Two of Pentacles
Minor Arcana · Pentacles · number 2 · Due di Denari
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The Two of Pentacles is a young man dancing while balancing two coins bound by an endless ribbon, as the sea churns behind him: gaiety, recreation, but also written news, obstacles, agitation, embroilment. It is the card of juggling. If these days you are doing somersaults between two jobs, two accounts, two family commitments, and still manage to smile, it is no accident: you are good at keeping things in the air. But watch the waves behind you, and a written message that may change your plans. The practical advice: keep a single notebook with deadlines and figures, and check it every morning.
Source: Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) · read the original passage
Reversed
Reversed, the Two of Pentacles keeps dancing but no longer believes in it: enforced gaiety, simulated enjoyment. Waite adds the literal sense, handwriting, composition, bills of exchange, that is, papers and letters carrying weight. If these days you laugh so as not to cry, or a payment deadline robs you of sleep while you pretend all is well, it is no accident. Beware of documents signed lightly and of written promises you cannot keep. It is not a sentence: it is a call for honesty. The practical advice: reread every written commitment you have made, and renegotiate what cannot hold before it falls due.