I recently came across an interesting interpretation for the 6 of Pentacles (Coins, Disks, Diamonds, etc): it can reflect the querent’s current physical surroundings, the “now” of mundane existence. Although there were no Qabalistic inferences, this suggests the structure of the Tree of Life, in which the sixth sephira holds a central position with more inputs and outputs than any other. It’s a “crossroads” for the intermediate paths on the Tree and represents the “solar plexus” chakra of personal power and Will (the Thoth version portrays this symmetry clearly). In cartomancy I’ve seen the number Six specifically defined as “Paths,” which aligns with Aleister Crowley’s view of Six as a temporary waypoint or “rest stop” in the progress of a matter. In a reading I can accept the 6 of Pentacles as depicting a contented “private place” where the individual feels most intimately connected to the situation at the time of the reading. This will often be a good thing, although in a narrative that is otherwise about the need for change it could indicate an obstinate “stuck” point.”

I’ve already embraced a couple of useful meanings for this idea of a “home base.” One assumption would be a comfortable abode from which to venture out in search of productive experiences; everything at home is orderly and unremarkable, and can be left to its own devices. A less agreeable one might be “looking out from a foxhole,” always ready to duck back into that safe haven when conditions outside turn nasty. In either case, the “now” is an expression of one’s immediate sense of reality, and the surrounding cards would take their cue from being “next door” to its jurisdiction. The energy exchanges of the Lenormand Grand Tableau, where influence circulates in and out of the topic cards, is a similar concept.

This seems to be a cartomantic notion from the middle of the 19th Century rather than a take on the more modern interpretations of “material success” (Golden Dawn) or “generosity and charity” (Waite/Smith). While in my own practice I’ve always promoted the first of these and dismissed the second as unsupported by the card’s core meaning, I’m constantly looking for more literal ways to pin down the Thoth’s more generic presumption of “success.” There are simply too many ways for it to manifest to be consistently applicable, yielding a somewhat hollow frame of reference; Waite and Smith stretched it a bit by showing an episode of altruism (obviously subsequent to the attainment of wealth), but I find their bland presentation to be unsatisfactory as a display of “success for its own sake” and wanted to go in a less-moralizing direction.

The idea of physical surroundings as a “matrix” for the querent’s orientation toward current circumstances is a fruitful one that partakes of the same quality I described for the “Present” position of a three-card spread in my recent Ace of Cups post: it represents “the most immediately ‘actionable’ part of the narrative.” There are people who believe that every intimation received from a tarot reading is a reflection of “now,” and that “past” or “future” impressions are illusory. Philosophically I can see the truth in this, but for practical purposes it’s most useful to give the querent a sense of movement-over-time. If they can take an action “right now” that aligns them for a better outcome in the near future, I want to apprise them of the opportunity.

I also want to reiterate a brilliant quote from Rainer Maria Rilke’s book Letters to A Young Poet that I used in a previous post on a related topic:

“Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answers.”