Tarot of the Cat People: Ace of Pentacles

[Tristram Shandy]

Let's start with a nice detail in the card. The cloak of the woman in the card has many yellow metallic decorative plates, which look like coins. Coins are an alternative name for the suit of pentacles.

The cat at the woman's feet looks chunky and relatively heavy. It seems like an ordinary cat, not some bigger feline, which emphasizes its chunkyness. It is common to associate the suit of pentacles with heavy, chunky things like property and matter. Money (coins!) isn't necessarily heavy (think about banknotes and electronic money), but it is property, too. I would add facts to the list as Pentacle-esque hings. Facts are solid, and the Page of Pentacles is reading a book. But this isn't a traditional association, as far as I know.

I don't think that there is a pentacle concretely present in the scene. If the woman was playing with such a big disc or ball, she wouldn't hit it with a narrow, clumsy stick. Technically, the suit symbol must have been superimposed on the picture. Still, the pentacle is present in some symbolical level because it shines and the woman seems interested in it. The woman and the cat look relaxed. They must think that their environment, its resources and routines are safe and comfortable.

 

[AJ]

Since Aces generally are beginnings, what caught my eye was the huge oversize cat in the foreground and the tiny pale cat on her head. I see the one on her head as the beginning of the idea/project/job/goal and the biggie as the potential successful outcome.

Now off to read what the book says about it...

edited to add: ah, all those disc's on her robe are the equivalent of scout patches, awards for achievement both big and small. Nice!

 

[Judith D]

The suit of pentacles is of the earth, of material substance and abundance, finance, groundedness. I like the 'fat cat' image and all it suggests of wealth and position. It is confusing that the pentacle in the ace appears to be attached to the end of a wand - but it is actually a sceptre of some sort and not quite the same as the wands. Is she balancing the pentacle - giving an image of control perhaps. The pentacle itself appears to emit light - spiritual abundance?
If aces are beginnings, she certainly is successful at starting things if the discs on her robe are a record of attainments. The size of the pentacle here would seem to indicate that this beginning is of something major, important.

 

[annik]

This card seems very down to earth for me. It is probably because of the rocks we can see on the ground and near the woman. The woman seems absorbed by the pentacle. The pentacle seems to glow.

I always found the pentacles in this deck more looking like flowers than ordinary pentacles.