King of Pentacles
A king enthroned among grapevines and carved bulls rests his hand on a pentacle, a castle behind him: material mastery, steady leadership, and lasting prosperity.
Pentacles, King
Upright keywords
- abundance
- security
- leadership
- discipline
- business acumen
- reliability
- prosperity
Meaning when upright
The King of Pentacles sits on a throne carved with bulls' heads, his robe covered in grapevines, a scepter in one hand and a pentacle resting on his knee, with a castle behind him. He is the fully realized master of the material world: an established leader, provider, or businessperson who has turned effort and discipline into lasting prosperity. He is generous, steady, and protective, using his resources to support others and to build something that endures. Waite gave him "valour, realizing intelligence, business and normal intellectual aptitude, sometimes mathematical gifts and attainments of this kind; success in these paths."
On the card
- throne carved with bulls' heads
- Taurus and the Earth element: stability, strength, and material power (Waite: "the bull's head should be noted as a recurrent symbol on the throne").
- robe covered in grapevines and grapes
- Abundance and the fruits of cultivated success.
- golden scepter topped with an orb
- Worldly authority and dominion over the material realm.
- pentacle resting on his knee under his hand
- Resources held securely and without strain; mastery of the suit's element.
- crown wreathed with red flowers
- Success crowned with beauty and the enjoyment of life.
- castle behind him
- Achievement, establishment, and protected security.
- armored foot showing beneath his robe
- The effort and struggle behind his present ease, and readiness to defend what he has built.
- flourishing garden around the throne
- Fertility and a thriving enterprise.
In Waite’s words
The figure calls for no special description; the face is rather dark, suggesting also courage, but somewhat lethargic in tendency. The bull's head should be noted as a recurrent symbol on the throne. The sign of this suit is represented throughout as engraved or blazoned with the pentagram, typifying the correspondence of the four elements in human nature and that by which they may be governed. In many old Tarot packs this suit stood for current coin, money, deniers. I have not invented the substitution of pentacles and I have no special cause to sustain in respect of the alternative. But the consensus of divinatory meanings is on the side of some change, because the cards do not happen to deal especially with questions of money.
- Divinatory meaning
Valour, realizing intelligence, business and normal intellectual aptitude, sometimes mathematical gifts and attainments of this kind; success in these paths.
- Reversed
Vice, weakness, ugliness, perversity, corruption, peril.
- Additional meaning
A rather dark man, a merchant, master, professor. Reversed: An old and vicious man.
Correspondences
- Element
- Earth
- Astrology
- 20° Aries – 20° Taurus
- Golden Dawn title
- Prince of the Chariot of Earth
- Court element
- Air of Earth
- Number
- As the King, the suit's outward mastery and authority, he is the completed builder who rules and administers material life.
Court attributions follow the Golden Dawn, where the mounted Knight is Fire and the enthroned King is Air; some modern readers swap the two.
To reflect on
- How am I using my resources and influence to support others?
- Where has my pursuit of security turned into control or rigidity?
- What would responsible stewardship look like in my current situation?
In your readings
Hasn’t appeared in your readings yet.
Ask about this card
Marguerite, the traditionalist, answers from Waite’s text, what is drawn on the card and its correspondences. You can choose another reader in settings.