Minor Arcana · Pentacles·4·Earth

Four of Pentacles

A man sits on a stone seat in the Four of Pentacles, hugging one pentacle to his chest. Another is balanced on his crown, and one sits under each foot. He’s holding on to all of it.

securitycontrolholding on

Arcana

Minor

Number

Element

Earth

Suit element

Earth

What the card means in tarot

Here is the card of control and holding on. You have what you have, and you don’t want to let any of it go. That can be healthy caution. It can also be the point where fear of losing something starts running your life, and the Four of Pentacles asks you to notice which one it is.

Four of Pentacles upright

Keywords: security · control · holding on

Upright, the Four of Pentacles means financial security, along with a tendency to cling. It’s a good card for saving and for protecting what you’ve built. The caution: fear of any risk at all can keep you smaller than you need to be.

Four of Pentacles reversed

Reversed, the Four of Pentacles signals a loosening grip. You’re learning to give, to share, and to take a reasonable chance. Less happily, it can point to losing control of your spending.

Tip: See whether Four of Pentacles shows up in your own reading. Try a free tarot reading You get a daily card and detailed spreads based on traditional RWS symbolism.

Four of Pentacles in love and relationships

In love, the Four of Pentacles is the card of tightness and fear of loss. Single, you may be clinging to your solitude because you’re afraid someone could hurt you. Or you attract people who hold on to each other out of fear. In a couple, one partner controls the money, the time, or the friendships, and love starts to feel like a locked room. Reversed in love: loosening up, opening the door, letting the other person in.

Four of Pentacles in career and money

In your career, the Four of Pentacles means hanging on to a post, a title, or money out of fear. The figure on the card clutches one coin, balances one on his crown, and pins two under his feet. He can’t move. The point: stinginess makes you poorer. With money, it’s saving so tightly that you never spend on your own growth. Reversed: letting go a little, putting resources into growing, sharing the gains with your team.

Four of Pentacles and personal growth

The Four of Pentacles is a reminder that abundance needs to flow. Water that never moves goes stagnant. What you guard too closely stops doing you, or anyone else, any good.

How to read Four of Pentacles in a spread

In the advice position, the Four of Pentacles says: loosen your grip, because what you’re holding is holding you too. In the past, a fear of loss that taught you a lot. In the present, tension between wanting and fearing. In the future, either a release or an even tighter clench.

Symbols on the card

Pentacle pressed to his chest: emotional attachment to what he owns
Pentacle on his crown: a mind fixed on possessions
A pentacle under each foot: so anchored in security he can’t take a step
Stone seat: rigidity
The city behind him: the world he’s turned his back on to guard his coins
The crown: status and power, without much visible joy

Common questions

What does the Four of Pentacles mean in tarot?+

The Four of Pentacles is about financial security and a tendency to hold on too tightly. It favors saving, and it cautions that fear of every risk can block growth that’s within reach.

What does the Four of Pentacles mean in love?+

In love, the Four of Pentacles can show jealousy, control, and fear of losing a partner. Reversed, the grip loosens, and there’s more room for the other person’s freedom.

What does the Four of Pentacles reversed mean?+

Reversed, the Four of Pentacles signals letting go: learning to give, share, and take a measured chance. It can also point the other way, to losing control of your finances.

There’s a story behind how Four of Pentacles was drawn. Read the history of the RWS tarot → Meet Pamela Colman Smith, Arthur Waite, and the 1909 deck that 80% of tarot readers use today.

Related cards· Pentacles

3 · Three of Pentacles

teamwork

5 · Five of Pentacles

All Pentacles cards

More cards: Major Arcana, Wands, Cups, Swords

Try this card in a reading

Four of Pentacles shows its full meaning only alongside other cards. Here are six of the most popular spreads where it can turn up:

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A free daily card and 12 kinds of spreads, based on traditional Rider-Waite-Smith symbolism.

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For more on where the cards come from, read The 1909 tarot: the most famous cards in the world It covers how the RWS deck came to be and why 80% of tarot readers worldwide use it today.