8 of Pentacles - Repetition, Reward and Rest

A person sits astride a long wooden bench with tools in hand - a hammer and chisel. They are wearing dark red shoes and bright red pants, a blue smock and black apron. They are using the tools to etch pentacle shapes into a yellow disc - or gold coin. A (unfinished?) pentacle lies on the ground beside him, and 6 other finished pentacles are hung, and arranged vertically up a tree-like wood panel along the right side of the card. In the distance are town buildings set among hills with a golden road leading into it. The earth around the person is yellow and the large amount of sky is clear and light grey.

VIII of Pentacles from the Rider Waite Smith Tarot

The practical domain of the pentacles suit is concerned with tangible and stable things related to daily life and human activity. So work, money, body, health, and home.

Here we see a person immersed in a task of work - making, creating, or producing. In the most positive light, it’s an image of focus, diligence and what can be tangibly achieved through this kind of attitude. Away from town, and distractions, you can get your job done, and have something to show for it.

This person also seems to be putting in patient effort to create and recreate the same or similar object. Over and over. So there’s a theme of repetition, and practice. Perhaps building up a skill in a craft or aspect of work.

Where in my life am I working, or could I work, diligently to enhance a skill?

What in my daily life would benefit from greater practice, focus and effort? How might getting the job done contribute to satisfaction and pleasure?

Systematic processes and automation can make life easier, and ensure progress is made, and productivity is organised and efficient. In a recent newsletter I spoke about the discipline and discernment required to be productive. I spoke about this in the context of capturing ideas, organising what’s useful, has value and the potential to be generative - i.e. grow into something of deep value.

I have to be careful though, because the term ‘productivity’ can have a grimy hue. In shadow the card scene can encourage a kind of work that speaks to a grind that bizarrely continues to be valued through hustle culture, and forms the basis of capitalist ideology.

In this case, the worker is dehumanised as a cog in a wheel, there’s a disconnection from what’s being produced, and productivity is endless and ever upward. A recipe for burnout.

How might I over-extend myself in the name of productivity? either via an “inner drive” or “external push”?

I appreciate Angeles Arrien’s take on the Eight of Discs (called Prudence ) from the Thoth tarot. She emphasises that prudent and wise effort is that which neither pushes hard to make things happen, nor holds back. Both control and chaos are kept in check.

In this way, the purpose of being focussed, organised and attending to details is to produce a rich harvest. Something of substance, that serves to nourish and support you and others in the long run. The notion of harvest also encourages a proper stop of work, and a proper rest in ritual celebration of what’s been achieved, i.e. not collapsing from exhaustion merely to mindlessly get back to it again tomorrow.

How did I do today? How did I tend to my work? Take a proper look, tell the truth.

In addition to the literal world of work, this take on diligence, attention to detail, repetition, and practice can support other everyday burgeoning behaviours and actions you want to develop, that might reap great rewards over time.

For example, building a meditation practice takes effort and commitment, giving up an addictive behaviour requires a refocussing and real physical gruff, as does working on long-term creative projects like writing a book or building a garden or cultivating a new social group. At times, the effort can feel menial, small, or pointless. It might be hard to see progress.

Apathy, anxiety, fear of failure, frustration, are common reasons that people give up. Not to mention we have all too easy access to devices that serve to both soothe this restlessness AND amplify it at the same time.

What ‘greater’ am I working towards? What new behaviours, habits, practices do I want to generate?

When I become distracted or disheartened, or find myself putting time and effort into things that lack generativity, what physical task or practice can I return to?

Being of the pentacles suit, the answers to these questions encourage an embodied approach. Don’t think, just do. Act “as if”.

Mind might jump about, wish for something more exciting, immediately satisfying. But working with hands and making, tending to body, its muscles, bones, breathe and blood helps to make things real; even change reality. In his book “The disappearance of rituals” Byung-Chul Han states that:

The body moves the spirit, not vice versa. Body does not follow spirit, but spirit follows body. … External forms lead to internal changes.

In the same book Han critiques the “profane seriousness of work and production” without the “sacred seriousness of play”. He encourages repetition (in ritual) as it builds intensity - vitality - but also the need for completion. Work must stop and give way to life and proper rest. I see this, much like Arrien’s harvest analogy. So work needn’t be just toil, if our efforts and sacrifice means something and contributes. In this case there can be great pleasure in seeing tangible results that are both personal and social (Doesn’t this person’s expression convey contentment?)

What are ways I can bring ritual, embodied closure to a period of intense or focussed work (that satisfies)?

How are my efforts a contribution to life beyond me - to family, ancestry, community or ecology?

Let’s imagine the scene on the card forward…. The person is tiring, but continues on, to eventually complete and hang up the 8th pentacle - he displays his work, admires his efforts. Perhaps shows his results to a colleague for constructive critique. He then ritualistically puts away his tools, sweeps the floor, and hangs up his apron. He knows he has work tomorrow, and has discussed with his mentor, and his own inner guidance, focus for his ongoing efforts. But for now, work is done. He looks toward the town, and takes in the satisfaction of work complete; effort giving way to a soft contentment of returning to lover, friends, home and hearth.

Much love,

Mendy