King of Pentacles
Minor Arcana · Pentacles · number 14 · Re di Denari
Upright
The King of Pentacles sits enthroned among grape clusters, a castle behind him: valour, realising intelligence, aptitude for business and numbers, success along these paths. He is the man who built and knows how to administer. If these days you are dealing with a budget, a negotiation, an investment, or meet such a person who can help you, it is no accident: it is time to reason with the figures in hand. In love he speaks of a stable partner, not very romantic but present. The practical advice: do the sums precisely, seek advice from those who have built something, and do not be ashamed of wanting security.
Source: Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) · read the original passage
Reversed
Reversed, the King of Pentacles rots on his throne: vice, weakness, ugliness, perversity, corruption, peril. Economic power used badly, the businessman who buys everything, favours and people included. If these days you are dealing with someone who uses money to dominate you, an employer, a relative, a partner, or you feel your material security is making you cynical, it is no accident. Beware of bribes, of favours paid for in dignity, of deals you cannot talk about. It is not a sentence, it is a danger flagged. The practical advice: refuse the money that asks for your silence, and account for your own money to someone honest.