Like some other Suit of Pentacles cards in the Rider-Waite tarot deck, this card is about skill and hard work. If you’ve been working your way through our tarot guides, you may be interested in what the Suit of Pentacles Eight meaning is and how it may apply to you.
This article will begin by looking at the card’s illustration and upright meaning, before looking at its reversed position, pairings with other cards, and its astrological connection. If you have a lack of motivation or feel disillusioned currently by hard work or a new job, then this Minor Arcana card has a lot to say. However, it has a knack of creeping up to congratulate those who have recently mastered their craft.
Eight of Pentacles Keywords
Upright card (keywords)
Skill, talent, craftsmanship, quality, high standards, expertise, mastery, commitment, dedication, accomplishment
Reversed card (keywords)
Lack of quality, rushed job, bad reputation, lack of motivation, mediocrity, laziness, low skill, dead-end job
The Eight of Pentacles Tarot Card Description
The young man in the Eight of Pentacles tarot card is laboring over the pentacles. Each one (there are eight coins) is being handcrafted, highlighting that there are no shortcuts to hand-made goods. Six have been made already, one he is working on, and another waiting nearby, symbolizing that the work is ongoing.
The young man is fully concentrating so that he can dedicate himself entirely to his work. This is further emphasized by how far he is from civilization in the background, highlighting that he wants a sense of isolation to focus on his craft.
With each next pentacle he creates, the next is an improvement. We can see that because the coins are all slightly different in appearance, meaning that he is learning as he goes. There are some spiritual undertones to his blue top, while his red trousers reveal dedication and passion.
The Eight of Pentacles Upright Meaning
The Eight of Pentacles tarot card meaning in an upright position is one of the more straightforward cards in the Rider-Waite deck. The primary meaning is about dedication and mastery, just as the illustration boldly expresses. However, this can have some nuanced meanings when it comes to your love life and career path.
Ultimately, though, the card is telling you that you’re chipping away at something and that the same action over and over is eventually building towards a greater goal. These might be small steps, such as an early alarm each morning, or it could be something grand, like your home renovation that you’re working hard on.
Love Meaning
In love readings, the card has themes around dedication. The card is often a plea to continue working on your relationship with the same attention to detail that you do your work. You and your partner are likely putting in consistent, necessary effort, learning from one another, and working towards a sustainable relationship after the initial passion may have settled.
For singles, this is a recognition of self-improvement, in which you’re focusing on yourself first—to be the best person you can be—before looking elsewhere. This self-improvement not only makes you more attractive but shows patience in love, too.
Career Meaning
Since this card Eight of Pentacles tarot card is all about hard work, it’s quite a fitting theme for a career tarot reading. Perhaps you’re looking at getting a new job or new skill, this card recognizes perseverance. High standards are important to you, and a poor quality of work will not suffice. Your level of mastery will depend on how you strike a healthy balance between personal growth and sacrificing your home life. Spending much effort on just one may not be sustainable after a long time, though it can be difficult for those who own their own business.
Finances Meaning
So, how does this inner wisdom translate to financial success? When it comes to your financial reading, the upright position of the Eight of Pentacles is about financial security more than anything. Remember, quality over quantity, as per the young man on the card.
In financial matters, this means spending great effort on solid financial practices in your home life, like chipping away at your savings. Financial rewards will come from a honed skill and aptitude to deal with new financial situations more than simply material world wealth. In other words, you’re on track for financial self-sufficiency.
The Eight of Pentacles Reversed Card Meaning
The reversed meaning of the Eight of Pentacles tarot card has three main interpretations. Either you’re a perfectionist, but in an unhealthy way where the bigger picture is sacrificed for minor details. Secondly, you may lack focus, perhaps jumping between projects so you never become a master at one thing. Finally, you may cut corners, which is not conducive to becoming a master of any craft.
Love Meaning
In your love life, the reversed position suggests that you are struggling to maintain constructive energy for your relationship. This may have come through negligence, or that the effort is imbalanced. One warning, however, is to not hold yourself to too high standards, in which this perfectionism resurfaces as a desire for impossible standards.
Career Meaning
The reversed position of this card often appears when you feel that work is unfulfilling. The repetitive nature of work can sometimes get to you, perhaps because it feels as though it’s for no higher purpose, and this can lead to carelessness or burnout. A lack of recognition can also be a cause, but focus should always come back to the skill and craft itself—not extrinsic rewards.
Finances Meaning
The reversed position of this card is most concerning when you’re being careless financially, perhaps with a get-rich-quick mentality that can do a lot of harm to your long-term goals. However, the card may arise when there is a need for skill development in your financial literacy and honing the craft of looking after money—which is a skill in and of itself.
Other Cards With The Eight of Pentacles
While the Eight of Pentacles meaning is fairly straightforward, there are some interesting nuances in its meaning when combined with other cards.
The Eight of Pentacles and The King of Pentacles
Whenever two cards from the same suit are paired, you can consider it to be significant. The King of Pentacles reinforces the messages of the Eight, but with more authority. In return, there is a greater representation of wealth that will come from your mastery, and further encouragement to continue to work on your skills. This is a strong message and a positive omen with more to say about your material success.
The Eight of Pentacles and The Hermit
This pairing, with the Major Arcana card The Hermit, is a signal for a lot of focus and solitude to refine your skillset. The Hermit introduces a wisdom that comes from a period of intense study, which can best be done when withdrawn from the rest of the world, before coming back after a period of personal growth. This is also a period to reflect on your purpose, letting your heart guide your efforts, which can help become a technical master.
The Eight of Pentacles and The Ace of Pentacles
In yet another Suit of Pentacles pairing, the Ace of Pentacles is also a Minor Arcana card, meaning they both represent a daily issue. However, together, they signal that a new opportunity may be on the horizon. The Ace is all about manifestation and prosperity, and when putting that together with dedication to your trade, you may be rewarded with a new financial opportunity.
The Eight of Pentacles and The Fool
The Fool introduces a somewhat contradictory pairing, as its unpredictability is precisely the opposite of the Eight’s routine trade work. However, this can be an encouragement to take a big leap of faith towards a new skill-based endeavor. For example, you may be turning up each day to your corporate job, waiting to get home so you can practice your leathermaking hobby. This pairing is saying that you may want to take the risk of becoming a leathermaker, as you’re already on the right path to the dedicated skill acquisition that’s required.
The Eight of Pentacles and The Ten of Pentacles
As covered in our Ten of Pentacles guide, this Minor Arcana card represents wealth and legacy. This enhances the Eight’s success to be more long-term, perhaps even outliving yourself. This might be the tangible result of your efforts, like building a home or developing an important piece of software. Or, it could come in the form of monetary wealth, where you can pass down wealth.
The Eight of Pentacles Card and Its Astrological Sign
When it comes to astrology, the Eight of Pentacles is involved with the Sun in Virgo, meaning it’s shrouded in wisdom and a guiding light (the sun). This puts the focus of the card on goal-setting and sticking to that through attention to detail.
The card is also associated with the earth element, which revolves around stability and practicality. It is difficult to become a master of your skill without groundedness, and an ability to be persistent like the nature of Earth is.
Conclusion
A young man in a material world, as the card illustrates, shows the importance of working hard on your own craft. Spending time on small steps is what results in a good job. The Eight of Pentacles is about how modest, daily, repetitive tasks are what drive a high level of mastery. Great effort is needed to avoid a lack of quality, be it in your personal life or professional life.
Now that you’re beginning to build a picture of the themes in the Pentacles, our tarot guide on the Nine of Pentacles continues on from this. We also have a tarot reading available for free!
