Like all Minor Arcana cards within the Rider-Waite tarot deck, the Seven of Pentacles is layered with meanings beyond its initial imagery. While there are heavy financial connotations with this card, there are also lessons in patience and growth.
This article will follow the same structure as our other tarot guides to help explain the Suit of Pentacles Seven meaning.
Seven of Pentacles Keywords
Upright card (keywords)
Harvest, rewards, results, growth, progress, perseverance, patience, planning
Reversed card (keywords)
Unfinished work, procrastination, low effort, waste, lack of growth, setbacks, impatience, lack of reward
The Seven of Pentacles Tarot Card Description
The Seven of Pentacles illustration has a young man standing in a garden overlooking his hard work. The bush that he has been tending to has pentacles—gold coins—embedded within it, representing the dividends yielded from a lot of effort.
The card is more than a man admiring money, as it appears he is taking a break from his shift. His posture suggests a moment of reflection, where he is observing his progress thus far—he isn’t indulging in materialism, but appreciating his efforts. He’s using the stick, which has been used for his work, as his resting tool, but firmly remains upright enough to continue working any minute now…
The background has fertile flat land underneath a clear sky, suggesting favorable crop conditions and explains why this is a good card in a reading. The man is dressed in a humble way, like a farmer might, rather than a man of inherited wealth.
Interestingly, many of the pentacles remain in the harvest, while only one is within his possession. This is a strong message that he’s only taking some dividends now, leaving the bulk of it for his long-term goal.
The Seven of Pentacles Upright Meaning
The Seven of Pentacles tarot card meaning revolves around the idea of balancing hard work with being reflective. The upright position of this card is trying to tell you that a lot of your growth will occur in the quiet moments between a lot of work.
Reflecting and resting is a good way to appreciate your efforts, but not so much that you get carried away. Measuring your progress should be holistic, where you incorporate a long-term view rather than trying to yield all of the fruits instantly. It’s not always harvest time for Pentacles on a vine, and some investments need time to develop to get the desired results.
The upright meaning of this card isn’t only an encouragement to continue working hard, but taking a mid-point evaluation of things. Be it your love life, retirement planning, or health, this is a call to assess how things are going.
Love Meaning
While the Seven of Pentacles has connotations with money and work, it still has a lot to say in a love reading. This card comes at a time in your love life when you’re in need of evaluating the health of a relationship—it encourages you to reflect on what you’re getting out of it, and where it’s headed. This isn’t a skeptical outlook on your love life, as it equally serves as a reminder to be appreciative and grateful.
For singles, the message is about patience. Just as crops need care and attention to yield, so do relationships. Connections require consistent nurturing, and so this is a call to let things unfold naturally rather than to rush our emotions.
Career Meaning
This card is all about long-term success that comes from the manifestation of ideas, and it’s very much central to the career reading too. You may have spent many years learning your craft and developing skills, and this is a signal to assess your career path (or the projects you’re working on within your job).
These moments of reflection are crucial to our personal development, but there is a nudge towards recognizing that a lot of your fruits may come later on. This is often the case within most lines of work, where it takes a lot of time and effort to learn, with little in return, and much of the payoff comes towards the end of your career.
Finances Meaning
This is a powerful card for a financial reading. You need a clear financial goal that takes a realistic view of your health and outlook. It’s a warning against highly aggressive, short term investments, as true dividends are paid with long term, safe investments that derive their value from hard work, productivity, growth, and profitability—crops do not grow based on speculation.
There is a suggestion that you’re in the growth phase of your finances, where things haven’t yet fully matured but show signs of promise. You need patience and frequent reviews of performance, where you can step back and get a big-picture view of things.
The Seven of Pentacles Reversed Card Meaning
The reversed card has a very different meaning, where necessary changes may lie ahead. Perhaps you have understated the rewards for your hard work and you’re growing impatient. You may be questioning how you’re spending your time entirely, unhappy with the delayed benefits. Perhaps most stark of all is a warning against abandoning projects altogether, or trying to force results prematurely.
Love Meaning
This card in a reversed position poses some challenges. You might be growing impatient with your current relationship or when dating. Perhaps you’ve had limited success romantically and you’re forcing things to move faster.
However, this can scare people away and completely scatter the future outlook. You may even be questioning whether your emotional investment in this person is getting anything in return. The lesson here is again about taking a moment to re-assess and to ensure neither of you is taking the relationship for granted.
Career Meaning
In a reverse position during a career reading, you may be experiencing some stagnation within your career. Promotions are elusive and skills plateauing, so you might be concerned about unfinished work or not hitting your full potential. You may feel as though so much effort is going unnoticed, but this reversed meaning serves as a warning against short term thinking.
Finances Meaning
The Seven of Coins card, as we could call it, in a reversed position has strong implications, suggesting you’re financially impatient or have made low effort decisions. While this can be surrounding your investments, it may simply be that your efforts for making small, frequent savings haven’t tangibly helped you. Most threatening of all, however, is when growing frustration turns into poor management. For example, unsustainable financial decisions, like taking out debt or making bad investments.
Other Cards With The Seven of Pentacles
This Minor Arcana card has many good things to combine with other card card elements. From a lot of effort to a lack of growth or lack of reward, combining with other cards can help get a clearer perspective to guide you—and sometimes better recognize your spiritual journey, too.
The Seven of Pentacles and The Hermit
When combined with The Hermit, inspection is profoundly enhanced. These two cards create a powerful synergy surrounding your inner wisdom, which is something that the Seven of Pentacles on its own lacked messaging about. The Hermit further encourages you to withdraw during your introspection, where deeper insights can be garnered. This reflection isn’t only about the fruits of your labor, but in whether the efforts align with your authentic true self.
The Seven of Pentacles and The Empress
The Empress pairing creates a dialogue about abundance and growth cycles. Both have a lot to say about growth, but the Empress embodies fertile and creative energy. Together, this is a sign to balance your hard work and cultivation with being nurturing and allowing things to naturally unfold. Whether it’s your career, relationship or home garden, fertility requires healthy conditions and cannot be forced.
The Seven of Pentacles and The Eight of Pentacles
When paired with the next card in the tarot deck, the Eight of Pentacles, a bigger picture is formed surrounding mastery. The former is all about evaluating progress, while the latter is focused on craftsmanship. Together, it’s the ultimate positive feedback loop: Work hard, reflect, adjust your focus on skill development, work hard, and so on… This is a moment for you to really hone in on your skills and decide where to develop your craft.
The Seven of Pentacles and The Four of Cups
The Four of Cups is a card about not being emotionally satisfied. When combined with the Seven of Pentacles, you may be questioning whether your efforts have been worthwhile. This is much like the reversed position meaning, and it signals a need to reassess not only the results but your expectations, as there is a danger of overlooking modest progress.
The Seven of Pentacles and The Wheel of Fortune
These seemingly opposing cards create an interesting tension. The Wheel of Fortune is a card about unpredictable cycles and chance. This isn’t what any farmer would want to hear, but it’s an important lesson to learn as we can then grow to accept that we’re not wholly in control over our crop’s fate. Together, this pairing recognizes that output isn’t perfectly related to input, but we must be patient with these larger cycles as there will be a turning point in your favor—be it a large inheritance or an unexpected job offer.
The Seven of Pentacles Card and Its Astrological Sign
Like the Six of Pentacles, the Seven is related to the zodiac sign of Taurus. The element of Earth highlights patience and determination, which is precisely what the Seven of Pentacles is grounded in. This astrological connection only amplifies the message of the card, which is about steady progress and a willingness to be patient to read your rewards.
Conclusion
In this free guide, you have learned the essential tarot meanings of the Seven of Pentacles. It’s a card that highlights desired results coming to those who are patient. And, in the meantime, reflect and appreciate the efforts so far…
Whether it’s harvest time for you or you’re still early on in your spiritual journey, our free tarot reading can help you reflect on your overall health and love life, and place these tarot cards in a spiritual context.
Looking for further explanations? Try our free psychic chat or get a Yes or No Tarot reading.
