In Love, Give Me Pentacles. In Career, Give Me Cups.

And no, I didn’t get that round the wrong way…

One of the very first things I learned about the tarot, and I’m sure many others did too, is that the minor arcana suits can be broken down in the following way:

• Cups = Love & Relationships

• Wands = Action, Projects, Passions

• Swords = Logic & Reason, Communication

• Pentacles = Career/Business, Finance & Health

And this can stick in our mind, long after we’ve mastered the basics.

While these are very natural and comfortable topics for these suits to cover, this can create a very narrow-minded lens through which to view the minor arcana, and consequently, the life events we consult the cards on.

The beauty of the tarot is its depth, its nuance, and its ability to encapsulate the entire human experience. Each card, no matter how specific it looks at first glance, has a multitude of ways we can experience its wisdom. Otherwise, if we were going to do a love reading, we’d just pull the Cups cards out of the deck, and likewise, if we were going to do a reading about our career, we’d just pull out the Pentacles.

But ‘love and relationships’ is not actually the core of the Cups, the same as ‘career and finance’ is not the core of the Pentacles. Rather, we could better explain what the suits represent in the following way:

• Cups = Our Heart, Emotions (Water)

• Wands = Our Spirit, Energy (Fire)

• Swords = Our Mind, Thoughts (Air)

• Pentacles = Our Body/Roots, The Material (Earth)

And so, it stands to reason that everything that happens to us, in all aspects of life, can be experienced in all four of these ways. Let’s look at relationships and career, as two very common topics that we approach with our tarot deck, and how each suit can be relevant.

RELATIONSHIPS

Decks: Wayhome Tarot, Visions in The Liminal Space

Wands
When love begins, there is a spark. A fire is ignited within us. There is heat. Chemistry. Passion. Attraction. This can be found in the realm of the Wands. We can be attracted to someone, without necessarily developing deep feelings for them. It is the thing that turns our heads, but not the thing that keeps us interested. Likewise, long-term relationships can become routine, stressors of day-to-day life can crop up. Kids, rent, mortgages, responsibilities… these can suck all that spontaneity out of a relationship, and when that happens, we use phrases like “reignite the spark” and “rekindle the flame” when talking about bringing passion and desire back into relaionship, fire references that naturally lend themselves towards the realm of the Wands.

Swords
So much of the way we relate to others is communication, and whether we do it well or poorly can truly make or break a relationship. It is about understanding one another, respecting one another, but also, understanding ourselves. The way we communicate with other people is 100% influenced by our own mind, by the way we perceive the world, and by the way we perceive ourselves. And so, it stands to reason that the Swords hold a lot of relevance in this aspect of relationship readings.

Cups
Of course, it makes sense to see Cups cards in a relationship reading. Cups cards show a depth, a bond, a connection, and most importantly, a caring demonstrated by one or both sides. Because if we don’t care about someone, or they don’t care about us, and if this person isn’t in our heart, then frankly, what’s even the point?

Pentacles
I am the most excited when we pull Pentacles cards in a relationship reading. All the other things I’ve described are wonderful and necessary parts of forming a connection with someone, but if we really want something to work long-term? We need the Pentacles energy. Pentacles cards demonstrate safety, security, consistency, dedication, commitment, loyalty. People say relationships are hard work, because they are. And that’s not to say that your relationship should be a constant battle (which indicates that communication is wonky) or that we should be forcing ourselves to feel the attraction of the wands (because you can’t force that). Rather, it’s that relationships require two parties to consistently show up for one another, day in, day out. This is the only way we develop trust, which is the only way we can truly develop a sense of safety in the relationship.

Trust. Safety. Commitment. These are the foundations upon which we build a long-term relationship, and our slowest-moving suit, the Pentacles, is all about things that are long-term.

If we see Pentacles cards in a relationship reading, we are really being asked to consider the prospect of something lasting. Whether the cards are raising these questions because the relationship is strong enough to make the distance or not, it does not change the fact that there is an inherent goal in mind - to form a relationship that can stand the test of time and weather the storms that come your way.

It may not sound like the ‘sexy’ or fun part of relationships, but the Pentacles cards have us asking, “So, where is this going? Are this person’s goals for the future aligned with mine, or do we want different things?”

And ultimately, if we’re truly looking to settle down, isn’t a loyal, committed, consistent partner, who makes you feel safe, who is aligned with you on where you see the relationship going and who wants to build a life together, actually the sexiest kind of all?

CAREER

Decks: Wayhome Tarot, Visions in The Liminal Space

Pentacles
This is the suit that career sits quite comfortably in, because what requires more long-term, consistent hard work than, well, our working life? In our working life, we have to lay foundations, plant seeds and put in the work to see the rewards we desire. Overnight successes are incredibly, incredibly rare. We can’t just dream about becoming successful in a certain field, and be that level of successful the very next day. We have to put the practical work in, in order to achieve those goals. What qualifications do you need? What skills? What experience? These grounded, practical, tangible, material things are what is required of us, in order to succeed in the working world.

Swords
Work can be challenging, and those challenges can certainly be evidenced in the Swords cards. Most jobs, even the most banal and routine ones that have you doing things on autopilot, require you to use your brain, and how you’re required to use it will have a big impact on how you navigate your working life and the level of stress you experience, when it comes to your career. Perhaps you have difficult decisions to make, perhaps you’re sensing dishonesty in the workplace, or maybe you’re feeling trapped in an unsatisfactory role. The list goes on. Regardless of how this is manifesting, it’s all about the way we weigh (hehe) up the pros and cons of our working life in our mind, how we think about our job and how we navigate it.

Wands
If we contextualise the Wands cards as being about our spirit and our energy, the Wands can present themselves in two distinct ways, when talking about our working life.

Firstly, of course, work requires the use of our energy, but how we are using that energy, and how much of that energy we are using at any time? If we exert ourselves too much, drain our life force, take on more than we can handle, this can lead to burnout, exhausting our energetic reserves. More importantly, that drain on our energy can be even greater if our working life doesn’t feed our spirit.

“This job pays my bills and allows me to tread water.” Is not going to give you the staying power to stick out a job long-term without burning out. So, what is our motivation for doing this job? This can be both short-term and long-term things, such as, “I enjoy what I do and I love the people I work with,” or, “This job is going to allow me to save up to travel, which is a lifelong dream of mine.”

Cups
This brings us to our final suit, the Cups. I absolutely LOVE to see Cups cards in a career reading, because it evidences the ways in which we are aligning our working life with our heart space. This moves into the realm of purpose, doing a job you love, feeling content, at peace and happy with what you do. Most importantly, we’re not content, at peace and happy because we’re earning loads and loads of money, have reached the top of our game, and have tons of respect, clients and success. Rather, the work we do, our day-to-day, is fulfilling on a deep, emotional level. It provides us with deep satisfaction and/or we feel like we’re making a difference with what we’re doing. Our work matters. This is something that not everybody can say, and so if you can find a career that makes you feel that way, it’s super, super special, and something that fills me with vicarious joy for my clients, when I see it appear in a reading.

So, my friends, how do you perceive the suits, their core energies, and how they are applicable to different scenarios? Do you agree with my feelings, regarding the Pentacles in Love and Cups in Career? Whether you read tarot cards or not, did you learn or affirm something in your own life, through reading this post? Let me know about it all in the comments!

N x

P.S. Always remember that I am writing based on my own experience with the tarot, my own personal practice, and the relationship that I have developed with the tarot, over time. The beauty is that there is a wealth of information out there, and so if this doesn’t resonate with you, that’s totally fine! Hopefully, even if you disagree with what I have outlined here, this further strengthens your personal understanding of the tarot and what it means to you. If so, I’ve done my job! :) If you’d like to chat with me about this sort of thing 1-1, in detail, did you know I offer 1-1 virtual mentoring sessions? Click here to find out more, and book a FREE no-commitment virtual 1-1 consultation, where we can discuss your goals and to help you decide if mentoring would be a good fit for you.