The Ten of Pentacles is the 10th tarot card in the Minor Arcana suit of Pentacles and represents the culmination of the suit, which describes the ways that we use our time, energy, and resources to build the fabric of our material world. This card conveys a sense of fulfillment and achievement as three generations of family members converse and relate to each other amidst their family home.
The Ten of Pentacles is associated with the element of earth and the third decan of astrological zodiac sign Virgo (20-29 degrees), which is ruled by Mercury, one of Virgo’s home signs. Virgo is oriented towards the refinement and perfection of one’s craft, and in the Ten of Pentacles, this is pictured as the larger project of one’s life and the bigger vision that one works toward.
Where the key meanings of the Major Arcana focus on life’s overarching themes and events, Minor Arcana cards like the Ten of Pentacles explore and reveal the more subtle changes impacting one’s day-to-day life and near future. The Ten of Pentacles also bears similarities with its sibling cards the Ten of Cups, Ten of Wands, and Ten of Swords, in that all four deal with the significance of concluding a journey or cycle.
Ten of Pentacles Keywords
Upright Keywords | Reversed Keywords |
|---|---|
abundance, culminations, family, legacy, long-term success and stability | overly focused on accumulation, lack of belonging or purpose, disconnected from roots, lack of security |
Description of the Ten of Pentacles Tarot Card
The preceding card, the Nine of Pentacles, depicts a woman enjoying the rewards of her hard work. While this card exudes an air of pleasure and abundance, it also emphasizes the solitary nature of her pursuit. In the Ten of Pentacles, we see a vision of abundance that is shared between a group or family and the ripple effects that come from the ability to share our good fortune, family values, and affluence with others.
The Ten of Pentacles is imbued with a cinematic quality, as the frame evokes the eye of a camera panning across a moment of a candid exchange between three generations of a family. A man and woman converse with each other while their child looks after the two white dogs, who go to greet the grandfather or old man in the background.
In the Rider Waite Smith tarot deck, the grandfather is dressed in richly colored and patterned robes adorned with grapes, indicating the fullness of his life experience and the abundance of old money that he can now pass on to the younger generations. The family stands underneath an archway, perhaps representing the threshold of time that marks both the beginning and the end of our human lives.
Overlaying this scene are ten pentacles arranged in a pattern that evokes the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. The Tree of Life is comprised of ten Sephiroth—emanations of the divine as expressed in everyday life. The overlay of this diagram alludes to the deeper meaning of the pentacles as manifestations of the divine in material form—the things that make up the solid foundation of our physical world are also reflections of our deeper purpose and hold clues to the deeper meaning of life.
Ten of Pentacles Upright Meaning
Because the Ten is the culmination of the suit, it speaks to ideas and dreams becoming manifest in the real world. Something that once existed as a hope, a concept, a vision, or a desire is taking form in tangible ways. Whether it’s a relationship, a business, a new member of the family, or a home, there is the sense that long-held plans are coming to fruition.
In a tarot reading, the Ten of Pentacles upright suggests that abundance, support, and a feeling of belonging are available to you now. You may be blessed with plentiful resources, support from loved ones, or a feeling of security in your home life or from within. You are supported in both tangible and unseen ways, and you can draw on your connections to the living as well as to your ancestors for guidance, support, and understanding.
Because this card speaks to generations, it invites you to consider your relationship to those who came before you as well as what you are working to leave behind for the next generation. Whether it’s about family stability, a business, or simply a way of being in the world that promotes healing and positivity for others, this card asks you to zoom out and contemplate the bigger picture.
Love and Relationships (Upright Meaning)
The Ten of Pentacles upright may reflect a desire to create abundance, stability, and deep bonds of connection in your life. It can represent the larger goal that you are working to create and asks you to keep this bigger vision at the forefront of your mind as you encounter the relationships and new love connections that can support you in bringing this to life.
Within the context of a relationship, the Ten of Pentacles suggests that you’re working together to build a vision of life that may include stability, prosperity, family, community, or a rooted sense of home. This card encourages you to invest in your long-term goals as a couple and work slowly and steadily toward taking the practical steps necessary to realize your vision.
Love/relationships upright keywords | Career/finance upright keywords |
|---|---|
working toward a bigger vision within a partnership, stability, shared long-term goals | taking practical steps toward a bigger goal, long-term business or investments, patience, manifestation of a dream |
Career and Finance (Upright Meaning)
In the upright position of a career and financial tarot spread, the Ten of Pentacles asks you to contemplate the bigger goal or vision of what you’re building toward and encourages you to take the practical steps necessary to get there. Whether it’s a family business or a long-term investment, the Ten of Pentacles asks you to cultivate patience, belief in yourself, and the willingness to put in work over the long term to achieve your dreams.
The Ten of Pentacles can also suggest that you’re seeing the manifestation of a windfall or long-held dream concerning your career path or financial prosperity. What started as an idea or a spark of short-term inspiration has morphed into reality, and this card invites you to celebrate your accomplishments and the ways you’ve navigated the challenges along the way in order to arrive at where you are now.
Ten of Pentacles Reversed Meaning
In the reversed position, the Ten of Pentacles can suggest that you feel disconnected from your larger purpose or sense of direction. This can come at a time when you’re re-evaluating your trajectory in life or feeling burnt out from pursuing a path that doesn’t bring a real sense of fulfillment. This card invites you to consider what would bring a truer sense of meaning and to take steps to align with that path.
The Ten of Pentacles reversed can also speak to a feeling of disconnection from others or from a larger feeling of community. This card invites you to reflect on your own lineage, ancestry, upbringing, family health issues, and family system in order to clarify your own ideals and desires about how you want to cultivate your own family’s future.
The reversed Ten of Pentacles can signify that your disconnection from your roots is creating a sense of inner fractures, feuds, or discomforts. You may consider how what you’ve inherited has shaped the strong foundation of the person you are today and the ways that you can find gratitude or a sense of connection to those who came before you.
Love and Relationships (Reversed Meaning)
The Ten of Pentacles reversed can signify that there’s a lack of long-term security within the context of a relationship. It may be that you and your partner’s long-term goals are not in alignment, which sows doubts about your ability to build a future together. You may benefit from having an open conversation about your goals and desires so that you can assess whether you are a good match for a long-term relationship.
The reversed Ten of Pentacles can also speak to a process of re-evaluating your desires within partnership. You may be examining ways that you approached previous relationships and are realizing that you’ve settled in ways that you are no longer willing to anymore. This process of clarifying your true needs can help you to align with a new and more supportive partnership down the line.
Love/relationships reversed keywords | Career/finance reversed keywords |
|---|---|
lack of security, long-term goals not in alignment, re-evaluating desires within partnership | disconnected from a larger purpose, overly focused on profit and accumulation, desiring a new approach |
Career and Finance (Reversed Meaning)
The reversed Ten of Pentacles can suggest that you’re feeling disconnected from a larger sense of purpose within your work or financial security. You may benefit from reflecting on what would bring a deeper sense of meaning and then taking the practical steps necessary in order to align with this new vision.
The Ten of Pentacles reversed may also signal that in an effort to build long-term stability, you’ve been overly focused on your profits, financial disputes, or financial losses at the expense of your deeper feeling of purpose or connection to your work. If you’ve been overly focused on protecting or accumulating your wealth, you may feel disconnected from yourself and desire a new approach that allows you to create financial stability while also feeling connected to something meaningful.