King of Pentacles

Wealth built and shared. Steady leadership in the practical world.

The picture

A king sits on a throne carved with the heads of bulls, surrounded by a garden thick with vines. His robe is covered in grapes and leaves. He holds a sceptre in one hand, and the other rests on a pentacle on his knee. One armoured foot shows beneath the robe, and a castle stands behind the wall.

Upright

Kings hold mastery in the world, and they lead with their suit. The King of Pentacles leads with the practical: the business owner, the provider, the person who built something solid and now uses it well. He is reliable, patient and generous with what he has.

Look at his robe. The garden has grown right into it, so his wealth and his life are woven together. And look at that armoured foot. He worked for this, and he can still protect it.

Like every court card, he can be a person, an approach or a part of you, and age and gender do not limit who he describes. He might be a mentor or an employer, a steady way of running things, or the part of you that is ready to take charge of your own resources.

Reversed

Reversed, I read this as too much, or blocked. Too much is wealth that has become the whole point: status, control through money, the need to own more than you can enjoy. Blocked is the solid ground failing, poor decisions with money, a business that is being mismanaged, a provider who cannot provide.

To tell which, ask what the money is for. If the answer is more money, it is too much. If you no longer know where it is going, it is blocked.

When it turns up

What have you built that could now support someone else?

If you would like the cards read against your own chart, my readings are here.