Monday Tarot: Nine of Pentacles

Every Monday I will do a quick one-card draw from one of my Tarot (or oracle) decks and interpret the card. This isn’t going to be ‘introduction to the Tarot’ or ‘intro to divination’ or anything like that, and my interpretations should not at all be seen as the only or correct way to read the cards. In fact, my interpretations will more focus on how the card is at play in my own life, how it is connected to the Otherfaith and our symbolism, or my impressions from the card.

The way I read Tarot is very, very intuitive. I’m not writing these posts to teach, but rather to share my thoughts and hear other ideas about the cards and their influences. If you’re expected someone who has read endless books on Tarot or can tell you their history, I’m not your girl! I read the cards the way they speak to me, and that’s pretty much it.

Today’s card is Nine of Pentacles from the Shadowscapes Tarot.

Personal Relevance: I mentioned last week that the Pentacles in this deck have a large role in my life. This specific card showed up for the first time in my life years ago right after I had mastered the piano, which is fitting due to the prominent piano on the card. I had also learned how to balance my spiritual pursuits with more mundane acts – going to work, waking up, all of that. I had learned how to blend all parts of my life.

Which is what this card is about.

The Nine of Pentacles is the blending of emotions with material stability – essentially, a type of blessed comfort. All is peace. We have gone through the rough phases of the other cards – possessiveness, ignorance of our real wealth, arrogance, longing and envy – and arrived at acceptance. We know what we have, and we know our goals, and we are no longer sacrificing other parts of our life (say, emotions) in pursuit of wealth. We come to know that wealth is much larger than money or material gains.

At the same time, there’s a huge piano in the card, so we can’t really ignore that there is a little toss to luxury right there. (Of course, we could interpret that as emotional luxury.)

Otherfaith Interpretation: I mentioned before that the dragon and lizard imagery in this suit reminds me of the slaughter and how gains are often accompanied with the loss or death of something else. This card, however, doesn’t have dragon imagery – it possesses a seashell, though, a symbol we connect to the Ophelia.

There is also stained glass in this card, which we could associate with both the Clarene and the Ophelia (for necessary craftsmanship to make excellent stained glass, and also for the way it lets light through). So, if we’re interpreting through the lens of the Other People, this card could be about the Romance of the Ophelia & Clarene.

This Romance is part of what drives the creation of the West (the name for our holy landscape). Like our other divine couple, these great gods come into conflict, even with their mutual love, and can at times get in the way of each others work. But their powers also keep together the thread of the world, and through their conflicts they gain better knowledge of each other.

 This card combines symbols of their ‘basic’ elements – earth and water – and so could be seen as their harmonization. The sweet waters of our emotions feed the tree of our material existence, and by growing together they are able to make music. But this moment is brief, just as the sunlight through the stained glass changes as the sun sets, and what we should take from this moment is not the need to always be At Peace but to instead remember the knowledge we gain in those peaceful moments. The gods and spirits do not exist in an endless peaceful haven but instead have blessed peace before returning to their works and sacred responsibilities – so we can take from this card that we should enjoy these moments of calm and harmony. They will feed us during the times of struggle and stress.