too, can go haywire. 

Mercury

Now, this time good ol’ Merc went retro in Pisces, the sign of the fish. Two fish. Swimming opposed to each other. One swimming up, one diving deep. One reaches for the higher expanses of the heavens while the other plumbs the depths of the ocean. Yet, these two are somehow tethered to each other and sometimes straining to reach their intended goal. Pisces people can have an inner conflict of emotion (water, the ocean) and mind (air, the heavens/Spirit). Mercury also slipped a bit back into Aquarius, the water bearer, who pours his knowledge out of his urn onto the people below, hopefully illuminating them to his ways. As Pisces is a water sign (emotions) and Aquarius is an air sign (logic), we can also see the heart vs mind struggle amped up a bit in this retrograde. Pisces is also a mutable sign meaning Pisceans can adapt more easily to different situations. I sometimes see them like fish flopping around the dock trying to find their way back to safety.

So, how did this affect me and the Four of Pentacles?

Hang on.

For me, this became a difficult month, not only a bit financially, with the realization of really needing to control my impulse buying and to seriously look into other avenues of revenue. But, it was emotionally challenging, as well. 

But with Merc and the Fishies, I think those Pentacles took on a bit of a deviation from their traditional meaning. My tarot friends might look at me like I should have my tarot license revoked, if there were such a thing as a tarot license. 

What I noticed happening with me was some old wounds resurfacing in this retrograde. Okay, that’s typical for a retro situation anyway.

But, these wounds centered around being heard (there’s the communication aspect), being validated, feeling my self-worth, my own value. Ta Da! There’s the Pentacle connection.

My value. My own self-worth. So, maybe it’s not that much of deviance from their traditional meaning. I get to keep my license.

I’m trying to balance or find stability (there’s the 4) between expressing myself, wanting to be listened to and understood while accepting that the more I evolve spiritually and follow this path that I feel is my destiny, fewer and fewer people will be able to understand what I’m experiencing. They may accept me and support me, but who will understand me? Then, the other side of the Pentacle is, do they need to understand me or do I need them to in order to feel validated and less alone in this world? Or why do I even need to explain myself at all?

So, those are the Four Pentacles: self-expression, self-worth, self-acceptance, self-esteem.

Now, let’s march on to the card for the current month, the Seven of Pentacles. Oh, this should be fun. I can tell already I have my work cut out for me. Since seven is greater than four and both cards are Pentacles, the cards are suggesting period of possible growth in the physical/material aspect of my life.

Let's see. 

Seven of Pentacles,
Bianco Nero Tarot
by Marco Proietto

For more info on planets in retrograde, click here

October

The original card from
the Rider Waite Smith deck

Since we have moved into November, it’s time to check in with my October card from my New Year's Reading and we find ourselves with the Four of Pentacles, Reversed.

As I mentioned earlier in April with the Ten of Pentacles, this is the suit associated with prosperity, abundance and material goods. As we need to work to attain prosperity, it can also relate to labor, jobs, investments, etc. As we examine the figure in the traditional card, we can see he is hanging on to his Pentacles by grasping one to his chest and standing on two of them. As four is near the beginning of the suit, this is suggesting the figure is early in his understanding of the suit. He’s made some money, or acquired some possessions and is fearful of losing them. Therefore, he’s clinging to them, or trying to control what he has. So, in an upright position, this is a card about controlling and maintaining what we have in terms of our material situation.

The Four of Pentacles,
New Palladini

In my reading, I used the New Palladini deck and this card came up reversed. Reversals can indicate a delay, an obstacle, a blockage or simply the opposite meaning. Are there things I’m hanging on to that no longer serve me? While Pentacles is mostly about material goods and possessions, this card, reversed, could also suggest a letting go of control in general. In some instances, a reversal may also suggest the upright energy of the card but to its most extreme. In this case, it might suggest the figure is taking the fear of losing his possessions to the extreme of hoarding, stinginess or outright possessiveness. 

I can always find things I’m no longer using and donate them to a charity or simply toss out. In fact, I try to make it a habit to find a minimum of fifty things throughout each year to toss. This can include outdated medications, CDs I no longer listen to, DVDs that have lost my interest, clothes that no longer fit or are too worn, etc. Or it could even be something I haven’t set eyes on in the last 6 months.

Pentacles is the suit also connected to the Earth element. Have I been outdoors in Nature much? Not really. Do I feel grounded or connected to the Earth? Again, not really.

There were some things that came up in this past month that caused me to take a look at myself.

I posted about them in a fairly recent blog, Humbled, where I learned that if you let go of an expected, or highly anticipated outcome, you will never be disappointed.

I take it that was the message of the card. Letting go of expectations, relinquishing control, or not blocking the changes meant for my higher good.

But, I still feel the need to get out into Nature more and ground myself.