august 2025: eight of pentacles // on tending & devotions

hello, friends. july was a busy busy busy month: in addition to the usual newsletters and podcasts, i launched my second book tarot spreads, did a number of live events and teach-ins and interviews, finally opened mentorships, and introduced two big collaborative projects with my astrologer wife jeanna kadlec: the grove creative devotion container (autumn/winter edition) and stars & cards: a fresh take on tarot & astrology correspondences. it's such a privilege to do this work, especially in such a brutal time, and i'm grateful to be here in your inbox offering some new insights, calls for courage, and supports for your ongoing journeys.

today's essay is all about the eight of pentacles: a card that most frequently gets associated with hard work, dedication, and consistent effort. but as ever, i'd love to offer some additional perspectives on this card that might feel particularly relevant to where you are right now, today, in your current incarnation. how might this card support you this month? let's find out.

devotion, to anything, is not for the faint of heart.

to be devoted — to a person, a place, a thing, a value, a goal — is to be enraptured with it, loyal to it, and dedicated to it, all at once. it's both vulnerable and potent, both expansive and restrictive, to be devoted entirely to something. a deep and enduring love story of our own making, with all of the joys and sorrows that love can bring.

one does not become devoted to anything overnight. these are the kinds of bonds that are woven strand by strand, through ongoing effort and attention, chosen over and over. each time we show up, each time we offer a piece of ourselves, we reinforce that devotion, allowing it to grow and solidify.

devotion requires tethers, foundations, roots. it anchors us to something or someone, layer upon layer of resources and investment that require sacrifice and intention. eventually, this devotion becomes something that’s as natural as breathing, something that is such a deep and profound part of us that we cannot imagine leaving it behind.

devotion is something that has been tended to: a garden bed that has been cared for every day for years, that goes through seasons of growth and regrowth — and the well-used tools that made that effort possible.

what, and who, are you devoted to? what does that devotion look like? how does it shape your days, your resources, your energy expenditures? how does it impact your choices and decisions? what tools have you developed to assist in your tending? what does it mean for you personally to be devoted to something — and how much of that devotion feels like an intentional choice you made at some point in your life? how did that devotion grow? 

and how can you tell the difference between the joyful satisfaction of ongoing devotion, and the addictive obsession of achievement? is there a difference, or are they simply two sides of the same coin?

these, dear friends, are the kinds of questions that rise to the surface with the eight of pentacles.

coming near the end of the numerological story that we follow from one to nine, eight is a digit of power and potency, of being all-in on something. doubling down and driving forward, slamming our foot on the gas and putting all of our energy into movement — eight is the powerhouse, an energy of being fully committed to a thing and not letting any obstacles get in our way. when we combine this with the earthy, tangible, embodied energy of the suit of pentacles, we find a willingness to get our hands dirty, a capacity for rigorous effort and powerful accomplishment and patient, focused building. the eight of pentacles gets shit done.

because pentacles is connected to the tangible, we often first think about resources, physical and otherwise: money, health, career, home, legacy, pleasure, comfort, capacity. this card can represent a leveling up in terms of our embodied experience as a person living in the world: promotions at work, progress in the gym, saving money for a new house, achieving or acquiring something we want. in practical terms, this might look like months of following a dedicated exercise routine to get those gains, or hitting daily word count goals for our next book, or practicing a new instrument with enough regularity that we can run technique drills in our sleep. it's showing up, again and again. devotion.

the eight of pentacles is often associated with dedicated effort, craftsmanship, working towards a physical goal, and/or becoming really fucking good at something. it’s the part of the story where the protagonist builds a technique or skill: the training montage, the obsessive repetition, the blood and sweat and tears that bring slow but sure transformation. this isn’t a quick fix, some external makeover as simple as taking off glasses or plucking eyebrows. this is instead the kind of earned, gradual shift that happens when we bring ongoing effort to something day after day, week after week, month after month.

this is drills and rehearsals and exercises, doing something so many times that it becomes second nature, technique and practice and implementation. blisters and scars, sore limbs and tired minds and deep exhaustion. it's the building of muscle memory, the shift from novice to expert.

i can’t talk about a training montage without giving you one — so i’m linking to one that you're probably familiar with, from disney's mulan:

one of the reasons i love this particular example so much is that mulan knows exactly what she's fighting for, what she's protecting, what her why is — and that why is what drives her to the top of that pole, in spite of the doubts from her companions and teammates and captain and family.

she's already had her seven of pentacles moment, has already done the internal investigation to realize that she is trying to protect her father, her village, and is desperate to find a version of herself that she actually understands. no one believes in her, not really. everyone seems to wish that she was someone different, that she conformed more neatly to societal expectations. but she believes in her mission, and herself, and that gives her a reason to keep going, a clear goal.

mulan is devoted — not only to her family, but also to her desire to find that core of strength that will sustain her no matter what happens. that devotion drives her not only to chop off her hair, steal her father’s armor, run away from the only life she’s ever known — but also to keep carrying water, to keep struggling to hold her head up in spite of her exhaustion, to keep practicing and training and fighting every single day. even when she’s kicked out of camp by her commanding officer, she still fights, driving herself to a physical accomplishment that no one else has been able to achieve yet.

and we know that this devotion is true and deep, because it follows her for the rest of the film. she continues to fight for her family, her values, herself, eventually building a life that reflects all of who she is. the tools that she has built, the legacy that she has created, cannot be easily shaken.

it’s easy to get caught up in this story, precisely because we know (or at least, can reasonably predict) how it will all end. we know that mulan eventually saves china, that there aren’t any negative repercussions for her family, that she makes friends and discovers what she wants and pleases her ancestors and falls in love with herself and even gets the guy. she reaches every finish line, achieves every goal, and by the end of the film seems completely satisfied with what she's accomplished.

but when we’re writing our own story by showing up every day, building that devotion layer by layer, we rarely know for sure how it will all turn out. even if we have a clearly mapped out goal, have committed a lot of time and energy to reaching a certain finish line, there are no guarantees that we'll succeed in exactly the way that we want.

eight isn't a number that particularly likes risk, but no matter how obsessive we may get, it's always possible that something out of our control can still happen. and because of this, i find that the most sustainable devotions aren't always goal-oriented — sometimes, they're meaning-oriented instead. we are simply pursuing something, putting in that regular effort, because we care so damn much about the thing, the person, the value.

and sometimes, that's even more important than having a clear goal in mind: trusting in our love for the thing, being devoted to it no matter how things turn out. even if we don't end up exactly where we might've predicted, even if our wildest dreams don't all come true at once, our devotion itself still has value. our effort still means something.

sometimes, the best possible outcome of long-term tending and devotion is loving and appreciating the version of self that we see when we look into the mirror.

i understand why the goal-oriented narrative for the eight of pentacles is appealing. it makes for a sexy story: that grit and discipline and effort and strength will eventually get us exactly where we want to go. in a world where we have so little control over so many things, living in a country that's obsessed with bootstraps and so-called self-made success stories, this card can be incredibly motivating, and can serve as a really potent and practical energy to work with.

for example, if your goal is to have a successful, thriving business, the eight of pentacles might be an intention you step into in order to put in the daily effort to build that business, measuring progress and investing resources and expanding your efforts. if your goal is to have a fully paid-off home, the eight of pentacles might inspire you to keep working hard and saving to make consistent payments year over year, even if that requires some sacrifice or careful budgeting. if your goal is to have a stronger body, the eight of pentacles might become your mantra for showing up to regular workouts, eating in a way that supports your body, celebrating each win along the way.

this can be grit, endurance, pushing through. it's not always glamorous, but it is effective. and when we look back at times when we have been able to fully embody this energy, it can be incredible to acknowledge just how much we've accomplished, how far we've come.

i don’t want to take this particular eight of pentacles definition away from you. but i always think it’s powerful to have multiple interpretations for each card in the tarot — and devotion for love’s sake, for authenticity’s sake, can also be a deeply useful meaning for the eight of pentacles.

what are you devoted to, not because it might become something significant but simply because you can’t not be devoted to it? which devotions have made you who you are, keep you tethered to a version of self that you love?

there are things that i show up for every single day — not because i have to drag myself there, but because i wouldn’t be who i am without them. i engage with tarot every single day, whether i pull cards or write essays or record podcasts or just think about an archetype in a relational way. i show up for my wife every single day, because i love her deeply and want to know what she’s thinking and feeling, what she needs, what she’s dreaming about, where she needs support. i have values that i work to emulate every single day, from caring for my community to checking in on friends to asking true questions. taking any of those things away would make me a fundamentally different person, because my devotion to those things has been shaping me for years and years. 

but there are also new things i’m doing, that i am slowly building commitments and devotion to. i started lifting weights at the beginning of this summer and it’s felt so good to finally be able to tend to my physical health in this way, after years of debilitating pain kept me sedentary. i am building dreams for community living with some of my beloveds, empowering us to take care of each other in necessary and joyful ways, and helping me keep the faith about our collective futures. i am establishing long-term containers for creativity and spiritual practice, showing up for the kind of work that i deeply believe will help us stay connected to our own humanity (and to each other). 

this work isn’t always pretty, or clean, or tidy. sometimes i’m frustrated, or angry, or grief-stricken. sometimes i worry i’m not doing enough, even when my body is telling me that i’m actually probably doing too much. sometimes i’m afraid. and yet all of this is devotion. all of this is eight of pentacles work. all of this is sacrifice. and all of this keeps me connected to my why, to the things and people and values that mean the most to me.

being able to tap into this energy, this discipline, is a beautiful and powerful thing. but it's also a survival tactic, a way of enduring and continuing to show up even when hope is not our driving force, or a goal is not clearly defined.

in the fight against fascism, collective goals are still being clarified, and may shift with time. true revolution, lasting change, necessary rebuilding, may not fully happen in our lifetimes — yet resistance still matters. showing up still matters. enduring still matters. believing still matters. devotion still matters.

this kind of personal work that we're doing here still matters, so fucking much — because this energy, dear friends, is what will sustain us on the bad days, the scary days, the grief days. the days when things feel hopeless, when the future feels opaque, when our nearest and dearest have lost their capacity for hope. this eight of pentacles devotion is what will help us continue to show up for ourselves and each other, even (especially) if we aren't sure how it will all turn out.

what are you devoted to, even when there are no guarantees? what will you always show up for, even if your goal isn't crystal clear?

as we move into this new month, as we continue to gather our strength and show up consistently, i want you to consider how the eight of pentacles can support you. i want you to think critically, honestly, about what your devotion looks like. and i want you to pay attention to the things you actively choose, as well as the things that have become non-negotiable.

what are you devoted to, and what shape does that devotion take? what are you willing to prioritize and sacrifice for, always? what are you consistently ready to show up for, even if it's not glamorous or praised or immediately successful? what are you willing to struggle through? what are your goals, and what do you do even if the goal is unclear? when are goals useful in your devotion, and when do they limit or restrict your efforts? how might your devotion benefit from a more expansive perspective on what you're working towards?

you may know by now why you love the things you love — so what does that love look like in action? how do those values manifest in your daily life? how do you tend those things that you care about, on a consistent basis, and which tools are required to do so?

above all else: what are you committed to staying devoted to, no matter what the future may bring?

if devotion to creativity, beauty, curiosity, and spirituality is something you'd like to pursue with more intentionality, remember that the grove is opening again for a second cohort later this month, and we'd love to have you.

for silver and gold subscribers, i'll be back in your inbox tomorrow with a new essay and tarot spread on the numerology of this month. and for everyone, wishing you courage, attention, and devotion, for august and for always.