Six of Pentacles

Minor Arcana · Pentacles · number 6 · Sei di Denari

Six of Pentacles, plate by Pamela Colman Smith
Pamela Colman Smith, 1910

Upright

The Six of Pentacles is a merchant with scales in hand handing coins to two poor men: presents, gifts, gratification, and another reading says attention, vigilance, present prosperity. It is the card of measured generosity. If these days you receive help, a bonus, a loan on good terms, or if you are the one in a position to give, it is no accident: the moment is favourable. Just watch the scales: giving too much or too little unbalances relationships. The practical advice: if you receive, say thank you and note the debt; if you give, give without expecting gratitude, but with a clear limit.

Source: Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) · read the original passage
«Presents, gifts, gratification; another account says attention, vigilance, now is the accepted time, present prosperity, etc.»

Reversed

Reversed, the Six of Pentacles overturns the scales too: desire, cupidity, envy, jealousy, illusion. The gift becomes a demand, and help a way to control. If these days you notice you envy what others have, or feel owed by the people you helped, it is no accident: the generosity had a hidden price. Beware of those who give in order to remind you later, and of promises of easy gains that tickle greed. It is not a sentence, it is a mirror. The practical advice: before asking or accepting, clarify in writing what is expected, and do not compare your account with your neighbour’s.

Source: Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) · read the original passage
«Desire, cupidity, envy, jealousy, illusion.»

Source

Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) Part III, § 2, The Lesser Arcana, Six of Pentacles https://archive.org/details/a.-e.-waite-the-pictorial-key-to-the-tarot