Suit of Pentacles · earth
Six of Pentacles
This card weighs the flow of resources between those who have and those who need, measured on the scales of fairness. It can be open-handed generosity or a reminder that giving and receiving carry an inherent question of power. Reflect on which role you occupy, and whether the exchange around you is truly balanced or quietly conditional.
The image
A wealthy merchant holds a balance scale in one hand and drops coins to two kneeling beggars with the other. Six pentacles float in the field above.
Upright
Reversed
Reversed
Reversed, the Six of Pentacles' scales tip with hidden weight: generosity with strings attached, a power imbalance in who gives and who depends, charity that serves the giver. Read it as debt that controls, or help that keeps someone beneath you. The card asks whether the giving is really fair, or a way of holding power.
In a reading
In relationships
In relationships, the Six of Pentacles is the balance of giving and receiving: generosity, mutual support, care that flows both ways. Read it as a prompt to keep the exchange even. Reversed, it points to imbalance, one person always giving or always indebted, and asks whether the generosity comes with strings.
In work & money
In work and money, the Six of Pentacles is fair exchange: generosity, mentorship, resources shared equitably. Read it as a prompt to give and receive in good faith. Reversed, it names strings-attached help or a lopsided power dynamic, and asks whether a transaction is as fair as it looks.
Across the decks
Every card has a paper trail. How Six of Pentacles has been drawn across the cornerstone decks.
Visconti & Marseille
15th-18th c.Six coins arranged in two rows on the old pip, sceneless.
Rider-Waite-Smith
1909Smith's merchant weighs a scale and gives coins to two kneeling beggars, generosity measured.
Thoth
1938-1943Thoth (Disks) titles it Success; Harris balances six disks around a steady centre.
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From the Canon
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