MINOR ARCANA
Knight of Pentacles Tarot Meanings
The Knight of Pentacles is the fire of earth, he is the passion we have for life, our loyalty to friends and family and the ambition we have in our careers.
He’s probably one of the ‘safest’ Knight cards to get as he’s not catastrophically impulsive like the Knight of Wands or quick to jump to conclusions like the Knight of Swords.
The Knight of Pentacles is level headed and knows what he wants, even if he has to make mistakes in order to get there, he always has his eye on the prize.
There’s a lot of hard work to be done with the Knight of Pentacles and because of that, he can often come in when we are allowing workaholic tendencies to take too much of a lead in our lives.
Knight of Pentacles Upright Meanings
In the upright position, the Knight of Pentacles is a very grounded card that is prepared to put the work in, in order to create his dream life. Some of the key meanings of the Knight of Pentacles are:
Persistence
Patience and care
Hard work
Realistic expectations
Something to keep in mind with any Knight in the Tarot is that too much of a good thing can be bad for you. The Knights tend to take positive traits from their respective suits and turn them up to level, creating an imbalance that can start to create issues and obstacles.
Knight of Pentacles Reversed Meanings
In the reversed position, the Knight of Pentacles is what happens when we allow the fiery energy of the Knight to scorch that Pentacles earth energy. Some of the main reversed meanings of the Knight of Pentacles are:
Unstable
Unfinished
Boring
Materialistic
Irresponsible
The Knight of Pentacles reversed is the extreme version of elemental earth. It helps to think about what issues could arise if we are too grounded, for example, we would be less likely to take risks or try new things. Often we can sacrifice fun and excitement for hard work and the safety of our own homes.
Reading Knight of Pentacles in a Tarot Spread
When the Knight of Pentacles comes up in your spread, it can help to imagine the imagery moving, especially if you have the Rider Waite-Smith deck. Try and imagine where this Knight is going, what does he see, what speed is he going. The Knight of Pentacles is pretty much stationary compared to the other knights, so that helps to tell us that he has taken a moment of pause to survey his surroundings. He is being careful about his next step and making sure he has everything under control before making a move.
With the Knight of Pentacles, it can help to start with the phrase ‘passion for the material world’ as this helps to find a context to the card that you can then start building on using the cards around it.
Knight of Pentacles as An Invitation
If the Knight of Pentacles shows up as an invitation it’s a sign to start thinking about what it is in life you feel strongly about, what are your core values, what are the beliefs that inform your actions?
For Knight of Pentacles, this invitation could be the following:
An invitation to look at how you could dedicate more of your time and energy to the things you love and care deeply about
An invitation to think about your ambitions in life and what kind of lifestyle you want to live
An invitation to review your expectations when it comes to reaching your goals
An invitation to review projects or tasks that you abandoned in the past and seeing how you could breathe new life into them
Knight of Pentacles as Sage Advice
The advice that the Knight of Pentacles often gives us is that of persistence and determination. He encourages us to keep pushing forwards, no matter how slowly we progress.
Some advice Knight of Pentacles may offer is:
You can never reach the finish line if you give up before you reach it. Keep persevering in order to reach your biggest goals.
It can be nice to stay in your comfort zone when things feel out of control in the external world, but it’s not somewhere we should reside long term.
Keep your eye on the prize and don’t allow menial things to distract you
Knight of Pentacles as a Lesson
When the Knight of Pentacles shows up to offer lessons, they will often be lessons around commitment and dedicating yourself to a single focus.
Some lessons that Knight of Pentacles may offer you are:
A lesson in patience and taking careful strides forwards
A lesson in setting realistic expectations that still allow you to dream big
A lesson in what it means to do hard work, but also balance it with rest and relaxation
A lesson in materialism and how to not fall into the trap of valuing material possessions over other areas of value
Knight of Pentacles as a Redirection
If the Knight of Pentacles shows up to offer you a redirection or different route, it may be that you’ve been too strict with yourself and too focused on one thing in particular, causing you to neglect other areas of your life.
As a redirection, Knight of Pentacles could symbolise a need to:
Take a break from pursuing your biggest dreams to just enjoy the present
Inject some more fun into your daily routines to prevent boredom and monotony
Switch up your expectations to be more realistic and take all variables into consideration, instead of just the ones that you want to focus on
Pentacles
The Pentacles are the suit that directs us to look at our physical health, well-being, home, work, finances and relationships. They are an active energy that requires some action on our part, in order for them to be able to do their job.
The Pentacles are the suit that can help us see the reality of a situation. There is no rose tinted glasses in the world of Pentacles, everything is as it appears to be. What often needs a shift is our own perspective or mindset around a situation. This is why we often find Pentacles referring to our most basic human needs of security and safety. Because how we think and feel about these basic needs can directly affect how we feel about the things in life that provide them.
Earth + Fire
The Pentacles correspond with the element of earth, but the knights are the element of fire. This means that the Knight of Pentacles is the fire of earth, it is fiery energy contained within grounded earthy energy.
With that, we can look at how these two elements interact with each other to get a better idea of what the Knight of Pentacles are trying to tell us. Fire can scorch the ground underneath it, but the earth itself often takes the burn and regenerates. In this case of controlled fire, it can be a very deeply cleansing energy. Much like how we sometimes use controlled fires to burn away the old to make way for the new. The Knight of Pentacles works in very much the same way.
Knights
The best way to think about what the Knights mean in the Tarot is to think about Knights throughout history. These figures were first and foremost soldiers and protectors of the realm. They would fight for what they believed to be right and were willing to take huge risks in order to achieve victory.
The Knight of Pentacles is still a soldier, not as impulsive or arrogant as the Knight of Swords or Knight of Wands, but still with a fire that motivates him into battle. Instead the Knight of Pentacles is about the destruction of old and often toxic routines and structures in order to build new ones. Similarly to The Tower but on a much smaller and more personal scale.
