SIX OF PENTACLES
Rider–Waite–Smith (1909)Key themes
Gifts · Gratification · Attention · Present prosperity
Card meaning
The Six of Pentacles concerns gifts, the satisfaction of giving or receiving and the use of present prosperity. Its traditional meanings also include attention and vigilance, placing judgement alongside the visible transfer of resources.
The scene gives the participants different positions: one distributes while others ask or receive. Consider what is being offered, how the amount is decided and whether the exchange acknowledges the actual circumstances of everyone involved.
Key themes
Desire · Envy · Jealousy · Illusion
Card meaning
Reversed, the Six of Pentacles turns towards acquisitive desire, envy, jealousy or illusion. Attention may settle on what another person possesses, or an exchange may be understood through expectations that its actual terms do not support.
These possibilities call for clarity rather than assumptions about another person’s motives. Separate an expressed offer from a hoped-for one, and examine whether comparison is making a practical need harder to describe.
Image description
A well-dressed figure holds a balance in one hand and drops coins into the hands of a kneeling person with the other. A second kneeling figure reaches towards the giver. Six pentacles appear above them, with buildings in the distance.
Symbolism
- Falling coins
- — Resources moving from possession into an actual exchange.
- Balance
- — The judgement involved in deciding an amount or share.
- Kneeling figures
- — The unequal positions from which help may be requested.
- Six pentacles
- — Material sufficiency considered through distribution.
- Distant buildings
- — The wider community surrounding the immediate transaction.
Card advice
Clarify what is being given, requested or expected, and judge the exchange by its stated terms and practical effect.
Based on A. E. Waite’s The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910). Modern English adaptation — At Madame Shirley’s Table. Illustrations: Pamela Colman Smith (1909). Scan restoration: Steve P.