Two of Pentacles

The Two of Pentacles is determined chaos.

This card is about rapid energies that set things in motion or, alternatively, jumble things up unnecessarily.

Pentacles often deal with career or finances. You might be taking on a second job, forging new career paths, or trying to balance your cash flow. Extreme concentration is needed; you’re trying not to drop the ball.

This card can indicate temporary flux. Something might be shifting, requiring immense effort and dedication. Change isn’t easy! Even positive change is rife with strife. This card can be the game’s cheerleader, reminding you that effort pays off with a win.

The Two of Pentacles can affirm that you need the wheels set in motion. However, this card can also warn that the wheels are about to fall off. How long have you been burning the midnight oil? The Two of Pentacles asks you to amp up the voltage if needed, or bring things down a notch if the energy currents are unsustainable. This might require letting go of commitments, ideas, or patterns that keep you stuck under the weight of too much.

Mary Greer and others connect this card to investments. Bonds, trading, gambling, or markets might be on your mind or on your plate. The card appearing reversed can imply troubles in those areas (or, if surrounding cards amplify this meaning).

In a relationship reading, this card signifies intensity or instability. Things are up and down, touch-and-go, and unpredictable. In some cases, this card can indicate cheating, secrecy, or side-lovers. Or, this card can be a projection of those fears. Consider whether or not this card is pulled about you or the parties in question.

When reversed, the fast-moving energies are asking you to step on the brakes. You’re taking on too much or engaging in risky stuff unnecessarily. Gambling or high-velocity actions will backfire. In this case, less is more is a helpful motto.

Then again, you may need to get moving, but stand stuck. The reversed card can be you (or a situation) that’s like a clogged sink. You don’t want to deal with it, and the water drains out slower and the sludge builds up. Ugh! If this is the case, try to focus on how much better you’ll feel when you take action.

The Two of Pentacles is the need to get life in motion, or, to slow it down if the pace is unviable.

Sources
Greer, Mary. Archetypal Tarot. San Francisco, CA: Weiser Books, 2011.
Greer, Mary. Tarot Reversals. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2002.
Pollack, Rachel. Tarot Wisdom. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2008.
Snow, Cassandra. Queering the Tarot. Newburyport, MA: Weiser Books, 2019.
Tea, Michelle. Modern Tarot. New York, NY: Harper Collins: 2017.
Wen, Benebell. Holistic Tarot: An Integrative Approach to Using Tarot for Personal Growth. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2015.

Video

Tarot Spread

If you are drawn to the Two of Pentacles and want to dig deeper, get them outta your deck, make them your mascot, and draw some cards from the rest of the deck with this tarot spread I created!