two of pentacles: number two & earth

hello, friends. last week i sent out an essay on the two of pentacles, our card for this month. today i want to get more into the nitty gritty of each of the major correspondences that make up this card, from a numerological and elemental perspective.

let's get into it.

when looking at the tarot generally, our first impulse for interpretation might be what we can see: the imagery on the card, the vibe and story that we see depicted. but we might also immediately reach for general meanings and keywords, ones developed through specific decks and by specific writers.

there's absolutely nothing wrong with reading using keywords. it's how most people get started with the tarot, and can be an incredibly useful and practical foundation for your personal interpretations and readings. but i personally have found it very helpful to also dig deeper, to look at the specific correspondences that make up the building blocks of a card and allow those correspondences to offer various combinations of meanings. this is why i consider myself a marseille-style tarot reader — because i love to use numerology and elements to broaden my understanding of the tarot, and to build personal relationships with each card.

when it comes to the two of pentacles, we are mainly talking about two major correspondences, ones that we can see right in the name of the card itself: the number two, and the element of earth. even without a list of keywords at our fingertips, these two aspects of the card immediately give us some clues as to potential ways to understand this card's meaning, lessons, and questions.

like all digits, the number two holds many potential meanings, many complexities, even the same kinds of contradictions that make numerology so fun to engage with an explore. two is all about duality, partnership, decision and indecision, awareness of the other or another, intuition, wisdom, knowledge, and balance, to name just a few. with two, we see the shift from the individual to the pair; the next step in the cycle or journey expands outward while also looking thoughtfully inward.

our other correspondence for this card is the suit of pentacles, which is aligned with the element of earth: resources, tactile sensation, the body, the home, health and wealth, things we can see and feel, daily effort, and more. earth and pentacles are about the ways that we show up in the physical world, the things we touch and taste and smell, the assets and skills that we utilize, the boundaries that we set.

together, these two aspects can create a lot of meanings. one of the most common definitions that i see for the two of pentacles is an energy of juggling many tasks and responsibilities — sometimes very successfully, other times with a feeling of overwhelming or a ticking clock.

but this card can also speak to making choices about our resources, checking in with the wisdom of our physical body, or partnering with others to share the load. what can we delegate and find support? what is worthy of our time and effort? what does our body know, that our mind and heart are still trying to figure out?

on the flip side, this card can serve as a warning against getting lost in the weight of our daily efforts, mistaking being very busy for accomplishing a lot of work, or feeling indecisive about our embodied experience or our long-term choices. it can be hard to learn how to listen to and trust our bodies, especially in a world that demands we obey its own structure: sleeping at night, working during the day, having meals at set times, etc.

what are we really working for, towards, because of? what are we trying to nourish and tend, and how do our actions directly contribute towards growth? does what we're doing actually feel good, or does it just feel good to be doing something?

i love the two of pentacles for how it demands that we slow down, especially in a world that is constantly pushing us to speed up. this card invites us back to self: to pleasure, to purpose, to devotion, to connection.

but beyond that, again, this is not always a solitary card. the two of pentacles also asks how we are working in tandem with others, how our choices inspire or influence those around us, and how the ways that we observe people working can help shape our own decisions about how to spend our time and energy.

people are a resource too: our partners, friends, neighbors, natal and chosen family, community members, public figures. who are you watching, listening to, learning from? who are you collaborating with, finding friction with, building something with?

as you think about the two of pentacles this month, ground back into the number two as well as the element of earth. what are you narrowing in on as a focus for your year? what are you choosing to build, and what might that look like? what are you committed to growing, and where might that require you to shift or release, to expand or contract?

i'll have a spread on this card later in the month, as well as some creative prompts and questions to support your private work with the two of pentacles. in the meantime, i'd love to know in the comments: what are your own interpretations for this card, and where do they come from? how do you understand this card when it shows up in your readings? and what might the two of pentacles have to offer you in this particular moment?