The Three of Pentacles symbolizes teamwork, construction, acquiring or applying skill sets, cooperation, team-work or mastery. In the Three of Pentacles we see an architect holding plans for the construction of a church, a monk or priest contributing input and a sculptor who appears to be in the middle of his work. The sculptor is the embodiment of Water, which rules artistic, visionary labor, the architect is the embodiment of Air, which rules skill sets and the rational mind, and the monk represent Fire, which rules spirituality, religion and study. The building itself, marked with three pentacles, is the manifestation of Earth, as it is the fruit of their labors. Thus we see the intersection, cooperation and blending of three elements, and their ultimate realization in the fourth element through physical manifestation. This card suggests team-work, and especially expertise. Find masterful craftsmen or scholars on your topic, and especially incorporate different points of view or different kinds of skill sets.
More figuratively, this card may refer to different aspects of the self, which, when placed in proper balance to one another and nurtured, improved and given proper outlet, can lead to the most magnificent kinds of accomplishments. Similarly, this card may mean that your spiritual, intellectual and emotional or artistic evolution will not come, not through meditation, study or introspection, but through simple, practical hard work.
The Pentacles suit at first appears somewhat boring when compared to the exotic and mystical-looking cards of Cups and Wands, mostly because the cards depict much more mundane, real life situations that we are used to seeing, rather than people running out of castles with wands or beholding visions of goblets in the sky. We often undervalue the simple benefits of labor and working hard toward the accomplishment of a goal, especially when it comes to spirituality. But one can spend his whole life studying symbolism, daydreaming beautiful visions for masterpieces, or even practicing and training in certain artistic or labor skills, and if he never makes anything useful out of it, then it is all for nothing. In the same way, we often do not even truly understand the topics that we study until we “get our hands dirty” and actually try to apply the concepts in 3-D reality. There is a whole other level of knowledge and understanding that are acquired through physical work, and this applies not only to practical skills but to spiritual concepts, artistic inspiration and emotional understanding.
Astrological Association:
The Three of Pentacles card is connected to Jupiter / Mars as a symbol of creative success; or Saturn Revolution as a symbol of a new life period.
Card meanings upright:
The Three of Pentacles card may mean that you will experience job satisfaction or pride in your work. You may be a specialist or expert in your field or work in a creative field while developing expert level talent in an art you enjoy. You may need to look at the big picture more to determine how you can benefit others and fulfill your true purpose.
Card meanings reversed:
When the Three of Pentacles card is reversed, it may indicate that your work performance is lacking in quality. You may be losing sight of tasks or having issues with paying attention to details. You may lack direction at work or feel unsupported, and feel you are delivering mediocre work as a result.
