The Seven of Pentacles - Contemplation in the Tarot
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The Seven of Pentacles is a great card for pause, reflection, and review.
To give you a bit of context whilst you reflect on your own relationship to the card, here’s a few key things to know about the Seven of Pentacles:
In the Rider Waite Smith Tarot, the card depicts a gardener, shovel in hand, contemplating their crop. What the card actually suggests the gardener intends to do with the crop - whether they consider it a solid harvest, or an overgrowth of weeds, is up to your own interpretation. We are catching the gardener on the cusp of their decision. They’re working out what they’re looking at, and what it means. The card indicates that making that space, for review and contemplation is essential - the card says that we don’t always have to be taking action. We are allowed time to process, to find meaning, value, and to make decisions about what to keep, what to leave alone, and what to remove from our lives.
Unlike the Rider Waite Smith version, Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris’s Thoth tarot leaves less to the imagination. Inscribed on the bottom of the 7 of Disks is the key word: Failure. On the one hand, it seems the Thoth version of the card has skipped that value moment of reflection before action - but it also offers its own wisdom when it comes to contemplation: reflecting on, and observing our failures - making time to contemplate what isn’t working, without judgement, is a powerful choice that can lead us to important decisions.
Ultimately, whatever version of the card you’re looking at, the Seven of Coins offers an inherent invitation to look more closely - at what you’re growing, at where you’re failing, and at how you’re responding to what’s in front of you.
In your tarot journal, you’re asked to reflect on what this card means to you, now, in this moment, and what actions and thoughts it inspires in you. As you journal, pay attention to what you’re personally picking up in the card, but also consider what the key symbols and themes in the card might be telling you. What areas of your life need more contemplation, and less immediate action? What recent “failures” deserve a closer look?
This mini-tarot lesson was brought to you by me, Chelsey Pippin Mizzi, founder of Pip Cards Tarot. I hope you gained a little context to help you continue reflecting on the card in your own way, and I’ll see you tomorrow for another mini-lesson.