starrystarrynight
I've been looking at this card a lot lately, as it has come up in personal readings more than a few times, and
more and more I see this as a long-term effort card.
Look at the cobwebs hanging from the columns and cornice. This (relatively) young man has been working at his
drafting table for a long time--well into the metaphorical night indicated by the need for candles to light
his project. (The spider, as well, has obviously been working hard at making all those webs.)
This fellow has a couple of friends there--the mice--but he is all but ignoring them; in fact, he doesn't
even seem to know they are there. The same with the water (his emotions) outside the area where he sits. He
is not thinking of emotions at all--he is too busy looking at that Pentacle in his hand. He seems
oblivious to what is going on around him, wrapped up in his own thoughts about that Pentacle and what it
represents to him.
Eights are karmic numbers in that they represent a sort of fruition of what the seeker may have been working
toward for the last seven cards. But they are solid and stable--made even more so by the fact that this is a
Pentacle.
So, this could be the apprentice card as indicated in many books; however, I think it goes well beyond that
interpretation to mean that this guy is almost there more than just a beginner learning a trade. When it
comes up in relationship spreads, I tend to think that it has a lot of meaning to it--that the relationship
itself would take a lot of work to maintain, and in fact, the emotional part of it is not being addressed by one
or the other party at all, possibly because all s/he can think about and work toward at this point is some sort
of personal stability or security--whether it be financial, health or other.
more and more I see this as a long-term effort card.
Look at the cobwebs hanging from the columns and cornice. This (relatively) young man has been working at his
drafting table for a long time--well into the metaphorical night indicated by the need for candles to light
his project. (The spider, as well, has obviously been working hard at making all those webs.)
This fellow has a couple of friends there--the mice--but he is all but ignoring them; in fact, he doesn't
even seem to know they are there. The same with the water (his emotions) outside the area where he sits. He
is not thinking of emotions at all--he is too busy looking at that Pentacle in his hand. He seems
oblivious to what is going on around him, wrapped up in his own thoughts about that Pentacle and what it
represents to him.
Eights are karmic numbers in that they represent a sort of fruition of what the seeker may have been working
toward for the last seven cards. But they are solid and stable--made even more so by the fact that this is a
Pentacle.
So, this could be the apprentice card as indicated in many books; however, I think it goes well beyond that
interpretation to mean that this guy is almost there more than just a beginner learning a trade. When it
comes up in relationship spreads, I tend to think that it has a lot of meaning to it--that the relationship
itself would take a lot of work to maintain, and in fact, the emotional part of it is not being addressed by one
or the other party at all, possibly because all s/he can think about and work toward at this point is some sort
of personal stability or security--whether it be financial, health or other.