MAAT Study Group-4 of Coins

juliecucciawatts

Week of the new moon in Virgo

“The new moon phase symbolizes always being at the beginning and end seeing life as an ever opening bud. The intuition rather than logic rules here, the projection of self on other's motivations. Very powerful for beginnings and endings.”


4 of Coins


Planetary ruler Mercury


The image for the 4 of Coins is a farmer and his wife deep in their well-stocked root cellar. The farmer and his wife know the winter is coming and are preparing for the lean days ahead. The four of coins gets a bad rap for representing a miser however this is the time of the year to begin to preserve the abundance of the harvest for the coming winter months. Activities include the canning, drying and freezing of fruits and vegetables filling the pantry, freezer and root cellars with the garden's bounty. In the days ahead this store of food will bring a magical abundance to the winter table.


It is healthy and desirable to plan ahead so that you do not go without. However there is a shadow side of this behavior. The shadow side is hoarding, keeping things that you don't really need, have room for or could not possibly ever use. In some cases when a person has lived though very hard times the behavior of stockpiling can become obsessive.

In these cases no matter how much wealth and abundance is accumulated they always feel like it is not enough.

Poverty and wealth can be a perception of the mind. The multi-millionaire who resorts to unscrupulous behavior to make profits and maintain his wealth lives with a mindset of poverty. The day worker who gets by paycheck to paycheck yet would also share freely whatever he has with his neighbors and friends lives with the mindset of wealth.

This card can also be a symbol of creating your own sacred space. It is about having good physical boundaries. The saying "Good fences make good neighbors." comes to mind. This is a good time for re-enforcement of fences, foundations and personal boundaries. Knowing what belongs to you and what does not. Your sacred space will feel better if unnecessary clutter is removed before the winter closes in. The great indoors will soon be where we are most of the time. Less is more when we are indoors due to weather. Ridding your space of excess possessions will give you more room to move around and showcase the things you love.

Think for a moment about what your beliefs are regarding wealth and abundance. Is your glass half full or half empty? If it is full, is it full enough? Or should you have another glass or a tank? Wealth is in fact a state of mind. Sometimes too much can be a burden. If you are not using something perhaps it would be better to pass it on to someone who can use it free up your space? If you are accumulating too much can you think back to what triggered this behavior? Maybe it would be better to address the first issue that started this reaction. There should be plenty for everyone if we can let go of things we don’t really need.


Traditional tarot meaning: a miser, creating your sacred space

In a Reading: Represents thrift. It suggests that in times of wealth and abundance on should save for the future when times could be lean.

Partial solar eclipse September 11(2007). The lunar eclipse two weeks ago has been quite an emotional ride for everyone in my social circle. How about you? The new moon this month is also an eclipse and should mark the end of this time of confusion. Tensions and the emotional garbage of the past 2 weeks should subside by the 15th of September. Venus and Pluto have both gone direct as well so things that have been stagnated for a while should start to move forward at last.
 

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annik

What struck me was the stairs with all those pumpkins! It makes me feel that they had a too good harvest or the cellar is not enough big for their need (and the cellar seems to be really big!). All the shelves are full. It almost feel a bit claustrophobic with all those yummy food in it.

This card had struck something in my mind. One of my grandfather owned a lot of land. And I remember the strawberries field and other few things he had on his land. He also had a few animals (horses, a dog, chicken, cows and I think a few cats but they weren't too much visible when I was there). Seeing the two people on the card makes me think of him. He was always buzy somewhere on his land.
 

magpie9

My Texas Grandmother used to can vegetables and make Jam every year. There was a storm shelter built underground on their tiny farm, and there were shelves full of her canning. We would wait out the tornadoes there, with a kerosine lantern. After the wind died down, we would go back up to see if the house was still there.
This card makes me think of the security and edge of danger this room represented to me as a little child. And I think that is how it is for so many people--they accumulate in order to feel "safe" in dangerous times. the trick is not to go over the edge into greed and miserly behaviors. Some can't seem to help doing that---especially the generation that grew up during the great depression.
Funny thing---we never, any year, did not still have some of my Grandmother's canning from the year before, when it came time to can again. She prepared against the future well, and we never felt poor...although, technically, we certainly were.

Really Good Card.