Musings on the Two of Pentacles..

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 20 Jan 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

firemaiden	20 Jan 2005
I confess, i don't really get the Two of Pentacles. (Pick a deck, any deck) Yeah, yeah, its about juggling, balance, yin yang... yada yada but what does that really mean? I happened to pull the Two of Pentacles from the Fey Deck, -- but it could be from any deck, they all suggest something similar. I asked "so how am I doing today?" It's a nice picture of a sort of radiocative (naked) green fairy (with wings) standing on one hand on a pentacle. A balancing act. I started thinking about the difference between "balance" as in standing on one hand and not falling over, and "balance" as in juggling two things, with an even movement of going and coming. One is perfect stillness, the other is movement. I used to be good at balancing as a dancer, I could stand on one toe in some position for ever and not fall over. Paradoxical thing is, balancing on one toe like that feels like flying. Maybe the reverse is true too -- when those pins are being juggled perfectly in the air, they appear to be still? By extension - the balancing act is also about suspension - supsension in the air, but not a tension-suspension, like the nervous truce of the two of swords, but rather a relaxed and joyful suspension - one must be quite relaxed in order to balance and have it feel like flying. I guess perfect balance is also a prerequisite for flight. Will an airplane take off if one wing is heavier than the other? This winged fey is standing on one hand is ready to fly off. In singing one talks about a balanced tone - the tone is balanced when the breath pressure, the support, the release of air, are all coordinated so that the tone is rich and full, spinning free, dark and bright all at the same time, and can be made louder or softer at will (poised for movement in any direction). This too feels like flying. We say the number Two is "duality", and the Pentacle is "material" things. That it could refer finances. Oh dear, is it a warning to balance my checkbook? (FM rushes to check online bank "balance" ). Two of Pentacles, duality of earth-ness, double of body-being-ness .. is it a reminder that we are only partly of the earth, and partly of the sky? Hence the feeling of supension between earth and sky when we are balanced? In moving we remain still, in stillness we fly... when I repeat my mantra/prayer for walking Umbrae taught me "I am a spirit having a physical experience" sometimes that too feels like flying. Stay grounded, fasten your seat-belts: we are about to take off... Um... (handing off microphone), so, how do you read the Two of Pentacles today?

Arnnaria	20 Jan 2005
Every have one of those days where you had so much to do you dreaded it. You were so stressed out going into it, everything was just "going to fail," and you would have to pick up the pieces later? And then it came. And went. And it wasn't so bad. It wasn't so good either. It just...was. I view the Two of Pentacles is one of the most "Zen" cards in the deck. Things are neither good nor bad, high nor low. Things just are. Concentrate on the moment. Be. If you look too far ahead or too far behind, you'll fall. And if you fall, it doesn't matter. Get into the groove again and just do it.

TemperanceAngel	20 Jan 2005
So your handling things with ease! Or you have too much going on... The Mothers Card (nope it's not Mothers Day folks, well not in Oz anyways...) Eh? What? OK so let's try and paint the picture: Mum, 2.6 kids, part-time work, husband, independance, house work, social life(?)....so how does she do it? She can, it's like baking, knowing the right amount at the right time....a pinch of salt here, a dash of pepper there, just simmer don't boil :D OK add the chilli now.... What's that in the background? "Mum when is dinner ready?" "Honey have you seen the TV guide?" *Phone rings* "Yep, OK, 9:30...will try to be there on time. Latino band did you say....excellent!!!!" Mum is knocking about getting it all done at once, pleasing everyone, trying not to bowl anyone over....she has a goal..... GOAL = 9:30 Latino band....freedom.... Pass the ketchup would you....

TemperanceAngel	20 Jan 2005
How many pots can you have on the boil without them spilling over, how many fingers in the pie before they get burnt....or stay cool :D

WolfSpirit	20 Jan 2005
In the Animal Wise Tarot, the caption says "balancing work and play". I rarely look at titles or key words, but this one stuck and always comes to mind for 2 pents no matter what deck I use. In TA's story: if you only do chores with no latino band to look forward to you will not have much joy (and this will not improve how you are getting on with your work either) if you spend all day practicing dance steps the house will be a total mess and you will be in a family crisis by the time you want to leave the house :D Finding what balance works best for you, is what I often find in the 2 pents. It can also be about balancing other things, but this often works for me.

Chronata	20 Jan 2005
Balance, yes.... I think the two of Pents is the ultimate multitasker! Someone who can juggle talking on the phone, driving a car, and putting on make-up all at the same time. Someone who could be a danger (usually more to themselves, than anyone else)...but somehow has made everything work...and look effortless. also...and I don't remember where this interpretation came from...but the two has always represented to me, the perfect mediator...someone who brings opposites into harmony.

TemperanceAngel	20 Jan 2005
WolfSpirit wrote: if you only do chores with no latino band to look forward to you will not have much joy (and this will not improve how you are getting on with your work either) if you spend all day practicing dance steps the house will be a total mess and you will be in a family crisis by the time you want to leave the house :D Oh, WolfSpirit I do like how you connected that all together...it's a hard balance to obtain at times :)

FantasyWorld	20 Jan 2005
WolfSpirit wrote: In the Animal Wise Tarot, the caption says "balancing work and play". I rarely look at titles or key words, but this one stuck and always comes to mind for 2 pents no matter what deck I use. In TA's story: if you only do chores with no latino band to look forward to you will not have much joy (and this will not improve how you are getting on with your work either) if you spend all day practicing dance steps the house will be a total mess and you will be in a family crisis by the time you want to leave the house :D Finding what balance works best for you , is what I often find in the 2 pents. It can also be about balancing other things, but this often works for me. All work and no play makes "jack" an unhappy boy. All thinking and no laughing makes "jack" a dull boy. All buying and no earning makes "jack" a poor boy:D

ncefafn	20 Jan 2005
"And now I play the merchant's part, And venture madly on a desperate mart." Signor Baptista said the above (with the help of Shakespeare) when he began the negotiating process for the marriage/sale of his shrewish daughter, Katherina, to Signor Petruchio. Her reputation was well-known in town, but Petruchio was a stranger. How to balance on that tightrope between truth and the sales pitch so you can make it to the other side. We are witnesses to such a feat today. Spin. Smile. Spin some more. Smile wider. Ignore the dark realities of the chasm beneath you, the roiling waves. Ignore it all and smile, smile, smile. There are always people willing to buy.

firemaiden	20 Jan 2005
Wow, ncefafn, what an interesting interp! And that shrew turned out not to be such a bad buy after all, with a bit of discipline. :D

VisionQuest	21 Jan 2005
I have been musing on the 2 of Pentacles quite a bit myself lately... ever since a friend of mine did a reading for me and it kept popping out of his deck while he was shuffling, and then came up in the reading... It's been popping out of my deck as well, and appearing in my self-readings, and when I pull a single card for meditation, etc. ...just thought I'd share that... lol

Stregaverde	21 Jan 2005
So, as the Two of Cups is like a lighter version of The Lovers (with all the ramifications of Minor vs Major Arcana, etc.) then the Two of Pents is like Temperance? On a more material plane, rather than spiritual?

KathleenC	21 Jan 2005
Another way to interpret the two of pentacles is that of minding one's own business. That is, leaving others alone and not interfering, and getting on with the day to day things you have to do. Also, getting so caught up in one's own business as to be ignorant of what is going on outside.

TemperanceAngel	27 Jan 2005
How interesting that as I flick through my Housewives Tarot I stumble acroos the Two of Pents and what do I see: a woman in the kitchen with her apron on with a Pentacle in each hand trying to keep balance. On one side the dog has the bottom of her dress in his mouth trying to pull her and on the other side a small boy is in his pyjama pants with a bottle in his hand tugging on her dress. It's kinda like the scene I described earlier....interesting.....

Arnnaria	27 Jan 2005
The Whimsical Tarot has one of the best images for the Two of Pentacles. It is of Jack Sprat and his wife eating at a dinner table. If you are unfamiliar with the nursery rhyme it goes: "Jack Sprat could eat no fat His wife could eat no lean And so betwixt the two of them They licked the platter clean."

Umbrae	27 Jan 2005
First one should look at Two. Relationships do not exist, and are not possible with One. Singular. Relationships become possible with Two. The singular noun is plural. It is composed of 1+1. Even a sensuous curve is composed of an infinite number of straight lines, a line being the shortest distance between two points. Nothing (yet everything) is possible without Two. Dualities…pairings…. The meeting of singularities. (is that a funny sentence or what? – But that is what two is!) Pentacles are earthy. The practical. That portion of our lives that is necessary to sustain the physical (the temple of the spiritual – (I wonder what it is from the spirit’s point of view? A duality of view…)). It is said of the earth that “She never refuses her accustomed yield – spreading our pathway with flowers and our tables with plenty; though she produces poison, still she supplies the antidote, and returns with interest every good committed to her care…” So looking at our metaphors, or perhaps metaduece… Balance, two… Actually, balance only becomes possible when you compare two, in variance from a third. Two is always in balance with itself. The problem is how we look at a two subjectively…like the issue with a Two of Swords…on the RWS, her right hand covers her left – this is not the position of stuckedness or stalemate – this is a sign of absolute mastery, and readiness. She is in position to guard us – or we may be the guard…. Mastery implies student to master through time. It implies a Master-Student relationship. This could be seen as a time being spent as subservient…but that’s comparative and implies a third… In the Two of Cups both parties offer cups. But folks think about “There’s hope for ME!” without thinking that they may be the hope for someone else…we have a cup to offer…we may be the offered cup! Pentacles…we don’t realize we have a need until we are without (duality). When we suddenly get what we want (from nothing to something – duality (it only becomes a triad when you want to figure in ‘how much’)), it changes our choices (choosing A&B becomes C&D) which can put us on an impure path. They did a study out here about winners of the Washington State Lottery, folks that won over a million dollars. 1% are not broke. 97% are in debt. They did not understand how to move from point A to point B. They did not understand that the question changes (moves from A to B) and thus, so do the answer choices. We have a difficulty in looking at such an example as a duality (“…what is he talking about?”…see – a straight line drawn between two points in time… A choice between A & B now, may have reverberations into the future. A subjective duality decision now in regards to your ability to maintain physical maintenance that you may not even aware of can reverberate through time. And its affects may not manifest in your life. But in the life of another. It ain’t always about us…

Fudugazi	27 Jan 2005
Umbrae wrote: We have a difficulty in looking at such an example as a duality (“…what is he talking about?”…see – a straight line drawn between two points in time… A choice between A & B now, may have reverberations into the future. Does duality imply choice? I see duality implying attraction-rejection, the magnet effect (++/+-/--). At a basic level, the tension leads to some kind of balancing, you're not losing one for the other, you're trying to keep them both in hand. Only when a third comes along do you have to let go of one. But at a higher, more evolved level, duality suggests the call for integration - Temperance uses two vases to effect her transmutation. In the social sphere you could think of two communities, living side by side: they tolerate each other - or not and start rejecting each other - the perils of duality; the best they'll achieve if they stay separate is to balance. The worst is a blood feud through the generations, where one always risks being wiped out by the other. Or they can integrate, intermarry, share each other's customs and resources. Create out of their two separates a third community that replaces the other two, and has no need to balance two divergent elements, that dynamises all its constituents. Likewise you have the politics of separation and balance of power; and the politics of integration and creation. Pentacles are material - they are close to social and political concerns at their most down-to-earth.

tmgrl2	27 Jan 2005
Better balance your checkbook while you're at it? terri

WalesWoman	27 Jan 2005
My feeling of 2 Pentacles is much simpler, probably too simple, but it's a practical balance of the demands between mind and emotion in the everyday world, to look on the brighter side especially when it's becoming the most difficult to keep any balance.

ivyrita	27 Jan 2005
thank the lords of goodness for these forums! i've never been clear on this card.. juggling life.. i feel like i make things more difficult than they have to be. the housewife descriptions here are so simple to understand.. and in that understanding, should be easier to apply to any given situation.

Umbrae	28 Jan 2005
Helvetica wrote: Does duality imply choice?… Likewise you have the politics of separation and balance of power; and the politics of integration and creation. Oh no, missed my point entirely (my fault, it's difficult to express...) – both of those require a third – a chooser…Two’s are not about choosing… Politics is never ever about singular units. It’s two – singularities recognizing the other…when you choose, or push/pull it implies a comparative value (stronger/weaker) which is only possible if you go beyond two. As an observer you form a triad; and further, once value enters – duality is gone. That’s the key to Two’s…we forget that we are a... If you can see two units, than three exist and there is no duality. Two units. That's all...that's it. Two, not three or four... Plus and minus require a third unit, the attractant, the measurer...to exist. It is so complex, only because it is so simple!

Fudugazi	28 Jan 2005
Umbrae wrote: That’s the key to Two’s…we forget that we are a.. I think I see your point, Umbrae - it would help if you finished your sentences ;) Yes, a third can help the integration - like the figure doing the transmutation in Temperance. Or the -thing - itself created by two (- in the material/physical realm of the Coins: a child, a movie, a meal, dividends, a new political dynamic)

ncefafn	28 Jan 2005
I feel like we're wandering into quantum mechanics here, and keep expecting to see Schrodinger's cat when I turn in either direction.

Fudugazi	28 Jan 2005
ncefafn wrote: I feel like we're wandering into quantum mechanics here, and keep expecting to see Schrodinger's cat when I turn in either direction. Isn't it dead? Or not? Maybe that yet another layer of meaning for the Two of Pentacles - a dead and not dead cat ;)

ncefafn	28 Jan 2005
Helvetica wrote: Isn't it dead? Or not? Maybe that yet another layer of meaning for the Two of Pentacles - a dead and not dead cat ;) Or that your checking account is at once overdrawn and not overdrawn. ;)

firemaiden	28 Jan 2005
Umbrae wrote: That’s the key to Two’s…we forget that we are a... ...a spiritual being having a physical experience. :D

Fudugazi	28 Jan 2005
ncefafn wrote: Or that your checking account is at once overdrawn and not overdrawn. ;) ROTFL :D How come you know exactly what my account looks like? Shroedinger's Two Coins, indeed!

tmgrl2	28 Jan 2005
With the two's, Umbrae, for example, would you say that once a holder of one of the cups becomes "self aware" of what can be brought to the table by either, we already have a three? since the two has neither outside judgment of the relationship, nor self-awareness within the duo.. Either case...would be already a three? And , as soon as we look at a two and see "more" or "less" within the duality we have given it a three of "judgment" since the two is in perfect balance already by its being a two? This is a wonderful description since whenever I have looked at two's, I feel I have missed the "inherent perfection" of the two's that you are describing. Please elaborate more to help here. This is great stuff. For example, if a two comes up...in a cups situation, we might say to the sitter: "Everything is as it should be for right now?" Edited to add: or... "Everything is what it IS right now...and from here we will move..." I was talking to my friend, Mary, today about the two's... I get a picture of a line...with a dot...somewhere along the way...and a line is "balanced"....even though the dot may only be in a little bit along the line. Then I pictured the line bending at the dot, creating (awareness) ends that can be connected..(a three). If the dot is centered, we would have the perfect "three" of the equilateral triangle. If not centered, the "bending" or awareness (the three) would help us see that the triangle, if formed from this "skewed" yet "balanced" line...would be of unequal proportions. Aarggh...just thinking outloud. Here I am driving home from the doctor today picturing two's ... Have to go back and reread some of this again. terri

Moongold	29 Jan 2005
I think this card is about duality and relatedness not balance. When you have two you rarely have balance. Things often complement each other. Balance is a word with so many meanings. I don't like to use it here. Things may not balance each other. Looking at the RWS version, the lemniscape is the key. Everything about this image is a little bit askew but the lemniscape is saying let go of control and see what happens. That old cliché Let go; let God . It’s about having faith that things will fall where they are intended to. It doesn’t mean do nothing. If we are attentive to relationship things will happen as they should. If they don’t, well that’s the way it is and we learn by it. Two Pentacles is a card of relationship; of complementarities; of separation; of detachment; of faith.

Moongold	29 Jan 2005
I think the point comes out in the Fey as well. This is the first time I have seen this card but ....Oh.....I think I love this deck! The two Fey are so different. so completely different. Yet they can relate. They are connecting via the Pentacle; the pentacle is the initial common ground. He is obviously performing for her and she is smiling, welcoming him. She is chubby and he is ethereal. Two relating; not balancing. Although the male Fey is balancing on that pentacle pretty well! However, she is holding it steady so they are complementing each other. He is performing on the stage of the pentacle she is holding; both receive benefit.

Fudugazi	30 Jan 2005
Moongold wrote: He is obviously performing for her and she is smiling, welcoming him. She is chubby and he is ethereal. Two relating; not balancing. Although the male Fey is balancing on that pentacle pretty well! However, she is holding it steady so they are complementing each other. He is performing on the stage of the pentacle she is holding; both receive benefit. That's a lovely image, Moongold (and you're doing a good job selling me the Fey ;) ) - and it comes back to my point about the difference between balance an integration.

The Musings on the Two of Pentacles.. thread was originally posted on 20 Jan 2005 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.