In my most recent editorial in The Magician (Autumn/Winter 2007) I only briefly got to talk about the dualistic and hermetic nature of the suit in the Tarot that represents the element Earth: most know it as the suit of Pentacles, but it is also known as Coins, Discs, and Stones. Unrestrained by word limit, I can elucidate further on this fascinating topic.
The most common interpretation of the Pentacles is that it symbolises all things material, mundane and ‘real’. The Coins represent money, and the tangible aspects of life such as work, toil, pragmatism, and wealth. From the Ace right through to the Ten, we embark on a journey from very few coins to many. Coleman-Smith’s artwork in A.E. Waite’s infamous deck is deceptive in my opinion, for it displays images which on the surface have this simple and mundane aspect.
But even in this, ‘Pixie’ Coleman-Smith was hiding the true nature of this suit with her simplistic images. Much like the true energetic depths of the element Earth itself. Both herself and Waite were members of the Order of the Golden Dawn, and were ‘taught’ the mysteries of the Tarot as probably laid down in the Cipher Manuscripts.
On the surface, matter appears solid. Quantum scientists have been looking further and further into the the structure of matter, and they are finding themselves getting further and further, and deeper and deeper into what appears to be endless space. For the background science, go to Fritjof Capra’s The Tao of Physics or The Web of Life. The recent movie What the Bleep do we know?! also goes into some detail about this.
In a nutshell, scientists now believe that the space between the sub-atomic particles which make up all matter is infinite – just like ‘outer space’! In a sense, this conforms with many Oriental notions of matter; one school of Buddhism claims that all reality is an illusion, that solid matter does not exist, and that it is all a trick of the chattering monkey mind.
It is our senses that tell us that we can’t walk through a wall, or that a cup will not fall through a table. From the Quantum perspective, this is probable, and some suggest that if we truly know/believe that it can happen, it will. This is getting a little beyond the scope of this article; the point I am trying to push home is that solid matter isn’t as solid or tangible as it appears.
Neither are the pentacles!
Which basically means that all those instances in everyday life – as represented in the suit of Pentacles – have only an illusionary nature to them. Yes, these things occur – however,, they are merely a reflection of what is occurring within us.
Remember: the pentacles are the suit par excellence of manifestation. In a sense, they are a culmination of the previous three energies (elements/suits): Fire (creative energy, will, power), Water (feelings, intuition), and Air (thoughts, communication, and ideas).
It is commonly understood that our ‘outer world’ experiences are a reflection of and a result of our internal chemistry. If we think poverty, we experience it; if we feel happy and positive, this will be our experience of the world around us; if we believe the wall in front of us is solid and impermeable, then we’ll get a nasty bump when we try to walk through it! 
So in a sense, this suit is really teaching us something about inner lives in a way that the other less immaterial suits can. The lessons of each of these cards is “that which is above is as that which is below; and that which is below is as that which is above.” This is the primary principle of Hermeticism – the duality of Nature: macrocosm and microcosm.
Rachel Pollack wrote the books to accompany the beautiful Haindl Tarot. She mentions in her introduction on the Stones that this suit is the most spiritual of them all; and indeed Haindl’s artwork represents this notion wonderfully. Don’t get me wrong, so do artists like Coleman-Smith, Lady Harris and Ciro Marchetti (to name but a few).
When learning Tarot (especially if you are being taught with the Rider-Waite deck) it is important to remember this ’spiritual’ aspect of the Pentacles, and not get caught up in the surface/literalist meanings of the suit. A pentacles card is showing us what is happening on the mundane level as a reflection of what is occurring inside of us. The depth of this suit may be harder to see than, say, the suit of Cups – but the depth is there!
mitakuye oyasin
