Spring 2022 Tarot Card Astrology: Six Of Pentacles
There’s a new moon in Taurus on April 30, at 1:28 p.m. This lunation occurs in the second decan of that sign, the face ruled by the Moon. The Moon will pass into the third decan within a day. But while we can, let’s see what we can learn from the Six of Pentacles: Moon in Taurus.
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Six of Pentacles: Moon In Taurus
- The Six of Pentacles is titled “Lord of Material Success.” This card indicates generosity, success, and prosperity. For me, it represents the give and take of energy as well as material resources.
- Symbolically, the Moon represents the yin quality, and governs emotions, intuition, the internal, self-reflection, the unconscious, receptivity, the soul, and the mother. Luna rules Cancer and is exalted in Taurus.
- Taurus is a fixed earth sign ruled by Venus. Possessions and material comfort are symbols for the sign. Its common keywords are committed, conservative, cultivating beauty and pleasure, appreciating luxury, stubborn, and enduring. Its symbol is the bull and its glyph looks a bull’s horned head.
- Six of Pentacles: Moon ruling the second decan of Taurus
- The calendar dates, when the Sun passes through this decan each year, are typically May 1-10.
- The Moon moves through all the signs every month, and this month will pass through the middle third of the sign of Taurus in less than a day. It enters the second decan just past 12:30 p.m. April 30, 2022, then passes into the last decan at 8 a.m. on May 1, 2022.
Moon In Taurus
Moon in Taurus is emotional security.
Luna is our emotions, intuition, private self, inner world, and subconscious mind. She is body and soul to the Sun’s reason and spirit. The Moon reflects the light of the Sun, our core identity and sense of self. As a mirror, she lets us see what’s outside our normal range of vision. The light in the darkness, she illuminates our dusty corners. And sweeps them out! Her Hebrew name, Levanah, brings to mind cognates like lavatory, from the root “to wash” in Latin. Mirrors and bowls, alternately used for scrying or psychic seeing, remind us that the Moon grants dreams. She gives us visions, whether flights of imaginative fancy, distorted hallucinations, or psychic clarity.
The Moon is changeable, altering from invisible at the new moon through bright, beautiful, and full-orbed. She governs the ebb and flow of tides and all things that advance and recede in rhythmic patterns. She and the Sun work together like gears in a clock to time our days, months, and years. We rely on these patterns. But we also see in her variability our own emotional ups and downs. And we worry that she, like us, is unreliable, confusing, even deceitful.
Taurus is a fixed earth sign, ruled by Venus. The sign of the bull is reliable, firm, enduring, and unchanging. Taurus indulges in pleasure and beauty. The Moon rules the middle third of the sign of Taurus. This is the fixed decan of a fixed sign, doubling down on security. The Moon rules the emotional sign of Cancer. Rulership gives her power to be herself. But as her sign of exaltation, Taurus cares for her. Being here reduces her personal initiative, but increases her sense of ease. Her erraticness evens out. In Venus’s home she feels loved. She can relax. She can trust.
Image of the Six of Pentacles
A richly dressed man in a merchant’s hat holds a pair of scales while he drops coins into a ragged beggar’s hands. Meanwhile, another beggar, sitting to the right, also holds out his hands. Curiously, the scales lean slightly to the left. Likewise, the six coins overhead dangle unevenly. One in the center, three on the left, and two on the right. As a result, we wonder: will both beggars receive the boon of the rich man’s largesse?
The man on the viewer’s left is receiving, and the scales dip in his direction. But his fingers are oddly elongated. Rather then being cupped to receive, the two hands are held apart. His distorted fingers look like slats: grates through which the coins might be lost. It would be a shame, we think, if he squanders his gift.
Do you give to the homeless you see in the streets? I don’t. Why not? Different reasons different days. When I arrive in the comfort of my home, I feel ashamed that I didn’t make the slightest effort. Then the next day I come up against the lunacy of the lost and I’m scared. I tell myself: “Make a donation online to a reliable organization. That’s what you need. That’s what they need. They’ll just spend what you give them on drugs and alcohol.”
Then one day someone said to me, “If you were out on the street, no place to go, and your only comfort was a bottle and a pack of smokes, who could blame you? It’s a simple indulgence. What indulgences do you have at the end of the day?”
Yeah. Good point. I think of that when I smile and keep my head down when I pass them. Really, I should carry cash. Then I could help. And another opportunity slips through my fingers.
Title Of The Six Of Pentacles: Lord Of Material Success
The title “Material Success” makes perfect sense with the card image. The merchant is successful; he has enough to share. The beggars have successfully solicited the handout. The success is measured in coins, symbols of the material plane of existence. It all works.
In a reading, this card asks us to consider how much we give and how much we receive. This extends beyond the material plane into all areas of life. Giving and receiving must be balanced to maintain our health and sanity. Put another way, who are you in the card? Like the changing moon, each of us fluctuates, at times the holder of wealth, at times the downtrodden desperate for a handout. When you have: give. When you need: receive.
If this card comes up in a spread, ask yourself if your scales are even. Of course we must all be generous. But we must also be aware of when it’s time to take a break from the world, take something back from the world. The Lord of Material Success knows how and when to fill his own coin bag.
The Astrology Of The Six Of Pentacles: Moon In Taurus
The Moon lends her cycles to Taurus’ wealth. She reminds us of the ebb and flow of monetary resources, stressing that the natural growth cycle includes contractions as well as expansion.
But the Moon also reminds us that there is an emotional component to money and other material resources. The Moon reflects. Have you ever visited someplace grand, such as a castle, or opera house, or mansion, that overwhelmed you with its beauty and luxury? You stop, drinking it in, simply receiving the beauty and power.
The Hall of Mirrors at Versailles comes to mind. A long gallery, it features windows on one side looking out to the garden, and mirrors on the other side. The mirrors bring the garden into the room, while also reflecting the light and warmth of the day. The mirrors reflect whatever abundance is in the hall, whether a crowds of admirers, festive party-goers, or solemn proceedings. Like the Moon they are a silent witness to everything big and small that occurs in the space.
The Six of Pentacles: Moon in Taurus reminds us that material success is more than the tossed coin of charity. It is the emotional overflow of awe at the lavishness of generosity. Abundance so complete that it causes you to simply receive it in wonder.
The Mythology Of The Six Of Pentacles
Material resources are finite. Non-material resources are more flexible. Think of the folk song Magic Penny by Malvina Reynolds.
Love is something if you give it away,
Magic Penny by Malvina Reynolds
Give it away, give it away.
Love is something if you give it away,
You end up having more.
The songwriter goes on to describe the Magic Penny:
It’s just like a magic penny,
Magic Penny by Malvina Reynolds
Hold it tight and you won’t have any.
Lend it, spend it, and you’ll have so many
They’ll roll all over the floor.
The Lord of Material Success is the keeper of the Magic Penny. Stockpiled money does no good. But sending it out — “lend it, spend it” — creates a monetary boomerang that comes back to you. The Suit of Pentacles sequence demonstrates this quite effectively. The Four of Coins hordes money. That leads to the FIve of Coins, destitution. But by seeking out a handout, the beggars receive what they need in the Six of Coins. This money is invested, perhaps wisely, perhaps not, in the Seven of Coins. Eventually money is hammered with regularity in the Eight. There is a continuous return in the Nine, and eventually enough to bequeath in the Ten.
What’s Your Six Of Pentacles: Moon In Taurus Experience?
What have you shared that’s come back to you, literally or by reflection? I’d love to hear your story in the comments!
