7 of Pentacles

Hi guys, I would like to talk about the 7 of Pentacles.
Recently I draw it asking how to improve my life (it was a 3-card reading) and got it in the position "what I should start doing", but what is actually the guy in the card doing?
My deck is Tarot of Pagan Cats and in this card a cat is touching and looking at, even longing for the pentacles, which I suppose are the fruits of the plant https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/7d/26/f5/7d26f5ae3b24dc4c8459d32da8012d6f.jpg.
The cat would like to pick the pentacles, but they're still "unripe", so he still has to wait the right time to come... So the advice here is to wait for more favorable times to come and above all have faith the "fruits" will "ripen"?

What do you think?
Thanks.

I get this card often. It's a karma card. Reap what you sow. Show patience as all good things come to those who wait.
When looking at the picture, it reminds me of a cat playing with a ball of yarn. I immediately think of the word, INVESTMENT, of your time, energy, attention, creativity, etc.

The HP said:

I get this card often. It's a karma card. Reap what you sow. Show patience as all good things come to those who wait.

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Thank you The HP, yes, this one is absolutely a karma card and I get it often as well
Reaping what you sow and being patient, the right time will come.

The HP said:

When looking at the picture, it reminds me of a cat playing with a ball of yarn. I immediately think of the word, INVESTMENT, of your time, energy, attention, creativity, etc.

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Yes, it makes sense, I need to invest and then I will "sow".

Wait, and if something comes, make sure it's the real thing

The card is also called "failure" and it relates to acting too hastily and ended up with nothing. The word "failure" is two-sided. On the one hand, it can mean that you shouldn't give up on something that doesn't succeed right away (it may not be a failure). On the other hand, it also means if you have been faced with failures, you shouldn't stop trying, and you absolutely shouldn't let failure drive you to desperation.

That is the trap of this card: feeling impatient, desperate or overeager—ready to try anything. The 7's in the tarot is the number of a challenge (fighting feelings of impatience is the challenge here), and Pents are earth (taking things slow; the long view), so to win the challenge you need to have not just patience, but endurance. This is not like waiting for a bus; this is a time when you will have trouble waiting. Like you've been out of a job for months and ready to take the first thing that comes your way. "Wait for the right opportunity," the card says. Hang in there. And when an opportunity does come, examine it. Make sure it's genuine and what you want.

Putting it another way: if you really want it, it's not only worth waiting for, but worth turning down false opportunities; worth dealing with the disappointments. Wait for the real thing.

Thirteen said:

The 7's in the tarot is the number of a challenge (fighting feelings of impatience is the challenge here)

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This is new to me. I thought that the 5 were about challenges, really. May I ask you where I could get info about this?

Thirteen said:

"Wait for the right opportunity," the card says. Hang in there. And when an opportunity does come, examine it. Make sure it's genuine and what you want.

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I like this interpretation. I used to see the 7 of pentacles about investments (whether it be emotional, material) to then harvest the fruits of your labor down the road (if the investment was good).

Thirteen said:

Putting it another way: if you really want it, it's not only worth waiting for, but worth turning down false opportunities; worth dealing with the disappointments. Wait for the real thing.

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This card appeared regarding the energy surrounding my dating opportunities, it was clarifying a rx 3 of swords. I am currently dating different guys and the way you explain the 7 of pentacles makes a lot of sens in my situation.

Thanks for this perspective

Different types of Challenges

tarot_quest said:

This is new to me. I thought that the 5 were about challenges, really. May I ask you where I could get info about this?

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Well, they both mean challenges. It's just what kind of challenge. The 5's are usually about dealing with loss. You had something valuable, and you lost it and the challenge is dealing with that loss and/or discovering what's left and might be gained from the loss. 7's are about roadblocks. You are heading in some direction and hit a block, something that stops you in your tracks. How will you get around this? Bully your way through as in the 7/Wands or be sneaky as in the 7/Swords?

The 5's require you reassess what important to you and, Hierophant-like, return to your core values. These will help you to understand and handle the loss. The 7's require that you find a way to keep going, that, Chariot-like, you regain your focus and determination. These will help you to get around whatever or whoever is trying to stop you.

Does that help?

Other systems of interpretation were less kind to the 7 of Pentacles. The Golden Dawn called it "The Lord of Success Unfulfilled," conveying the idea of "little gain for much labour," also disappointment and ultimately the "loss of promising fortune." Aleiste Crowley simply called it "Failure" and considered it to express utter passivity, the abandonment of all labour. No amount of waiting was going to fix that.

I don't have Tarot of Pagan Cats; that's one I gave to my daughter. But the image in the RWS version always made me think the man was exhausted from his efforts, pausing more in resignation than in patient anticipation of resuming the harvest. I seemed to sense thwarted ambition in his stance, like he knows the fruits of his labor are going to escape him, but he just can't muster the energy to regain his enthusiasm. The pile of pentacles is almost as tall as he is, and he's only managed to gather one of them. I've never been able to see this as an entirely happy card, or even a contented one; he is more rueful than satisfied with his progress. There is a faint whiff of futility about it.

Thanks so much Thirteen!

Thirteen said:

The card is also called "failure" and it relates to acting too hastily and ended up with nothing. The word "failure" is two-sided. On the one hand, it can mean that you shouldn't give up on something that doesn't succeed right away (it may not be a failure). On the other hand, it also means if you have been faced with failures, you shouldn't stop trying, and you absolutely shouldn't let failure drive you to desperation.

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I see what you mean.. no, I didn't know the 7 Pents was also called "failure".

Thirteen said:

That is the trap of this card: feeling impatient, desperate or overeager—ready to try anything. The 7's in the tarot is the number of a challenge (fighting feelings of impatience is the challenge here), and Pents are earth (taking things slow; the long view), so to win the challenge you need to have not just patience, but endurance. This is not like waiting for a bus; this is a time when you will have trouble waiting. Like you've been out of a job for months and ready to take the first thing that comes your way. "Wait for the right opportunity," the card says. Hang in there. And when an opportunity does come, examine it. Make sure it's genuine and what you want.

Click to expand...

Your interpretation sounds so true to me.. Yes, feelings of impatience and despair, because the "right thing" hasn't come yet.
I totally agree, I have to wait for the right opportunity, that's enough take the first thing only because of despair, when you know this thing is not suitable for you and is not what you truly want.

Thirteen said:

Putting it another way: if you really want it, it's not only worth waiting for, but worth turning down false opportunities; worth dealing with the disappointments. Wait for the real thing.

Click to expand...

Absolutely... it's hard, but this is what I have to do..

Barleywine said:

Other systems of interpretation were less kind to the 7 of Pentacles. The Golden Dawn called it "The Lord of Success Unfulfilled," conveying the idea of "little gain for much labour," also disappointment and ultimately the "loss of promising fortune." Aleiste Crowley simply called it "Failure" and considered it to express utter passivity, the abandonment of all labour. No amount of waiting was going to fix that.

I don't have Tarot of Pagan Cats; that's one I gave to my daughter. But the image in the RWS version always made me think the man was exhausted from his efforts, pausing more in resignation than in patient anticipation of resuming the harvest. I seemed to sense thwarted ambition in his stance, like he knows the fruits of his labor are going to escape him, but he just can't muster the energy to regain his enthusiasm. The pile of pentacles is almost as tall as he is, and he's only managed to gather one of them. I've never been able to see this as an entirely happy card, or even a contented one; he is more rueful than satisfied with his progress. There is a faint whiff of futility about it.

Click to expand...

Thanks Barleywine.
Actually yes, the guy in RWS is neither happy, nor proud of his labour, something's missing, he's not satisfied, because probably his harvest is not as he expected, so he feels sad and unmotivated.
In my deck the image is different, I see it more "positive" than the RWS version and Thirteen's explaination fits with it to me.