7 of Pentacles–a Birthday Treat for Me!

Today is my 33rd birthday and the card of the day is 7 of Pentacles. My first card of the day usually comes from Facebook Tarot (It sort of works).

Facebook’s interpretation: Satisfied that work is progressing the way it should. You are reaping the rewards of your labors now. You may be able to ease up a bit in your efforts as they are paying off. Assessing where you stand. It’s time to stop and take stock. Make sure that you are still on course for the end goal. Enjoying a relationship. A break. (Sounds like a good birthday to me!)

When 7 of Pentacles comes up for my clients using the Rider-Waite-Smith deck (from which the card on the left comes originates), I look at the little guy surveying all of his coin-crops bursting and interpret it as:

 

* A good job, well done.
* Appreciating fruits of labor.
* Money made.
* Interpersonal relations smoothed over.

SPOILER ALERT! Facebook doesn’t always show the true story. I take my FB readings with a grain of *shrug.* However, today I also randomly pulled the 7 of Pentacles from the Steampunk Tarot by Barbara Moore.

This card is much less about product and more about planning. The 7 Pentacles aren’t popping out of the ground, they’re charted in a steampunky version of a Powerpoint presentation. The gender-neutral character in the middle is trying to figure something out–to either learn from it or improve it.

When I’ve received this card in this deck while reading for my clients, I generally see:

* Planning
* Improving
* The work is not done yet
* Much of this you will have to do alone, but you’ll be okay with that! (The card’s character does not seem stressed by this solo work).

What does that mean for me? Another book? Another endeavor? Maybe helping develop the systems at my new job? Maybe simply building and improving on what I already have going on? My Mercury and Mars in Gemini are easily distracted, but this character is not. Maybe I need to embody my inner gender-neutral life-planner.

Other decks will say different things! So much of the Tarot’s symbolism and messages come from the artist’s interpretation.

I love Emily Carding’s Tarot of the Sidhe as it loosely aligns itself with the classic Tarot….while still dancing off into a whole other realm, redefining Tarot and its messaging. Maker Seven is the equivalent (I think!) to the 7 of Pentacles in more standard decks. Looking at the little Faery creature in the center, pushing up a pillar that is either stone or imaginary, I take it to mean:

* Realignment, recalibration
* Restoring order or tradition
* Building something bigger than oneself
* Pushing against an imaginary obstacle (if this is to mean that the pillar is air and not stone)

That’s one for a meditation. For me, what am I needing to realign? What am I building that is much bigger than me? Am I restoring tradition or wasting my time against something that’s not a “real” issue?

When George and I did our Tarot of the Boroughs, we decided to call our Pentacles “Coins” (to help connect the idea of the earth-based pentacle with the contemporary idea of money) and we envisioned the card to mean opulence–being so abundant with goods that you can light a cigar with burning cash. We actually did burn a bill for this–a small one–which scared the crap out of a bunch of kids. “MOMMY! THEY’RE BURNING MONEY! MOMMY!!! MOMMY!!!” In readings, this has come to mean:

* Just that–having money to burn
* Being totally wasteful. Seriously. Who does that? Burning money…..* No longer giving a rat’s ass about what bothers others–including those freaked out kids on the street.
* Feeling comfortable enough in your situation and self that you can be a little frivolous.

I don’t get this card much for myself when I read with TofB. I’m a miser–bordering on being a cheap miser. I don’t like to spend dollars, so surely wouldn’t burn them! I much more of the kind of 7 of Pentacles Lady as seen below:

The Art Nouveau was my first Tarot deck. I call it “Old Faithful.” It’s no longer in print, so if you want me to read for you with it, you have to come see me in my studio as I no longer take it out in public! In this deck, the couple is working together on a plan. In many readings, it represents:

* Cooperation
* Communication
* Compromise
* Drafting plans for a life together

However you slice the 7 of Coins/Pentacles/What have you…I’ll take it as a birthday reading! It looks as though Year 33 will be packed with plans, work, and productivity. My 30’s have already proven that those omens are the best.

If you want to wish me a Happy Birthday, do so by “Liking” my friggin’ Facebook Page! Giving away five email readings to random “Like”ers when I reach 500!