Editor’s Note: If you want to experiment with tarot cards and don’t have any, we provide a free tarot spread generator using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread. This article tells you how to use the spread. You can visit Sarah’s website here. –efc
By Sarah Taylor
You’ve achieved a level of fulfillment. Now it’s time to step out of your comfort zone; careful as you go.
This week’s reading is about a culmination of some form of activity, or of an aspect of life. The Tens in tarot embody that sense of culmination, and the Ten of Pentacles represents a material accomplishment — something that has been achieved in the physical world. It might not be monetary, although that is one of the more obvious interpretations. But whatever it is, it is noteworthy.
An elderly man, dressed in elaborate robes, sits with his back to us, his attention drawn to a white dog at his feet, which he is stroking tenderly. In front of him is an archway, and through it there is what I take to be either a young family — man, woman and child — or two women conversing, a child peeping around the skirts of the one who is facing us. The image is imbued with a sense of ease. The old man is free to devote his attention to more leisurely pursuits; the child is inquisitive and playful, grabbing the tail of a second dog that stands behind the first.
There is a playing with perspective here. At first, the man seems quite separate from the group of three, with the archway between them. But when you look at the dogs — one of which is with the man, the other with the group — they are standing close together. In fact it seems as if the man’s hand, and the boy’s, are visually connected through the dogs, as if they are reaching out towards each other. There is a handing over of the reins, implied rather than explicit. A transition from something old to something, or someone, younger and as yet untested.
Look carefully at the first card. Just to the left of centre, it is apparent that the figure in orange and blue who is facing away from us is holding a staff. It seems to be decorative in nature here: there is no immediate use for it. The staff then appears in the next card — The Fool — as a means to hold the youth’s possessions. Finally, it has become a symbol of fiery energy and power in the Knight of Wands — libido in full flight.
The dogs are interesting in their own right, too. In the Ten of Pentacles, they are mature, sedate — much like the seated patriarch. In The Fool, there is also a white dog, but this time it is animated, excited. It seems young. It has the carefree nature of its master, who is setting out into the unknown with little to call his own.
For once that culmination has been reached in the Ten of Pentacles, it is time to step out again into a world that is unfamiliar; to embrace a sense of adventure, our ignorance a buffer between our enthusiasm and the obstacles and adversities that will test us and shape us. The Fool is not a figure to be derided. If we really knew what lay ahead of us on our path, how many of us would be bold enough to take the first step? The Fool, being The Fool, can, and he does; and so another leg of the journey through life is embarked upon.
His dog, his sleeves, the mountaintops in the distance, the flower that he carries daintily in his left hand and the sun at his back are all white. There is purity here, not only of motive — he seems to have none but the desire to discover — but also of character. He is a tabula rasa: a blank slate.
But there is a hint of what he will become: the inside of his sleeves reflect the flames that lick off the Knight of Wands’ armour and helmet. Soon he will be ignited by the zeal that drives the Knight. He will discover passion; he will have a cause.
Dogs have now given way to a horse. Faster, more powerful, built for purpose. There is a directedness that the man in retirement didn’t need, and The Fool wasn’t yet equipped to handle.
The Knight is the worldly Fool. He is a particular evolution of spirit. This is a wholly different experience from the calm, secure, material aspects of the Ten of Pentacles. It is volatile, vibrant; its antithesis.
This reading speaks of considerable change after a period of consolidation and completion — a reinvention of oneself, or of one’s circumstances. There is an unpredictability about it, but it won’t be boring. Is the Knight able to hold and channel his creative passions? That’s the point that we are brought to with this reading. Perhaps, like The Fool, it is the unknowing that we must hold now as we witness this new venture.
Thank you everyone – what a debate this week! – and thank you, Charles, for bringing up the Pentacles themselves, which quite escaped my reading (a bit like the Tree of Life that eludes the figures!).
“We are receiving a message to ignite a flame that burns passionately, which will enable us to be more than just a bag of meat and bone on the physical plane, we must rise above such a mundane position, we rise until we see from such a perspective, beyond the transparent veil of reality, into the mystical realm of the ten Sephiroth of the qabalah, where we see all the forces composing those things which upon first glance, seem so simple and mundane.” This seems to tie in with Eric and Amanda’s posts today.
The card is such a complex one, and although there is a workaday feeling to the figures in the background, the foreground is full of symbolism as people have noted here. That mural on the left intrigues me too – somewhat like The Moon in the lower half, but not quite. Neat explanations are elusive.
..The ‘sailboats’ is a scale in balance. The checkerboard seems as if it is framing what looks to me a kind of external world (past journey), hence the game of life the old man engaged in to reach his present position.
..Very cool to discuss perceptions. 🙂
Jere
Jere, I actually wrote about those little shields, to me, it looks like the front of a little castle with two towers, and an arched entrance. I think it’s a symbolic reference to the arch it is applied to, but we can’t be sure. If there were two towers above the arch, that is outside the frame, above the top of the card. And below that first shield, there is another shield (just above and partially behind the old man’s head) that appear to have two sailboats on it. But it really is impossible to tell for sure what these symbols are or what they mean. So I deleted what I wrote before posting it.
Now that checkered rod, that is just weird. Notice how it takes a left, up above Binah. To me it looks like it could be part of the arch structure, or something closer to the old guy in the foreground. But we can’t quite tell because parts of it that might give further clues, are obscured by the pentacles.
And for that matter, notice that gray band across the top. No other RWS card has anything like this (I just doublechecked). It is most likely part of the top of the arch structure. But it is drawn in such an ambiguous way, it could be closer to the picture plane, in the same frontal plane as the pentacles. Now what is that all about?
Everything in this card is ambiguous or mysterious. It is the strangest of all the Pentacle cards, perhaps the strangest of all the RWS cards. I love it. And I always have trouble assigning precise meaning to it.
The Knight Always tells me to weigh my decisions (or the querent’s). ESPECIALLY the Knight of Wands. Once certain actions are taken there’s no turning back.
The Fool, a brand new Journey! (It Always exists in the Now).
..Ten of circles speaks of ‘possession of inherent physical capacity’ to me.
Charles, checker/chess-board between the 5th & 8th Sephirot, right up the old dude’s spine. And check out the upside down house/military badge between the 1 & 3.
(I’m starting to like the RWS. Worth study.)
Thnx Sarah,
Peace,
Jere
Ah, such a diverse spread. Minor, Major, and Court cards. Earth, Air, and Fire. But no water, so unfeeling.
And the Ten, such a mystical card. Yes, there is a compressed perspective in the scene. You covered most of the symbology, but did you notice the old man’s robe, and its resemblance to the King of Pentacle’s robe, covered with grape leaves and clusters? We cannot see it too well, but it must be his robe, so it must be him, the King, aged and gray, retired and relaxed in the midst of the activity of his kingdom. His wise rule has made the kingdom prosperous and happy.
But that strange perspective, it draws us beyond the primary symbol of the Ten: the pentacles are arranged in the form of the Tree of Life. That most mystical symbol of the qabalah, through it we see the everyday events of life. But the people do not notice that mystical spirit in their lives, even the old king has his back turned to it. We as the card reader, see through the Tree of Life, just as the King is watching his city through the arched portal, with people coming and going through the arch.
The most curious part of the Ten is that vertical bar with dashed black and white bars. To me, it resembles a surveyor’s staff. It does not seem to be part of anything in the scene, as far as I can tell. Oh well, I will disregard it.
The Ten and the Fool are a pair of Earth and Air, these elements are antagonists so they weaken each other. But the Major Arcana (especially 0 the Fool) is so powerful, it can overwhelm the Ten, but the Ten cannot overwhelm the Fool. We are having difficulty making the leap of faith, that important jump to a higher plane, through which we can observe the mystical underpinnings of the physical world.
But the Fool and the Knight, they are Air and Fire, they are friendly elements, they reinforce and support each other. We draw on the resources of the youthful, vigorous knight to draw us into the air with the Fool, high up, where we can gain a new perspective on the mundane world. Fire is the spark that initiates the motion of the Fool, it propels him forward. I think we talked before about the Knight, how he rushes headlong into battle, heedless of the dangers. Such is also the action of the Fool, he treads the mountain path without regard for the earth under his feet. They really do reinforce each other.
The Fool is the central card, and as a Major Arcana, is the most powerful. It is slightly weakened by Earth on the left, and greatly empowered by the Knight on the right. We are receiving a message to ignite a flame that burns passionately, which will enable us to be more than just a bag of meat and bone on the physical plane, we must rise above such a mundane position, we rise until we see from such a perspective, beyond the transparent veil of reality, into the mystical realm of the ten Sephiroth of the qabalah, where we see all the forces composing those things which upon first glance, seem so simple and mundane.
A chance to revisit the past, with the spirit & imagination of a child, which one might consider foolish! This 2nd chance will give them a new found strength in conquest, & the knight also has past experiance/wisdom with which to refer.
…and too, the old master is allowed by the animal to pet on it’s head/muzzle, but the little boy is allowed by the other dog to pull at it’s tail, for he has not yet learned to have a different relationship – a respect and mutual understanding of what they can be together – with the animal who will serve him…..in the Fool, see in the romping nature of both the boy and dog that they have emerged from that baby stage of tugging a the tail, but certainly they have not yet slowed down to where they look back like the old man. I too like how the dog morphs into horse for the final card – still animal nature, but different relationship to man to be sure.
As always, so interesting….thank you Sarah and Amanda.
I think that’s a fabulous interpretation, Amanda – and although it doesn’t necessarily have to fit with the reading I’ve done, there is a way it does: the man is remembering his youth as part of the process of making way for something new. There is the acknowledgement, “This is where I was; this is where I am; and now it is someone else’s turn to have their moment in the sun.” (The Fool)
you know, when i looked at the ten of pentacles, the first thing that came to mind was that we’re seeing the present and the memory of the past in one depiction.
the old man in the foreground is in such copious, ornate robes as one might wear indoors in old age to keep warm. who sits like that outdoors? the archway makes a frame, but the frame does not separate the old man form the others entirely; there is still a link, and as you point out sarah, the link is strongest via the two dogs and the hands of the old man and the boy.
something about the juxtaposition and connection between the two parts of the scenes, the way it’s done, really feels to me like we’re seeing the old man transported in his mind, through petting the dog, to his own boyhood.
i’m not sure how that does or does not work with your reading… it’s just what comes to mind when i look at that card… the vividness of memory at the end of a long life of achievement, the blink of an eye between childhood and old age…