Notes on: 2 of Pentacles

This is the first of a series of "notes" on individual cards.  In these notes I'll expand on the meaning of the card, tossing around some different ideas, and considering the impact of each card in the context of my own experience.

2 of Pentacles, Rider-Waite Tarot

One day I drew the 2 of Pentacles reversed, and I realized that although I've never had trouble understanding its basic meaning, or so I had thought, I've always known that I wasn't really getting to the deep-down truth of it. Seeing it reversed just brought this more forcefully into my awareness.

But every now and then it's like a guiding hand parts the clouds of confusion and points me in the right direction, and today it really came through for me re: the 2 of Pentacles. There are various ways of interpreting reversals and none of them works for me all the time (that will be a subject for another post). Many times when I get a card reversed, it is simply calling my attention to the fact that I must probe the deeper meaning of it, not just its superficial symbolism.

So anyway, I was looking at the 2 of Pentacles, and specifically the archetypal Rider-Waite version (at left). Almost all the interpretations of the 2 of Pents that I've ever read have mentioned "juggling" (e.g., of finances or projects) and "balancing" (e.g., balancing work and home lives). But these interpretations leave out an important element of the imagery--the infinity symbol.

The way I see it, the man isn't really juggling the coins at all--note that they are not up in the air; rather, they are in his hands AND they are revolving around him, within the infinity loop, which is centered at his heart. Thus the man is merely holding or supporting them. The coins (and what they stand for) flow or cycle around the man's center eternally. The ships at sea, meanwhile, suggest the notion of riding the tides of life, relaxing into its ebb and flow.

On the one hand, this card reassures us of the eternal availability--correction:  the universal abundance--of the basic stuff we need for life (represented by pentacles). On the other hand, it also reminds us that no matter how busy we may be, trying to juggle and balance (there, I said it) all our tasks and responsibilities, this is not real reality. This isn't the level of awareness where change really happens. The juggling doesn't get you anywhere. Change happens first in your heart and soul. You have to stop focusing on the two coins and start seeing infinity, stop putting your focus "out there" and return to your center.  From a Buddhist point of view I would say that while the tides will always ebb and flow (creating illusions of good/bad, having/not having, etc.), the ship will always stay on top of the water.  In fact, it's the emptiness of the ship that gives it this perfect equilibrium.  That is something to consider when we draw this card.