Knight of Pentacles (Rider Waite Tarot)
First Impressions
This is such a humdrum card, I always thought. Maybe it was my association of this card with my ex, a textbook Capricorn and a textbook Knight of Pentacles. I always thought of this knight as a solid, dependable and hard-working type. Reliable, but not exciting. Stolid, dull, slow moving. Further work with Tarot and this card did nothing to dispel this notion. Let’s see if the 78 Weeks Study can do anything for it.
Knights are normally associated with action. Swift and decisive and ever changing. But I don’t really get that impression with this one. Too much of the slow-moving Earth element about him, not enough Air. He seems slow and plodding. Even his horse is no nimble steed, but a heavy and stolid-looking black horse. In the Robin Wood Tarot, it’s even a Clydesdale, a draft horse like the ones that haul the beer wagons in commercials. Yes, I know I go on about that deck a lot; I just think it has such marvelous court cards! The horse stands perfectly still and has oak leaves tucked into its red bridle. But here in the Rider Waite Tarot the knight that sits astride him in profile looks no less heavy and unmoving than his mount; wearing full body armour partially covered by a simple robe or tunic of dark red, and a helmet with the visor up and a plume that seems also to be made of oak leaves. He wears leather gauntlets and holds a large golden pentacle up to just about eye level. But not the better to stare at it. Instead he seems to stare just over the top of it. Is he staring around him, at the wide rolling plowed fields of newly turned red-brown earth? Or the distant green mountains behind him? Or the improbably yellow sky? Or is he unfocused and staring at nothing, lost in thought? We don’t know. His somewhat serious expression as he peers between raised visor and chin guard of his helmet gives us nothing. No ball of fire, this knight, and not an exciting kind of a date. But one who’d never let you down.
So what impression does this give me? Slow, solid and enduring. In a timing kind of question I would say that the answer or event would not be forthcoming for quite a while. As far as people go, solid and dependable men of the land. Quiet and unassuming men of the land who are hard working and not afraid to get their hands dirty. When I think of this card a Murray McLaughlin song comes to mind, with its images of the man of the land, the dependable and unfancy work ethic, the weariness of an unexciting and sometimes unrewarding way of life:
Excerpt from “Farmer’s Song” said:
The combines gang up, make most of the bread,
Things just ain’t like they used to be.
And your kids are out after the American dream
And they’re workin’ in big factories.
If I walk by when you’re out in the sun,
Can I wave at you just like a friend?
These days, when everyone’s takin’ so much,
There’s somebody givin’ back in.
Straw hat and old dirty hankie
Moppin’ a face like a shoe.
Thanks for the meal, here’s a song that is real
From a kid from the city to you.
Creator’s Notes
In
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot Waite says:
Waite said:
He rides a slow, enduring, heavy horse, to which his own aspect corresponds. He exhibits his symbol, but does not look therein.
I get what Waite is saying here. It kind of reflects what I think of the match between horse and rider - that they both display the same plodding, heavy, methodical attitude. About the symbol, the pentacle, I’m not so sure. Is he exhibiting it?
Others’ Interpretations
As far as divination goes, Waite says that this card means:
Waite said:
Divinatory Meanings: Utility, serviceableness, interest, responsibility, rectitude-all on the normal and external plane. Reversed: inertia, idleness, repose of that kind, stagnation; also placidity, discouragement, carelessness.
Nothing really remarkable.
Thirteen says of this card:
Thirteen said:
As Travel: Travel on foot, hiking, walking, cycling.
As Change and Movement: The Knight of Pentacles is the most opposite to the Air element of the Knights. This means that he is the least Knight-like. Not inclined to move or fight. On the positive, movement and changes will feel steady, as this Knight is very consistent. But Knights are supposed to be fast, and this Knight is plodding. It will seem like things are moving/changing at a crawl, and that those who should defend their positions and put up a fight are taking too long to do so.
As a Teen or "Teen-like" Person: The Knight of Pentacles has all kinds of projects going, jobs on the side, and extra-curricular activities. He takes his work (or studies) very seriously, and is always looking ahead to the future. He likely has, in fact, long term plans, including what he wants to be, what he wants to do, down to getting married and having children. While this seems very positive, it can cause him problems when it comes to handling the unexpected or improvising. If he didn't plan for it, he doesn't know what to do about it.
Similarly, this Knight is uncomfortable standing out. While he wants to have the best that money can buy, he also wants to fit in. Thus, if every one of his peers must have a certain cell phone, he must have it as well. If he can afford the best of these, he will buy the best. If he can't afford it, he will work at part-time jobs till he can afford it. While this gives him an amazing work ethic, it also makes him too reliant on material things to give him status, and may make him embarrassed if he doesn't have enough.
This teen or teen-like person needs to have his own room or secret place, and woe to anyone who goes into that room or changes it in any way. The Knight pf Pentacles has his own organization system for everything, and a routine for keeping healthy. Not surprisingly, this teen can be far too solitary, too concerned with perfection, or earning a place of respect. Fear of failure or standing out may keep him from leaving his room. He needs to "lighten up."
He values and protects beautiful things and is a loyal employee if treated right.
Symbols and Attributes
I always have trouble associating court cards with specific astrological signs. I know so little about astrology, and find that keeping cardinal, mutable and … what’s the other one? Fixed? … signs and their associations straight. So between suits in the Tarot I tend to mix and match as to the cues I get from the cards and what I think fits. But more generally I just clump them together as being affiliated with any Earth sign, or Fire, or what have you, depending on the element of the suit in question. But as far as the suit of Pentacles goes, I can follow the visual clues for the Queen (Capricorn) and King (Taurus), and by process of elimination we arrive at Virgo for the Knight. At least I do
Virgo is a sign that is very associated with analytical skills, perfectionist tendencies, work and service, patience. It’s ruled by Mercury, which has to do with logic and rational thought. All elements of this card’s personality.
This card is generally considered the Air of Earth. Knights are affiliated with the element of Air, being swift-moving and active, masculine and changeable. Combine this with the feminine and slow-moving, passive and solid Earth of the Pentacles, and we have a bit of a contradiction. The two elements are antagonistic, as anyone who is more into elemental dignities than I am could tell you. Basically his inclinations to speed and decisive action are at odds with his slow and ponderous inner nature.
Knights typically represent movement, vitality, forcefulness, motivation, courage and action. This is mitigated somewhat by the slow-moving Earth element. He does not embody the Knightly aspects nearly as well as the other Knights. Perhaps this was behind Pamela Colman Smith’s decision to have this Knight shown in profile. Only one aspect of his forces is visible. We see the Earth of his suit, but not so much the Air of his position.
His helmet is crowned by a plume that I think resembles a bunch of oak leaves. Oak is a very hard wood, slow to grow to maturity but strong and majestic when it gets there. The same could be said for this Knight. He wears full armour, helmet and all, to show his self-protective aspect. This is a cautious man, one given to defensiveness and protection. He also shields his hands with leather gauntlets. They show he is willing to work hard, but is still careful of his hands. A man of the land, they are his livelihood, and he doesn’t treat them carelessly. One interesting little detail I didn’t really notice about his attire until I found it on a high-resolution scan of the card (I use a pocket sized version of the deck). On the side of the armour that is visible to us, he wears a spur on the heel. I would think it would be needed to spur that slow and heavy Earthbound horse into Airy speed and action. The coat he wears over his armour is a reddish brown. Again, it illustrates the conflict between his two key elements. Red is a good colour for Knights, representing life force, willpower and action. Willpower he has in spades, I think, he’s a very determined type. But action, not so much. It’s tempered by the brownish shading of his Earth element.
One hand, almost unnoticed in the card, tightly grips the horse’s reins. He has rigid control. With the other hand he holds his pentacle high. You’d think he’s holding it up to examine some minute detail of it. But is he? Rachel Pollack doesn’t seem to think so; in
Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom she says:
Pollack said:
Though he also holds a pentacle he does not look at it, but instead stares over it. The symbolism suggests that he has lost sight of the source and meaning of his strength in life. In dedicating himself to purely practical matters, he has cut himself off from the deeper things in Earth.
Now some versions of this card show that the Knight of Pentacles is most definitely staring
at his prize: the World Spirit Tarot, for one. Others, like the Tarot of Prague, deliberately show him staring
over it. And some, like the Morgan Greer Tarot or the Anna K Tarot, show the pentacle actually down low or even laid aside, completely beyond the Knight’s notice. But in the Rider Waite Tarot I think it’s much more ambiguous. Perhaps deliberately so. That leaves it open to a couple of different interpretations, depending on the reader’s own inclination and the situation at hand. Notice how the rest of his court family are most definitely staring at their own pentacles (well, not sure of the King, he could be looking down under downcast eyelids, or he could be dozing off).
But back to the Knight, to
this Knight, and the couple of different interpretations.
First, if it is an abstract thing, representing everyday magic as a talismanic emblem, then I agree with Pollack. The Knight overlooks the magic in his everyday life and focuses on the mundane. He’s lost sight of the “why” and is more interested now in the “how”.
But if it is an actual physical thing, this pentacle, like the Coins/Deniers of old, then it emphasizes his interest in the material and the practical without going into the abstract magical and symbolic hoopla.
Being a Pentacle type myself, I see the one here as a literal Pentacle, a trinket, a possession, a material thing. So when I see this card, I tend to think that the Knight of Pentacles was actually looking intently at his prize. Studying it, checking for flaws, perhaps assessing its worth, who knows? But then he got distracted. His gaze wandered slightly above it, taking in the fields and musing on whether he should sow oats or potatoes, perhaps. Or whether the rain will hold off until he can get that last bit of the field done.
The horse he rides on is black. It’s the darkest of the Knights’ mounts. It emphasizes the slow and heavy aspect of this horse compared to that of other Knights. Kris Hadar says on his website that the colour black represents “the metamorphosis of human consciousness into divine consciousness.” It basically indicates deeper, hidden and subconscious things. This Knight is not a talker, much is hidden or unstated. It ties together with the instinctual aspects of the horse as an animal, and the symbolism of horse and rider together - the union of the conscious with the unconscious. There’s a lot at work under the surface here.
Like his mount, the horse wears oak leaves at his head to represent the slow movement and dependability and Earth ties. A saddle blanket shows that this Knight is prepared for any eventuality, that he prepares for unforeseen circumstances. It may be that they will be gone for considerably longer than anticipated. It speaks of the Knight’s practical outlook. And finally, the bridle that the horse wears is red. There’s a lot of red here for a Pentacle card. But red represents willpower, and this Knight clearly controls the horse through strength of will.
In the Page of Pentacles, we saw only a small patch of plowed land, a tiny field. By the time the Page has matured into the Knight, he has expanded his fields to extend from one side of the card’s frame to the other. It shows how the capacity for hard work and the labour and control have all increased. The fields themselves, as before, represent potential and preparedness, and the attention and care required to bring about material success and harvest. And of course, it represents the manual labour for which the Knight of Pentacles has such capacity, and ties him to the element of Earth. Grounds him. And again, as in the Page, the yellow sky behind him represents the intellect. The Knight has the capacity for hard work, but also the smarts to back it up. To work smart, not just work hard.
My Interpretations
Whenever a Court card comes up in a reading, there are a few different ways to interpret it.
In the abstract, Knights deal with travel, movement and action. So I might view it as traveling for work, camping or roughing it, or physical work. If any of these are the case, it’s pretty sure that it won’t be swift travel, exciting or for pleasure, and you likely won’t be traveling very far.
If this card came up as a person, I would see it as any of the following: an Earth sign (likely Virgo) person, a young man, a practical person who is cautious and patient and slow to act, hard working and reliable if not exciting. The type who is prepared for any eventuality, and who is a ponderous but deep thinker. Quite common fields of work will be physical work with the land, or anything that entails skilled work with the hands.
If it came up as advice in a reading, I would think that it counsels against hasty action and in favour of taking your time to consider all sides of a situation before proceeding. Alternately it may warn that you are being
too slow and ponderous, and to shake things up a bit. Let the Knight side take over a little bit! It may also mean that you are too focused of late on the physical, on the material. Look up for a bit and take in the rest of life.
It's perhaps important to remember the conflict in place here between the two elements. The swift action of the Knight's Air versus the immovable stability of the Pentacles' Earth. Expect conflict and confusion, perhaps inner turmoil.
