The Six of Pentacles

SIX OF PENTACLES - HOW ARE YOU SPENDING YOUR ENERGIES?

From The Rider Waite Tarot

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

This card is showing up in a lot of readings lately which suggests that is  “up”for many of us. I know it certainly is for me. We see a rich man holding the Scales of Justice as he doles out coins to the beggars on their knees in front of him. What is going on here? 

In the Sixes of the Minor Arcana we move from the chaos, fear, and loss of the Fives into a place of balance and harmony. What a relief! In the Six of Pentacles we are given the opportunity to take stock of where we are spending our energy, to re-think our goals and assess where we are and what we want to accomplish. Balance is a changeable quality; the smallest shift in our attention and action can tilt the scales one way or the other. What is wanted here is a sense of reciprocity, where what we give is balanced with what we receive. 

How are you spending your energy, your attention? Each day we have more opportunities than we can possibly experience. Relationships, work/career, health, exercise, leisure, study, money, entertainment, and the mundane aspects of life, such as maintaining our home, paying bills, all take “coins” from our “purse” of energy. Our spiritual practice, even the words we speak and the thoughts we think all require an expenditure of our energy. We can’t pay out what we don’t have. Eventually promises have to be kept, debts of all kinds (monetary, emotional, relationship, physical) get called in. 

When we know what we want, have set goals, worked at them, and finally obtain them, we achieve a sense of personal power, of worth and value. It doesn’t matter if our goals are small and short term or grand and long term, the process is the same. We learn to evaluate and make appropriate decisions. We learn how not all decisions were the best choice (hindsight is a bitch, as I always say), accept the temporary loss as a learning opportunity, and shift back into balance with a new approach. As we are more able to manage and succeed in our own lives, it offers us the ability to better serve others, to be leaders and bring positive change in the world.  

Sometimes we have to let go of people, stuff, old engrained habits, even deep core beliefs of spiritual, family and personal attachments. This is no less than setting ourselves in order to help restore the cosmic order. Our lives are affected by one another. As we come more into the great Age of Aquarius, we are starting to feel more strongly the need to be harmonious in community with more cooperation and less ego driven “hot shots.” Not a lot separates that rich man in the card from the beggars who supplicate him. A run of bad decisions, a loss of attention, focus on what does not give positive reinforcement, and he could end up being the beggar. 

And wouldn’t it be nice if equality helped reduce the gap between the rich and the beggars? And I do mean within ourselves…. where are you rich? Where you are begging? Where is your balance? 

Peace and blessings to you on your journeys….

Kathryn Ravenwood  9.21.15