The Ten of Pentacles represents materialization on the bodily-practical level of human expression. Ten of Pentacles upright: habitation. Ten of Pentacles reversed: occupancy.
The Ten of Pentacles represents the sphere of materialization on the bodily-practical level of human expression. We are once again in the belly of the beast.
The Ten of Pentacles is our point of contact with the external world. We interact with the external world in two ways: we experience it and we act in it. Hence, the Ten of Pentacles represents the five senses on one side and bodily movement and speech on the other side.
Accordingly, the Ten of Pentacles stands for sensual pleasure. There’s nothing wrong with sensual pleasure, except we get addicted to it.
Everything we experience through the senses belongs to the external world. Since we can see and touch our body, it belongs to the external world, too. We are not our bodies. We inhabit them. Hence, the Ten of Pentacles calls for practicing bodily distancing. This can be a life-changing exercise. It allows us to distance ourselves from unwanted emotions, cravings, and pain, and lifts our self-identification out of our body and toward our soul.
The body has its own consciousness: the autonomic nervous system, which ageless wisdom calls the corporeal intelligence. Both the Ten of Pentacles and the Evolution card represent the corporeal intelligence. The corporeal intelligence governs all involuntary body functions and emotions. It has three divisions: the sympathetic, parasympathetic, and enteric nervous system. The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems manage sensory inputs and motor functions. The enteric nervous system is responsible for body maintenance.
The body talks to us through virtual sense impressions. For example, when the body conjures fear, it produces a sense of emptiness in the stomach. These signals are ambiguous. A sense of dizziness may signal that the body is getting sick, that we should slow down, or that the brain wants coffee. We need to interpret these signals.
Most tarotists consider the Ten of Pentacles an auspicious card. It shall signify physical abundance like wealth, financial security, inheritance, gain, riches, etc. These meanings pertain to the external world and fortune-telling, not psychological Tarot readings. But the Ten of Pentacles signifies bodily wealth, i.e., wellness.
The corresponding faculty is dwelling, which denotes our ability to dwell in our bodies and be present in the external world.
Have you ever noticed people that weren’t present? Maybe they were just absentminded, but it’s also possible they disliked their current circumstances, felt uncomfortable in their skins, or resented aspects of their lives. Hence, an inauspicious Ten of Pentacles may signify incarnational discomfort.
The Ten of Pentacles calls for managing sensual temptations and promoting wellness. The best way to increase our corporeal well-being is by loving our bodies. Here is an enlightenment arcana for you: cells have their own (tiny) consciousnesses and respond to love. You have 37.2 trillion cells in your body. That’s your nation, so, love it.
If the querent’s question pertains to adversity, the Ten of Pentacles calls for calming emotional reactions, making peace with unwanted experiences, and being patient in dealing with adversity.
An inauspicious Ten of Pentacles may foreshadow emerging unwellness, bodily ailments, hidden inflammations, aneurysms, and DNA issues. A neighboring inauspicious Evolution card or Five of Pentacles may confirm the latter. Mind that Chinese medicine specializes in energetic weaknesses (Nine of Pentacles) and Western medicine in organic weaknesses (Ten of Pentacles).
An inauspicious Ten of Pentacles may also hint at addiction to sensual pleasures, incarnational discomfort, misinterpretations of bodily signals, and illnesses. To pin-point weakened bodily areas, use the chart in the chapter The Bodily-practical Tree. To gain certainty, the querent should visit a doctor.
Ten of Pentacles Symbolism
The ten pentacles in the picture form a complete Tree of Life. Hence, the image symbolizes the end result of the activities of the bodily-practical spheres and paths. This result is a physical manifestation like a stone, a tree, or a painting.
In numerology, the number 9 signifies completion, and the number 10 harvest, i.e., the result of a completion. In business, this compares to completing a delivery and getting paid.
Although the number 10 represents tangible results, it also kicks off beginnings. The number 10 gives us the image of the completion of a cycle (0) and the beginning of a new one (1).
The Five Psychological Core Meanings of the Ten of Pentacles
We derive the psychological meanings of Tarot cards from their position on the Tree of Life. In the Enlightenment Tarot framework, the Ten of Pentacles represents Malkuth of Malkuth, i.e., materialization on the bodily-practical level of human expression.
Every Tarot card represents a faculty or power of consciousness. We can use faculties of consciousness constructively and destructively, which produces either a fortunate or an adverse state of mind. Hence, every Tarot card has five core meanings.
These are the five core meanings of the Ten of Pentacles:
- Power of consciousness: Dwelling
- Constructive use: Habitation
- Unconstructive use: Occupancy
- Auspicious state of mind: Bodily well-being, wellness
- Inauspicious state of mind: Bodily ill-being
Reflective Questions
If the Ten of Pentacles appears in your spread, it may be beneficial to ask yourself the following questions:
- How present am I in this life?
- In which areas of my life am I more present and why?
- Are there situations in my life where I feel discomfort, as if I do not want to be where I am?
- Do I experience my body as a home, or something I carry around?
- How well do I listen to my body’s signals?
- In what ways can I show love and care to the trillions of cells that form my body?
- Which pleasures nourish me, and which ones control me?
- What practices help me distance myself from temporary bodily states such as pain, cravings, or emotional reactions?
- What habits strengthen my bodily well-being, and which ones undermine it?
- How can I cultivate a state of mind in which I dwell peacefully in my body?
Ten of Pentacles Summary
The Ten of Pentacles invites you to dwell consciously in your body, care for it as the living house of your self, and cultivate the wellness that arises from a loving presence in the world.
Where Do Tarot Card Meanings Actually Come From?
The meanings of Tarot cards come from various sources. The most common are:
- The position of the Tarot cards on the Tree of Life
- Astrological correspondences (signs, planets, & houses)
- The symbolism of Tarot cards
- Intuition
- Meanings that pertain to fortune-telling
Most of the Tarot card meanings you can google are astrological correspondences and go back to the Golden Dawn and Arthur Edward Waite. Astrological meanings have dominated because Astrology favors fortune-telling. But Astrological meanings are unsuitable for (psychological) Tarot readings.
If you are interested in an overview of the astrological correspondences, you can download a high-resolution chart by subscribing to the Enlightenment Tarot.
Tarot card meanings are a bit of a mess since the meanings that pertain to their position on the Tree of Life mingle with astrological correspondences, symbolic interpretations, and fortune-telling connotations. That’s tedious to memorize. Further, tarotists’ opinions, knowledge, and linguistic backgrounds shaped some of these interpretations. Last but not least, many meanings are fuzzy, contradictory, and overlapping. If you want to understand why they overlap, read the article How to Deal With the Overlapping Meanings of Tarot Cards.
The meanings of the Enlightenment Tarot are based on an objective and holistic framework: the Tree of Life and the four levels of human expression. The resulting meanings are transparent and logical and, hence, easier to memorize.
What Various Tarotists Say About the Meanings of the Ten of Pentacles
Let’s explore what various tarotists wrote about the Ten of Pentacles.
Tarotists emphasize the astrological significance of Tarot cards since these lend themselves to divination and fortune-telling.
The Ten of Pentacles corresponds to the third decanate of Virgo, ruled by Mercury and sub-ruled by Taurus and Venus. Both are earthy signs, which gives the Ten of Pentacles a strong practical inclination.
The main Virgo characteristics are: serving, industrious, and discerning. The second decanate adds the following vibes to the mix: chaste, romantic, and selective. In this combination, the romantic-creative Taurian features join the sober-intellectual Virgo characteristics.
The corresponding Tarot cards are Attainment and Intuition:
The hermit is an agent of grace and guides us – from within – through the light of wisdom. The hierophant in the Intuition card guides us through inspiration.
Virgo rules the sixth house of responsibilities and routines, aka the house of health. This house governs employment and other services that we provide. This includes health matters — the responsibilities we have toward our bodies and minds. This house also governs literacy and the knowledge we need to assume our responsibilities. Virgo rules the abdomen and digestive system.
Taurus rules the second house, which is the house of creativity, aka the house of fortune. Fortune is a bit misleading. Venus rules Taurus. Taurians are hard-working artisans. We don’t find fortune, we create it. Mind that fortune is a wildcard. For those who are after money, fortune means money. For scientists, fortune means knowledge. For spiritual people, fortune means enlightenment. The Hierophant is the revealer of the mysteries. She reveals to us what true fortune is and how to acquire it. Mind the Hierphant is the patron of Tarot readings.
This house combination produces a creative-persistent (Taurus), educated (Virgo) approach to responsibilities.
What Paul Foster Case Said About the Meanings of the Ten of Pentacles
For the Ten of Pentacles, Paul Foster Case proposed the keyword wealth, which is the result of the materialization of material success (Nine of Pentacles).
Mind wealth can mean different things. For a businessman, wealth means free cash flow. For a scientist, wealth means knowledge. For a celebrity, wealth means fame.
Paul details that this card signifies money through servants or subordinates (6th house matters), gains in matters connected with medicine, drugs, and food (Virgo health matters), as well as nursing, farming, or gardening (Taurus).
He adds that this card signifies completion in material gain and fortune (numerology of 10), but nothing beyond riches and material prosperity. This is an important clarification. We are dealing with the most outer manifestation of the bodily-practical level. On this level, we can’t find meaning. We can find meaning only within, i.e., on the creative and spiritual levels.
An inauspicious Ten of Pentacles may still signify material success, but heaviness and dullness of mind, sometimes loss through the matters mentioned above, as well as slothfulness. These meanings pertain to inertia, which is a result of materialization.
What Arthur Edward Waite Said About the Meanings of the Ten of Pentacles
Like Paul, Arthur Edward Waite believed the Ten of Pentacles signifies gains and riches, but also family matters, the family’s home, archives, and extraction.
How he arrived at family matters is unclear. The astrological connections don’t suggest this. The meaning of home is valid since the physical body is literally an abode or home.
Archives are collections of documents, records, or data that have value. We could understand this symbolically, i.e., as the archives of life experiences. Mind Virgo natives are great librarians.
During Arthur’s time, the word extraction meant lineage. For example, a man of noble extraction meant a person of noble family descent.
An inauspicious Ten of Pentacles stands for chance, games of hazard, fatalities, losses, and robbery. Taking chances and gambling is the opposite of an intentional lifestyle. It implies surrendering oneself to the uncertainty of life. Fatalities, losses, and robbery are the opposite of gaining wealth.
On the fortune-telling side, the Ten of Pentacles may predict an occasion that may be fortunate or otherwise. Since this can mean anything, the Ten of Pentacles derives its value from other cards. To this, Arthur added that the card may foretell a gift, a dowry, or a pension (the harvest of a professional life).
What Etteilla Said About the Meanings of the Ten of Pentacles
Etteilla, a French occultist, wrote that the Ten of Pentacles may signify a home or a game of chance.
We already covered these two meanings in the passage above.
What Papus Said About the Meanings of the Ten of Pentacles
Papus, another French occultist and the founder of the Martinist Order, wrote that this card may foretell great successes and great reverses.
Great success is a valid interpretation, since it means the same thing as wealth.
Great reverses is a bit off, since reversals are matters of the 12th major arcana, the Hanged Man. Great failures would be a better fit.
What Gregor Mather Said About the Meanings of the Ten of Pentacles
Gregor Mather, the founder of the Golden Dawn, believed that an auspicious Ten of Pentacles may represent one’s home, dwelling, habitation, or family.
We already covered these meanings in the passage about Arthur’s interpretations.
An inauspicious Ten of Pentacles may signify gambling, dissipation, robbery, or loss. We covered those as well.
What Mme. Le Marchand Said About the Meanings of the Ten of Pentacles
Mme. Le Marchand, a celebrated 19th-century Parisian fortuneteller, believed that the Ten of Pentacles may predict different things:
A) If the querent wanders southward, she will find the happiness she has sought since long.
B) A Southerner may sue for the hand of a young girl, a maiden from the East, who fascinates him.
C) A French girl will turn the querent’s head for four-and-twenty hours.
D) A Spaniard will assail the querent’s heart with passionate vows of love.
All four predictions feel a bit off, since they don’t represent results. The prediction of an engagement or wedding would be more fitting.
The Psychological Framework of the Enlightenment Tarot
Every Tarot card represents a faculty of consciousness. We can use faculties of consciousness constructively and destructively. This produces favorable and adverse experiences.
We can express faculties of consciousness on four levels:
- The spiritual level (wands/fire/intention)
- The creative-feely level (cups/water/imagination)
- The intellectual level (swords/air/intelligence)
- The bodily level (pentacles/earth/bodily action)
The four tools on the magician’s table symbolize these four levels:
- The wand (spiritual)
- The cup (creative-feely)
- The sword (intellectual)
- The pentagram (bodily)
These tools correspond to the four so-called elements: fire, water, air, and earth.
For this reason, the Enlightenment Tarot wands are made of fire, the cups consist of water, and the pentacles are composed of earth. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to illustrate something made of air, since air is invisible. For that reason, all swords are made of crystal to show at least transparency.
The Enlightenment Tarot derives its meaning from the Tree of Life and the four levels of human expression. This is an objective holistic framework that reveals the psychological imports of Tarot cards and their faculties of consciousness. Read more about this framework in the article The Psychological Framework of the Enlightenment Tarot.
The Enlightenment Tarot project attempts to rediscover the original meanings of the Tarot cards that pertain to their position on the Tree of Life. These meanings are simple, clear, and easy to memorize.
*This framework is compatible with Paul Foster Case’s qabalistic system.
Do you want to learn more About The Enlightenment Tarot?
If you want to delve deep into the psychological meanings of Tarot cards, read the book Tarot of Life.
If you are curious about how the Enlightenment Tarot came about, read this article.
If you are interested in learning how to perform psychological Tarot readings, subscribe to receive a free copy of a guide on how to perform psychological Tarot readings.
If you are looking for a psychological Tarot deck, you have come to the right place. The Enlightenment Tarot derives the cards’ meanings from a holistic and transparent framework that is easy to learn and memorize. All major and minor arcana carry psychological titles, and the court cards display psychological profiles. Have a look at the Enlightenment Tarot deck here.
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This exceptional Tarot deck is based on an objective and holistic psychological framework: the Tree of Life. All minor and major cards feature psychological titles. For example, the Magician has the title ‘Attention’, and the Six of Cups has the title ‘Decision’. The court cards exhibit psychological profiles. For instance, the Queen of Wands stands for a willful woman: generous or stubborn, resolute or revengeful, intense or tyrannical, magnetic or dangerous.