Ten of Pentacles (Rider Waite Tarot)
First Impressions
From a purely aesthetic standpoint I don’t like this card much. There’s too much going on. There’s a lot of space taken up by gray stone, and then it’s cluttered up by carved crests and such, and then there’s the God-awful tacky pattern on the old man’s robe. And ten big pentacles slapped across the whole scene, like someone dropped their pocket change across a photo lying on the table.
The setting is, unusually for the Rider Waite Tarot, inside. Or at least partially. There’s a gray wall with an archway opening into it, separating the inside from the outside. We’re looking from the inside to the outside. Or are we? The perspective is, perhaps deliberately, obscured. Like that of the High Priestess. Are we outsiders, or are we in the inner circle? And in this case, is the old man? Because he’s seated on whichever side we’re on; an elderly but still hale and hearty man with full white beard and head of hair, draped in a long robe that spreads about him to the ground. It’s a light green of new spring growth, I think, and richly adorned with not only purple bunches of grapes but also deep red embellishments and an elaborate black pattern that might be something occult or might be some sort of black letters superimposed over one another. He’s petting the head of one white greyhound
The rest of the family unit is just barely on the other side of the archway. A richly dressed woman with flowers in her hair is looking up as if in conversation at the face of a man in orange and blue who is laying his spear to one side. He is back-on to us. Unnoticed by the adults, or at least ignored at the moment, a small child peeps around his mother’s skirts. He looks uncertain, one hand seeming to rest on the second dog’s rump as he looks toward the old man.
The archway is apparently some kind of dividing line. On the side of the wall facing us, it’s a dark gray. A lighter gray strip runs across the top, like a dropped ceiling intended to make the ceiling seem higher. The dark gray wall has two shield crests carved from the same stone, or hung there in the same shades. The upper one shows a castle or fortress with two turrets and a wide open drawbridge, seemingly looking onto a moat or body of water, topped by three short red bars like heraldic decoration. The lower crest is topped by two red bars and shows a set of scales like that held in Justice. It seems to be perfectly balanced, but the old man’s head is a little in the way and I can’t be sure. Beside all of this is the edge of a big tapestry of a castle on a cliff, edged in a checkerboard pattern at the border. Outside, beyond the arch, we see clear blue sky over a high-walled courtyard. Buildings are seen over the top, including a very tall and straight turret of orange brick or stone. There’s got to be something specific about this one in particular, it seems so singular to me.
And over the whole thing? Ten big golden pentacles. They’re arranged in the shape of the Tree of Life, with little to no apparent regard for what they cover up in the picture. Very unlike Pamela’s usual way of working them into the picture.
Very detailed, perhaps the most detailed of the Minor Arcana. But my initial impression is one of chaos … but it’s an uncharacteristic sort of chaos for the creator and the artist, so there must be a great deal of symbolism behind it all.
Creator’s Notes
Waite says of this card:
Waite said:
A man and woman beneath an archway which gives entrance to a house and domain. They are accompanied by a child, who looks curiously at two dogs accosting an ancient personage seated in the foreground. The child's hand is on one of them.
Not too informative. But it does leave open the interpretation to one question: from which direction does the archway give entrance? Is the old man outside? And if so, why?
Others’ Interpretations
Waite says this card means, from a divinatory standpoint:
Waite said:
Divinatory Meanings: Gain, riches; family matters, archives, extraction, the abode of a family. Reversed: Chance, fatality, loss, robbery, games of hazard; sometimes gift, dowry, pension.
Symbols and Attributes
Astrologically the Ten of Pentacles is ruled by Mercury in Virgo. Virgo is an Earth sign much invested in works and service. The hard work and attention to detail that got the old man and this family where they are today. In
Pictures From the Heart: A Tarot Dictionary, Sandra A. Thomson says that:
Thomson said:
It also represents mentors, teachers, aunts and uncles - adults other than parents who mold a child’s development.
This is, I think, key to the card, and illustrated explicitly by the family group, and the small child peeping at the old man. Mercury is the planet that rules Virgo, as well as Gemini. Its influence brings additional skill in negotiation and transactions. Combine it with Virgo, and I think it reinforces the Virgo-ness.
Numerologically Tens represent completion, a point in a circle that represents both an end
and a beginning. Since many facets of the Nine represent completion and fulfillment, Ten may represent the transition between it and the new Ace. They are, perhaps, the culmination, the maximum expression, of their suit. Pair this with the Earthy and material Pentacles, and we have the ultimate security and prosperity, wealth and physical comfort that this suit can bring to bear.
On the surface the old man is grandfather, the patriarch, the Godfather, the head of the household and keeper of the family tradition. He is the Wise Old Man archetype we saw in the Hermit, but now he is surrounded by his loved ones and his dogs and his home. Shown comfortable and complacent amid these trappings, to me he represents the epitome of family tradition and old money, of wealth earned and possessions accrued over the years to be handed down to subsequent generations. His beard and hair are white to illustrate his venerable years. He sits in idle comfort, content to bask in the sunshine and pet the dogs.
His robe is the new-leaf green of growth and Earth, and is decorated with grapes. Grapes represent prosperity and abundance that result from hard work; they are also symbolic of Bacchus (Roman) or Dionysius (Greek), the god of wine, wandering and drunkenness, among other things. But it is also a potent symbol of Jesus in Christianity, tying to the wine representing the blood of Christ. All in all, they indicate the divinity of the old man. As for the weird symbols on the back, seemingly occult, they have often been pointed out to be nothing more than the overlapping letters of Waite’s surname, W-A-I-T-E. But why? A vanity of the creator’s, a bit of braggadocio, of swagger like a biker‘s patch? A deliberate red herring, looking more esoteric than it is? Or perhaps it’s Waite’s way of identifying himself with this figure. Such vanity - to label himself as the wise old man with wisdom and wealth to pass on!
Apart from the old man, but eying him warily from the shelter of his mother’s skirts, stands a small child - no more than a toddler, from the size and shape and manner - clad in a short blue robe. Of course the child stands for innocence and childlike wonder, for lessons yet to learn. But the presence of the old man and the young child in this card - a Ten - is important. Ten represents the completion of one cycle and the start of another. And so we have the new cycle manifested here. The old man, at the end of his life, is reborn as the blameless young child. The blue of his gown represents spirituality and innocence. The rebirth of the spirit.
What else connects old man and child? The two white dogs. Although both dogs look toward the old man, only one sits at his feet; the other is near enough to the child that he can pet this dog on the rump. They look like greyhounds to me. At least a little. Dogs traditionally represent fidelity and loyalty and protectiveness. In the Lenormand deck, the Dog is representative of loyal and helpful friends. As guardians of the home and hearth, they represent watchfulness and protection of domestic matters. And the fact that they are white indicates a purity of spirit and purpose.
Between the child and the old man, as though blocking the way, stand the couple. I tend to view them as the daughter and son-in-law of the old man, and the parents of the child. Whether this is so, I don’t know. But they are clearly a couple; she stands very close and smiles up at him; he lays his arms to one side to talk to her. Someone mentioned before that they viewed this couple as gears in a machine working together, or a swirling yin and yang. Opposites that work so well together.
She wears the red of passion and purpose. A deep shade, that of blood rather than a fire engine. It makes me think of two things. First, of the depths of her passions, her “heart’s blood”. Isn’t blood directly from the heart (rather than from the extremities; stabbed through the heart rather than a cut finger) supposed to be a richer and deeper crimson? And second, of bloodlines, of families, of blood that’s thicker than water. I’m reminded by her gown of passionate protectiveness of one’s family. And she wears the garland of flowers on her head that we saw the maiden wear in Strength. So she has the inner strength to hold her family together, as well as the outer calm to maintain equanimity.
The man I have taken to be her husband is dressed in an orange robe with a blue cloak draped over it like a Scottish plaid. The orange represents energy and determination, which bodes well for carrying the torch the old man is now passing on to him, for continuing the family dynasty. But it’s also overlaid incompletely by the blue of spirituality and intuition. It muffles, but doesn’t wholly drown out, his ambition. As he faces the woman he holds his spear off to one side as if putting it aside. He has the tools to protect his home and his family, but in their current security he has no need of it at the moment. Why is he back on to us? In the Wild West, showing your back was a sign of trust, that you were willing to show your exposed back and trust the person behind you was not going to shoot. So this man - back exposed, spear laid down - feels safe in his home and among his family.
Their bodies face in opposite directions, but they look back to one another. Although each may have other interests and other preoccupations that demand their attention, they can’t pass one another without words and smiles, a little tenderness. Fulfillment, this card says, is not just being rich and comfortable, no matter the age. It is being happy. In love, secure, surrounded by family. All the blue that surrounds them, in the child’s and younger man’s clothing, underlines this. Emotional and spiritual wealth is just as important. Comparing the man and woman by clothing alone, I see that they complement one another very well. She exerts her considerable energies to holding it all together for the family, while he does the work to maintain the home in which they live and secure it for future generations.
An interesting point I didn’t notice until much later, is the flow of the people, of the generations. From left to right we tend to read images as progressing from past to present to future. So we have the old man, whose glory days are behind him. He is the past. The young couple in the here and now, their time is the present. And for the little boy, the best is yet to come; his time is in the future.
Moving on from the people and the dogs, let’s look at their surroundings. The couple stands underneath a massive archway. As a passageway from one area to another, archways often are used to symbolize transition and passage, a gateway between worlds or states of being. In this case, it would represent the passage from the outer world of society to the inner one of the family. Or perhaps between the past (the old man) and the future (the small child). And consider the Roman (was it Roman?) triumphal arch - to pass through one of those indicated victory. The couple is in the process of passing through; financial and material success is theirs.
The archway cuts into a gray stone wall. A blending of black and white, gray typically stands for neutrality and a meeting of opposites. But what is interesting is actually above the arch. Above the dark gray hatching of the main wall, a light gray strip runs horizontally like crown molding. It’s blank, unadorned, a subject of much speculation on the forum. The artist’s monogrammed signature is in the upper right hand corner, whereas in almost every other card it is in the lower corner. It has been speculated that this is because it may have been the last card Pamela Colman Smith designed in the deck. So signing it differently may have been a bit of an added flourish. But I don’t know if I buy that. What else does it remind me of? Of the flat surface on which the Page of Cups and similar stand: the basis of a stage card. But up top? Why is that? It’s been proposed that when
reversed it makes a stage card. But … well, I don’t go for reversals any more, although I applied them dutifully when first learning the Tarot, because Joan Bunning told me I had to
but I’ve gotten past all that. So let’s look at it in the same context as other stage cards. In others, like the Page of Cups or Four of Pentacles, it indicates a separation or a projection, a clear delineation between what’s above the stage and what’s below it. And here? Well, there’s nothing
above the stage! So it would indicate groundedness, living in the here and now. No fantasies, no projections. This is a family group that is content in their place in the world without imposing imaginary problems or fantasies or backgrounds. It seems strange, to introduce a stage card just to state that no stage is necessary here, but that’s all I got
There are two crests on the wall, just to the left hand side of the archway. Being on the left hand, they would be in the past, and thereby indicate family tradition and roots. Not new money, I guess. Besides, it wasn’t any upstart nouveau riche family that was entitled to heraldic crests. The uppermost crest is of a castle or fortress. It indicates stability, security and protection. A strong foundation. Although the base underneath the tower appears to be heraldic depiction of water. I look at what water typically represents in the Tarot: spirituality, emotion. A nice base for this family structure. Three red bars are showing at the top of this crest. Three represents the Trinity: creation, the Empress, and again a good basis for family tradition. The lower crest, partially hidden behind the old man’s head, shows a pair of scales. Obviously, it represents balance, perhaps that of the inner and outer worlds. It is this balance, reinforced by the two red bars above it, that has helped to give this family their standing and their stable position now.
To the far left of the frame of this card is part of a long tapestry done in blue-gray shades and bordered with black and white checkers. The checkerboard pattern, particularly of black and white, is common in Freemasonry and in Tarot to show duality and polarity of opposites. In this case, the physical and mundane world versus the spiritual and emotional realm. And what is the subject of the tapestry - what appears to be a tall tower that grows out of a cliff. It’s strangely reminiscent of the Tower of the Major Arcana, but shaded in the blue of background details faded to insignificance. In past threads on this card, Teheuti referenced spiritual homes and the Grail Castle. But … well, listen. I’m an ignoramus, and I’m deliberately leaving such things out just because they lose me and leave me overwhelmed and/or wondering where they lead me down the garden path. So I prefer to look again at my first impression - that of the Tower, with a capital T. And in the Tarot that means cataclysmic, earth-shaking, life-changing and sudden change. It’s on the left-hand side and so occurring behind the scene; ie, in the past. A bit ominous, you’d think. But remember, it’s in the past. And remember that silver lining of the Tower: once the dust has settled, you can clear the rubble and build anew. Maybe this is an element of the family’s history? Of what is behind them? Through past adversity they were able to put it behind them, rebuild from the wreckage and emerge stronger and more stable than ever before.
A walled courtyard is seen through the archway, beneath an optimistically bright blue sky. The walls of the courtyard hold the rest of the world out, ensuring security and avoiding the unwelcome intrusions of the real world. It has been suggested that by placing the old man on the other side of the archway Waite is indicating that he is beyond the reach of such things. The mundane world cannot intrude, but the grace and spirituality still can be seen in the form of the blue sky overhead. It is still a factor, and one that the family cannot and does not ignore or take lightly.
One thing I found curious is the shape of that one tall and perfectly straight tower or turret. It’s the orange of determination, confidence and authority (and remember, in the Lenormand system, the Tower represents authority and bureaucracy), and is too tall to be safely shunted behind the walls to ignore. Its singular shape intrudes into the gaze of the family, and reminds them of the world beyond their domain. It is far too unique a shape to be mere coincidence or accident. No, it looks like a pillar or a column. A pun, perhaps, of Waite and Colman Smith; about the family being a pillar of society? I’m not sure. But I do think it represents the intrusion of the “real world” into this sanctuary. That even if you don’t see it, it’s there.
The most glaring element of this card, I can’t ignore any longer, much as I try to claim I’m saving the best for last
the overlaid ten Pentacles in the form of the Tree of Life. On the simplest level is about spiritual prosperity being just as important as material prosperity. It also indicates that there is magic and wonder to be found in the mundane. And I wish I could leave it at that. But no, I have to get into the Qabalah as it applies here. Sigh.
I haven’t found much about it here, but I thought it would be interesting to look at just where the various sephira fall on the scene below. To look at where they’re overlaid.
So I spent some time flipping back and forth between a high-rez scan of the card, Wikipedia and Duquette’s
Chicken Qabalah and came up with the below notes. Now I stare at this blankly. What does it mean? What have I gotten myself into? Is it too late to back out now?
Here goes …
Kether, the Crown, is at the very top as should be the case, and mostly above the archway. As representative of pure consciousness and “the most hidden of all things”, it is above the notice of the gathering below, as it should be.
Chokhmah (Wisdom) is in the clear blue sky and through the archway into the wide open sky that represents the world outside the security of the courtyard walls. Wisdom, I take it to mean, cannot be found within walls. The old man has gained wisdom, but he didn’t get it by staying by the fire safe at home. He went out in the world, saw and experienced much. And that is what made him, and his surroundings, what they are today.
Binah (Understanding) is over the tapestry and the uppermost crest - the one with the castle. Looking though at where it lies, inside, and above the tapestry and crest, what do I think? That it’s connected to security and what has gone before. At how that security has been bought, at what hard work and adversity and sacrifices made in the past to get to the present stage. And it’s an understanding of that, an appreciation of and respect for it all, that is required. I’m reaching, but it’s all that I have for it.
Chesed, or Kindness (also Love or Loving Kindness), is still in the blue sky, although edging closer down to the courtyard walls. Wikipedia says that Chesed “manifests God's absolute, unlimited benevolence and kindness”, and it’s a pretty big deal in Qabalah. Love, and the charity that comes with it as far as this sephira goes, enters the home from the outside. It’s found in the home, but doesn’t flourish in a vacuum; it’s also subject to external influence.
Gevurah, or Severity, is just above the crest with the scales, on what is perhaps the darkest point of the inner walls. Interesting, that the sephirot associated with Severity would be in such close proximity with the scales of justice and balance. Because most of what I see about Gevurah ties it to the concept of Strength, also Judgement. Severity as depicted here isn’t fun, isn’t pretty. It’s a necessary evil, and it ties to the strength and the balanced outlook required to bring about this prosperity.
Tiferet, Beauty (or sometimes Splendour), is just above the head of the younger man, as though it will very shortly catch his attention. Roughly in the middle of the card, just as Tiferet is in the middle of the Tree of Life, it is supposed to be a lesser manifestation of Kether. Beauty is all around us, if we are cognizant, if we will just turn our heads to see it.
Hod, which is Glory, is just over the shoulder of the old man. And doesn’t that just say it all? Glory is just behind him. Behind. His glory days are done, but they stay with him, just over his shoulder.
Yesod, Foundation, appears to be held by the woman. The mother in me likes this! In her hands, perhaps in her body itself, she holds the foundation for her family. For future generations. The family line that will continue to enjoy what the old man has built for them. He built the foundation, perhaps, but it is her that keeps it safe and strengthens it.
Netzach is Eternity; it is over the old man’s hand that is extended to pet one of the dogs. It was once used to refer to long-suffering, to endurance, to patience. All elements of the old man and the dynasty he has built.
Malkuth means Kingdom and is behind the old man. Or perhaps at the base on which he sits. Ruler of his kingdom, his support and his base. A man’s house is his castle, isn’t it?
Oh Lord, I look back at it and I’m sorely tempted to take it all out. But I've done it now, and there it stands.
The pillar of severity is on the side of the old man, in the past; the pillar of mercy more to the side of the child, in the future. The pillar of equilibrium, right down the middle, is in roughly the same area as the young couple, as the present. Past austerity and adversity has led to the present-day comfort, and paves the way for further prosperity in the days and the generations to come.
My Interpretations
What I get from this card, or what I would get now if it came up in a reading, is that it is a card of tradition. Of things hard won and safeguarded and handed on. It could be physical things like an heirloom or a family home or piece of land or fortune. Or it could be secrets and knowledge and wisdom handed down. But all in all, I tend to see it in terms of material security. It’s more than just a good name, it’s the things that make it a good name, it’s the family values that make the reputation. The torch is passing from hand to hand. From father to son, from mother to daughter. And mundane though this may seem, there is an element of magic and spirituality about it all.
There’s an air of nostalgia about this card. Although it shows a snapshot, a moment in the present time, it is mainly in the past. It seems primarily to focus on what has gone into the making of this moment in the present time. And that is what I mainly take home from it.
