The person on the card is looking, with a tired and somewhat sad expression, at a plant bearing pentacles, which clearly represents the fruits of his hard labour. One could say this is all he's got. But why this impression of resentment? It seems that he thinks he could get more if he moved on to other projects, but then he would risk what he has already got. One way or the other, he is certainly pondering the results of his efforts, and he is not too happy about them. So he will have to choose between being satisfied with his present level of material gratification or risking it, leaving everything behind and starting all over again... or perhaps losing everything.
On the card
A young man rests on the handle of a hoe, his chin almost on his hands, and looks down at a large green bush growing beside him. Six pentacles hang among its leaves like ripening fruit, and a seventh pentacle lies on the ground at his feet.
He wears simple working clothes, a tunic and boots, and his posture is that of a farmer taking a pause after long labour. He is not harvesting yet and not digging; he is simply looking, considering what his work has produced.
The plant is full and healthy, and the pentacles show that the effort has been fruitful. Yet the man's expression is thoughtful rather than joyful, as if he is weighing up whether the result is enough and how to proceed.
The image speaks of patience and the long rhythm of growth. Crops cannot be hurried, and there is a time for planting, a time for tending and a time for waiting. The card represents a moment of evaluation in the middle of a long project: looking at what has been achieved, measuring it against the effort invested, and deciding whether to continue, change direction or simply wait for the harvest.
Upright
Hard work, money, advancement, growth, success, a risk worth taking, sustained effort, perseverance, change of direction.
Reversed
Failed opportunities, bad decisions, money problems, exhausted by work, disillusionment.