The Four of Pentacles
Key Words) Possessiveness, Stability, Frugality, Stinginess, Clingy, Hoarding, Not willing to invest out of fear of loss, Holding on to the old and familiar, Pinching pennies, Greed, Budgeting, Protecting yourself
The Four of Pentacles depicts a man holding onto his pentacles with all his might. It is as though he is afraid to let go and lose the limited amount that he has.
The Four of Pentacles can indicate you will be in this sort of scarcity mentality where you feel you have limited resources so you desperately try to hold onto what you do have out of fear.
Your focus on conserving may be hindering your ability to fully enjoy and appreciate what you already have, or it may be blocking new opportunities from entering your life.
In any case, this card signifies difficulty in letting go and trusting the process. When the Four of Pentacles appears, ask yourself, what am I afraid to release?
It is very difficult for something to grow if we don’t let go. How can a child fully grow into their own person if their parents smother them. At some point their child must leave the nest and find their own way in life otherwise they are stay stuck in childhood forever.
Similarly, if we hold onto our pennies and don’t invest them sensibly into our projects or business, how can it grow into more money? Yes this could be a risk but if we don’t invest it sensibly, we cannot grow it either. If we close ourselves off from others because of fear, we also close ourselves off from experiencing love. The Four of Pentacles can be an indication that we are blocking opportunities coming in because of this mindset.
General
The Four of Pentacles can mean you have a scarcity mindset regarding your financial and material resources. You may fear not having enough so you become overly cautious with your money, counting every penny and saving excessively.
Seeing The Four of Pentacles crop up in a general reading can mean that your finances are, or will be tight in the future. It can indicate you may go through a period of financial scarcity so you may need to find ways to scrimp, budget and save to get by.
Love
Seeing the Four of Pentacles appear in a love reading may indicate a few things. For one, it could mean that you are (or will be) involved with a partner who is very possessive of you.
I commonly see the Four of Pentacles represent partners who are very controlling. It can mean that you are, or will become involved with someone who wants to keep you all to themselves and watch and monitor your every move.
They may even attempt to control your dress, speech and try and prevent you from seeing other people. Seeing the Four of Pentacles can be a major red flag in this way so be cautious when you see this come up, especially if it appears with other cards such as the Knight of Swords.
The Four of Pentacles can also mean that you become involved with someone who is unwilling to open up to you. Whenever I see the imagery on The Four of Pentacles, I cannot help but notice that the figure is tightly crossing his arms where his chest is. It is like he is determined not to let anyone into his heart. This person you become involved with may be so frightened of getting hurt that you feel that you cannot get close to this person.
Alternatively, The Four of Pentacles may represent that you yourself are scared of opening up to others and getting hurt. You may actively reject potential partners, refuse to date or share your true feelings with anyone. You could block yourself off from experiencing great love due to this fear. Using your intuition will be key when coming up with the correct interpretation in your readings.
Feelings
The Four of Pentacles usually means that the person you are inquiring about feels possessive toward you. It could mean that they feel quite needy and clingy and feel they need some reassurance you aren’t going to abandon them.
As mentioned above, seeing The Four of Pentacles may be a major red flag as it could indicate that your person will exhibit controlling behavior toward you. They may see you as ‘theirs’ and feel unwilling to share you with anyone else.
It could indicate that your person may even be afraid to open up to you and fully let you in emotionally. As we can see, the figure on the card is holding onto the pentacle right by his chest. This can indicate that your person is closing you off, and refusing to let you into their heart.
Seeing The Four of Pentacles can also be a sign that your person does not wish to progress your relationship further. They may delay committing to you or show signs that they do not wish to move ahead with your connection for now.
Career
In a career reading, The Four of Pentacles can mean that you will experience stability in your career but a lack of growth. You may be so protective over your current position that you are scared to put any new ideas forward or trying out anything new for career growth. Perhaps taking a risk is advisable to experience growth in your career, especially if The Fool card comes out in an advisory position in your tarot spread.
Also, The Four of Pentacles may indicate that you are, or will be closing yourself off to others you work with (or those that work in your industry). You may be hesitant to work or share your ideas or plans with them as you may be concerned that someone will try and steal your ideas and take credit for them. While this may be a valid concern, closing yourself off to others could prevent any sort of collaboration opportunity.
Business
The Four of Pentacles can indicate that you will be unwilling to invest money into your business which means it cannot grow. It can indicate you may be limited on funds and need to be frugal with your resources so expansion of your business does not look probable right now.
It could be because you are risk averse and are unwilling to invest your money into your business when necessary for growth. The Four of Pentacles may be encouraging you to invest in your business so that it can grow. After all you got to spend money to make money!
*(keep in mind to always consult professionals when making financial decisions).
Financial
Similarly, this card may indicate you are so unwilling to invest so there won’t be financial growth. It can indicate that you will be scrimping and saving and cutting back on expenditure for the foreseeable future. More positively, it can indicate that you will successfully save up a nice nest egg for yourself.
As a Blessing
As a blessing, The Four of Pentacles indicates that your ability to penny pinch and conserve resources will mean you are safe financially. You have saved your money so now you have something to fall back on in times of scarcity.
The Four of Pentacles can also predict that any investments you have made or will make in the future will pay off.
* Again, please consult a professional before making financial decisions.
As a Challenge
The Four of Pentacles as a challenge indicates that you are experiencing control issues. You may be trying hard to control a particular outcome and are so afraid to let go. Life is constantly fluctuating and changing, we cannot hold onto the same old situation whole lives, we need to let go of the old so the new can enter.
The Four of Pentacles may also indicate that you are so afraid of losing someone that you sabotage your relationship. You may constantly want someones assurance that they will stay so you may exert controlling behavior toward them. You may do this to the point that that they feel they cannot breathe or enjoy the relationship (or you yourself cannot fully enjoy it in the moment because you are too scared of losing them).
Conversely, it could represent that someone will show controlling and possessive behavior toward you. You feel as though you don’t have room to breathe because you are too busy trying to assure your partner.
Advice
More generally, The Four of Pentacles advises you to take a frugal approach with your resources and save your money. The Four of Pentacles also advises you to carefully invest your money into something as this could pay off. Using your intuition is key to knowing which meaning applies to you. Obviously, seeking the advice of a financial professional is advised here but this is what it could mean in a tarot reading.
The Four of Pentacles also advises you to cling to what you already have. For example, if you are inquiring about whether you should stay in a relationship, job or any other situation, the Four of Pentacles advises you to hold onto it.
Yes, No or Maybe?
The Four of Pentacles is typically a no but this does depend on the type of question you ask.
If you have asked whether you should invest your time, energy and resources into something or try something new, the answer is a no, not right now.
If you ask something like should you continue with your relationship, current job, the answer is yes, you ought to hold onto it for now.
When will it happen?
January 10th to January 19th
Reversed Interpretations
See reversal guide for reversed interpretations