Four of Pentacles Tarot Card Meaning
Holding on tight. The Four of Pentacles represents the desire for security, stability, and control over your resources. At its best, this card is about building something solid and protecting what matters. At its most challenging, it's about gripping so tightly that nothing can grow. The question this card asks is whether you're creating safety or just avoiding risk.
Four of Pentacles Imagery and Symbolism
In the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot, a figure sits on a stone bench with a city behind them, clutching a pentacle to their chest whilst balancing one on their head and standing on two more. Pamela Colman Smith’s artwork captures someone who has accumulated resources but appears consumed by the need to protect them.
The figure’s posture tells the story. Arms wrapped around the central pentacle, feet planted firmly on two others, and one balanced carefully on their head. Every limb is occupied with holding on. There’s no room for movement, no capacity to reach for anything new whilst maintaining this grip.
The city behind them suggests there’s a whole world available, community, opportunity, connection, but the figure has turned away from it to focus entirely on what they already have. The overall imagery asks whether true security comes from clutching what you possess, or from trusting that you can engage with the world without losing everything.
Gord’s Thoughts on Four of Pentacles
The Four of Pentacles reminds me of the parable of the talents. A father gives his sons money. One spends it, one invests it and makes a killing, one buries it in the garden. The one who gets the biggest bollocking? The one who buried it. Because he had this gift and did absolutely nothing with it. That's the Four of Pentacles energy. You've got something, but you're so scared of losing it that you're not doing anything with it. You're just wasting it.
Four of Pentacles Tarot Card Meaning Upright
Security
This card represents the need for security, the desire to protect what you've built or what you have. That instinct isn't wrong. Everyone needs to feel safe. But this card asks whether your pursuit of security has become the thing actually limiting your life rather than enriching it.
Stability
This card represents stability at its core, wanting things to stay solid, predictable, and under control. There's nothing wrong with valuing security. The question is whether your grip on what you have is protecting you or preventing you from growing.
Control
This card suggests control over your resources, your environment, your situation. When that control is conscious and proportionate, it creates genuine stability. When it becomes rigid and fear-driven, it creates a prison. The difference between security and suffocation is how tightly you're gripping.
Four of Pentacles Upright in Love and Relationships Readings
In relationships, this card can represent wanting security and stability with a partner, which is perfectly reasonable. But it sometimes suggests a possessive energy, holding on to a relationship so tightly that there's no room for it to breathe. Healthy love usually needs some trust and space alongside the commitment.
Four of Pentacles Upright in Self-Care and Empowerment Readings
For self-care, this card suggests that building security and stability is a valid form of looking after yourself. Saving money, creating routines, protecting your boundaries. The empowerment comes from doing this consciously rather than out of fear. There's a difference between being prepared and being paralysed.
Four of Pentacles Upright in Career and Creativity Readings
In career and creativity, this card suggests a focus on financial security and professional stability. That might mean staying in a safe role, protecting your position, or being cautious with resources. Sometimes that's sensible. Sometimes it means you're not taking the risks that could actually move things forward.
Four of Pentacles Upright in Life Changes and Shadow Work Readings
In times of change, the Four of Pentacles asks you to find balance between safety and growth. Holding on too tightly to the known may limit your potential. Trust that calculated risks will lead to stability in the long term. Loosen your grip and let new opportunities in.
Four of Pentacles Tarot Card Meaning Reversed
Rigidity
When reversed, this card can point to rigidity, an unwillingness to adapt, change, or let go of what's familiar. When you hold on too tightly to how things are, you prevent anything new from coming in. Rigidity usually comes from fear, and that fear is often worth examining more closely.
Hoarding
This card reversed can suggest hoarding, holding on to things (possessions, money, even beliefs or grudges) long past the point where they serve you. Accumulating without releasing creates stagnation. This card asks whether what you're storing is genuinely valuable, or whether you're just afraid to let it go.
Fear of Loss
This card reversed can suggest a fear of loss driving these behaviours. The terror of losing what you have can paralyse you into inaction, keeping you in situations that aren't working because the alternative feels uncertain. What you're afraid of losing may already be costing you more than you realise.
Four of Pentacles Reversed in Love and Relationships Readings
In relationships reversed, this card can suggest control issues or an inability to let go. That might look like jealousy, possessiveness, or refusing to move on from a relationship that's already over. The fear of loss can make people grip tighter, which (often) pushes the other person further away.
Four of Pentacles Reversed in Self-Care and Empowerment Readings
For self-care reversed, this card can suggest your need for control is undermining your wellbeing. When you're constantly anxious about protecting what you have, you can't enjoy any of it. Sometimes the most empowering thing is to accept uncertainty and release the grip.
Four of Pentacles Reversed in Career and Creativity Readings
In career reversed, this card can suggest financial anxiety or professional stagnation caused by playing it too safe. Hoarding ideas, resources, or opportunities instead of putting them into action. Creative work especially suffers when you're too afraid of failure to actually try something new.
Four of Pentacles Reversed in Life Changes and Shadow Work Readings
Reversed, the Four of Pentacles warns that fear of scarcity may paralyse you during transitions. Hoarding resources or refusing to invest in change can lead to stagnation or waste. Release limiting beliefs, share what you have and believe that letting go creates space for abundance.
Four of Pentacles: Stability and Foundation
Fours stabilise. After the outward motion of the Three, the number Four plants its feet. Fours are about structure — the walls of a house, the routine of a practice, the baseline of safety. But structure can be both liberating and limiting.
These cards ask: what foundation are you building on? Is it still serving you? Fours can offer rest, but also invite review. Is your structure supportive, or has it become a trap?
Four of Pentacles: Material Success and Practicality
Pentacles are linked to the element of Earth. They speak to work, money, body, and resources. When Pentacles appear, look for slow, steady progress and guidance on craft, health, routines, and investments that support long-term well-being.
The challenge with Pentacles is they can feel slow. Earth energy doesn’t rush. When you want fast results and Pentacles appear, they’re often telling you to be patient. Material concerns aren’t shallow — you can’t pursue higher awareness if you can’t pay rent. The physical world matters and tending to it is valid work.
Four of Pentacles in the Minor Arcana
The Minor Arcana shows the moving parts of daily life. These 56 cards describe actions, choices, feelings, and results. While the Major Arcana speaks to life’s defining moments, the Minors fill in the daily choices that shape the bigger picture.
The Minor Arcana works through four suits — Pentacles, Cups, Wands, and Swords — each linked to an element and a different area of life. Combined with the numerology of each card’s number, this system means you can piece together the meaning of any Minor Arcana card once you understand how the parts fit together.
Four of Pentacles and the Element of Earth
Four of Pentacles is connected to the element of Earth. Earth speaks to work, money, body, and resources. It’s grounding, practical, and slow-moving. This element shows where steady effort and patience are needed, and where you need to tend to the material foundations of your life.
Earth energy values security, tangibility, and results you can see. It doesn’t rush. When Earth is present, the work might feel slow, but it rewards dedication. Material concerns aren’t shallow — the physical world matters and looking after it is valid work.
Four of Pentacles Journalling Prompts
What beliefs or possessions am I holding onto, and how are they impacting my life?
Where could I benefit from releasing control?
How can I create a stable foundation while remaining open to growth?
Frequently Asked Questions about Four of Pentacles
What does Four of Pentacles mean in a tarot reading?
The Four of Pentacles represents holding on tightly to resources, whether money, time or emotions. It can indicate stability and saving, but also warns of rigidity and fear. In a reading, it asks you to examine your relationship with security and to consider where loosening your grip might bring growth.
How can Four of Pentacles guide me in managing resources?
Four of Pentacles encourages mindful management: save and invest wisely, but don’t become so cautious that you block opportunities. It reminds you that money and energy need to circulate to grow. By balancing prudence with generosity and calculated risk, you create a healthier, more abundant relationship with resources.
Is Four of Pentacles a yes or no card?
The Four of Pentacles generally leans toward no when you’re asking whether to take a risk or make a big change. It signals caution and holding back. If you’re asking about saving or staying put, it’s yes. Ultimately, the card asks you to evaluate whether fear is driving your decision.
What is the role of the Four of Pentacles in the tarot deck?
The Four of Pentacles introduces the theme of material stability and control in the suit of Pentacles. It shows the benefits and drawbacks of holding on. Its role is to prompt reflection on security, scarcity and generosity, asking whether your grip on resources supports or limits you.
What does the Four of Pentacles symbolise?
The Four of Pentacles symbolises stability, control and the fear of loss. The imagery of a person tightly holding coins shows how clinging can protect and restrict simultaneously. It invites you to consider whether your boundaries serve growth or simply keep you stuck in a state of lack and caution.
What does Four of Pentacles suggest about navigating life’s challenges?
It suggests adopting a balanced approach to change: hold onto what truly matters while letting go of what stifles you. The Four of Pentacles teaches that resilience comes from flexibility. To navigate challenges, release scarcity thinking and trust that generosity invites support and fresh opportunities.
Is Four of Pentacles a positive or negative card?
It’s neutral, highlighting both stability and limitation. The Four of Pentacles applauds careful stewardship and saving, but warns against fear-based rigidity. Whether it’s positive or negative depends on whether your security is a springboard for growth or a wall preventing change and generosity.
How does Four of Pentacles align with themes of career?
In career readings, the Four of Pentacles warns against clinging to the familiar at the expense of progress. It encourages prudent management of finances and responsibilities but cautions against resisting change. Embrace continuous learning and reinvest resources wisely to avoid stagnation and achieve sustainable success.
What are some other names for Four of Pentacles?
In different decks, the Four of Pentacles may be called the Four of Coins or Four of Disks, emphasising material matters. The Thoth deck names it The Lord of Power. Regardless of title, it conveys the themes of possession, security and the tension between stability and stagnation.
What other tarot cards often appear with Four of Pentacles?
Four of Pentacles often appears with cards like The Fool, urging you to take leaps; The Tower, signalling needed upheaval; Death, heralding transformation; and Six of Pentacles, teaching balance between giving and saving. These combinations highlight where you may need to release control to grow.
