Four of Pentacles Tarot Card Meaning

Four of Pentacles upright

A crowned figure holds one pentacle in his arms, one balanced on his crown and two under his feet. Waite says he holds fast to what he has, and lists the surety of possessions, gift, legacy and inheritance. Saving is wise; just make sure security does not become a cage.

Four of Pentacles reversed

Waite reversed gives suspense, delay and opposition. Things you are waiting for may take longer; loosen your grip a little.

A reversed card (What does Upright / reversed card mean?) is one drawn upside-down.

Is Four of Pentacles a yes or no?

Upright: Mixed / not yet. Maybe — yes to keeping, no to anything that requires letting go.

Reversed: Reversed, Four of Pentacles reads as a gentle no: delay, suspense, opposition.

The yes/no lean is BornClock’s reading convention drawn from the card’s meaning — Waite himself did not assign one.

Symbolism in the Four of Pentacles card

What appears in the 1909 Rider–Waite–Smith picture, as Waite describes it:

• Figure clutching a pentacle — Waite: holding fast to what he has
• Pentacle on his crown, two under his feet — security all round

In Waite’s own words (paraphrased)

Upright: the surety of possessions, cleaving to what one has; gift, legacy, inheritance.

Reversed: suspense, delay, opposition.

Source: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910, public domain). Some of Waite’s 1910 fortune-telling meanings are old-fashioned; the plain-English reading above is ours.