Eight of Pentacles
Secret whisperCoin after coin, the apprentice becomes the master.
Upright meaning
Upright keywordsdiligence, skill, mastery, dedication
Dedicated work and steady skill-building. Practice really does lead to mastery.
Reversed meaning
Reversed keywordsperfectionism, lack of focus, cutting corners, boredom
Perfectionism or lost focus. Find the meaning in the work again.
About the suit of Pentacles
Pentacles belong to Earth: money, work, the body, home and the slow building of security. They ask what is real, practical and lasting.
Reading the Eights of the tarot
Eights move: progress, mastery through effort, and change of direction.
In Waite’s own words (1910)
From A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, public domain. Original English text.
Divinatory meaning: Work, employment, commission, craftsmanship, skill in craft and business, perhaps in the preparatory stage.
Reversed: Voided ambition, vanity, cupidity, exaction, usury. It may also signify the possession of skill, in the sense of the ingenious mind turned to cunning and intrigue.
The picture
An artist in stone at his work, which he exhibits in the form of trophies.
