Eight of Pentacles
Minor Arcana · Pentacles · number 8 · Otto di Denari
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The Eight of Pentacles is a craftsman engraving one coin after another, the finished ones hanging in a row: work, employment, commission, skill in craft and business, perhaps still in the preparatory stage. It is the card of an apprenticeship done well. If these days you are learning something new, a course, a new job, a skill, it is no accident: every engraved coin counts, even if the earnings are not visible yet. In love too, constancy is worth more than dramatic gestures. The practical advice: do one thing at a time and do it well; keep track of your progress, and do not skip the boring steps.
Source: Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) · read the original passage
Reversed
Reversed, the Eight of Pentacles drains the work of its meaning: voided ambition, vanity, cupidity, exaction, usury. And Waite adds something subtle: the skill is still there, but the ingenious mind turns to cunning and intrigue. If these days you work only for the money, or notice someone using their talent to cheat, a supplier, a colleague, it is no accident. Beware of rates that are too high, of professional shortcuts and of the temptation to play clever. It is a call back to the workshop. The practical advice: go back to doing one small thing well, and refuse the gain that requires cheating.