Three of Pentacles

Depicted on the Three of Pentacles: A sculptor is working on three fine pentacles in a monastery of great antiquity. This is taken as meaning great skill and mastery. The three pentacles represent the three patterns of human existence: body, mind and soul.

Fourteen cards of the Major Arcana are associated with the Three of Pentacles: The Star, The Moon, The Lovers, The Empress, and 10 others.

All of the pentacular threes are associated with mastery and skill:

The Soldier

  • Ecorelation: benign warding
    • Skill: To fight
    • Associated Element: Thorium?
  • Image: An armored swordsman is depicted driving three fighters back out of a verdant field onto a bridge. One fighter is armed with a dagger; the second, with a warhammer; the third, with a sap made of a bag of coins.
  • Meaning: Protection from violence. Violence begets violence. Anticipation of needs in the seasons before it is required.

The Beggar

  • Ecorelation: depressed parasitism
  • Image: A raggedly dressed man sits before a building as three tradesmen pass by, each concealing their bags of money from the beggar's view. A young boy offers the sitting man a piece of bread.
  • Meaning: Suffering. Learning from adversity. Charity's value derives from intent, not quantity. Disregarded or poorly regarded talents.

The Lunatic

  • Ecorelation: angry sadism
    • Skill: To deceive oneself
    • Associated Element: Uranium?
  • Image: A monk dressed in robes stands alone in a field. He wields a tradesman's hammer and chisel but seems to be carving on the empty air. A bag of coins lies on the ground.
  • Meaning: Insanity. Self-deception and delusion. Empty effort and a vivid imagination. Aversion from that which we do not understand. Rejection of wealth.

The Mourner

  • Ecorelation: synnecrotic conflict/sacrificial satisfaction
  • Image: A man throws himself on a coffin decorated with a picture of three children playing. Others wait nearby without displaying emotion.
  • Meaning: Acceptance and grief. Realization that one's own sacrifice has come to an end, however unhappy that end might be.

A Generation of Vipers

  • Ecorelation: synnecrotic conflict/evangelical predation
    • Skill: To exploit others
    • Associated Element: Plutonium?
  • Image: A sealed coffin is overrun in the crypt by snakes. A woman hesitates at the door of the crypt in seeming conflict between her desire to leave the flowers she carries on the coffin and her revulsion at the snakes.
  • Meaning: A willingness to take advantage of other's misfortune. False emotions. Betrayal at time of greatest need. Leaving when the party's over.

The Magnificat

  • Ecorelation: synnecrotic conflict/commensual laudation
    • Skill: To praise others
    • Associated Element: Americium?
  • Image: A woman prays in the foreground, while behind her a beatific male seems to emerge from the cloud behind her head. Each has a halo, but the male figure seems to grow larger the further he is from his own feet. He holds a clear globe in one hand and three lenses between the four fingers of his other hand.
  • Meaning: Prayer magnifying God as well as ourselves. Improving the self image of others. A mother's pride in her children.

The Star

  • Ecorelation: sacrificial satisfaction
    • Skill: To inspire
    • Associated Element: Curium?
  • Image: A naked woman pours water from a basin into a lake while a nymph and a swan hide in the reeds nearby. Seven stars in a circle overhead create the shape of an eighth star between them. The swan seems to be rising toward the inspiring stars above.
  • Meaning: The ability to encourage hopeful action in others. Beauty and cleanliness. Preservation of tranquility and natural resources. Blessedness and pleasure, seen as non-contradictory indeed as needing balance. Mastery over the past in the present.

The Moon

  • Ecorelation: evangelical predation
    • Skill: To deceive others
    • Associated Element: Berkelium?
  • Image: Two dark towers rise in the background beneath a gigantic moon at which a dog and a wolf howl. Emerging from a pond in the foreground a crayfish, waving feelers as though without control.
  • Meaning: Deception and false friendship in the twilight. The danger and insecurity of selfishness and slander. Superficialness leading to double dealing, insincere relationships, and unknown enemies. Mystery and inconstant beauty.

The Pattern

  • Ecorelation: commensual laudation
  • Image: An elderly man holding a globe steps carefully from one tile to the next on an almost spiral-like path which loops its way inward to a brilliant, glowing center. The globe has two smaller globes attached to its equator by a figure-eight-shaped ribbon which reads, "Modus in rebus."
  • Meaning: Order in all things. Meaning comes by taking the difficult path and being willing to cast aside cherished beliefs. The method of the universe is seen in all things, large and small.

The Lovers

  • Ecorelation: symbiotic cooperation
  • Image: Two lovers embrace beneath the protection of cloud-hidden Eros. Doves draw a chariot behind him.
  • Meaning: The need to test. The optimism of the beginning of a possible romance. Freedom of emotion as in a meaningful relationship. Youthful ardor. Infinite vulnerability is infinite sensitivity.

The Marshal

  • Ecorelation: benign warding
    • Skill: To lead.
    • Associated Element: Fermium?
  • Image: A distinguished-looking man points to a map on a table in his tent. Around him, three armored soldiers listen attentively. Through the door of the tent can be seen the wounded being treated. Further away, fighting can be seen.
  • Meaning: The need to measure consequences. Genuine concern about the feelings of subordinates. To inspire trust, competence is paramont. To take others where one might go oneself.

The Empress

  • Ecorelation: depressed parasitism
  • Image: Surrounded by fruit and grain, The Empress sits holding the moon-sceptre of her cyclical power in her hand.
  • Meaning: Sister and mother. Fecundity of spirit and body. Convincing others to go where she cannot lead.

The Prisoner

  • Ecorelation: angry sadism
    • Skill: To acquiesce.
    • Associated Element: Nobelium?
  • Image: A sullen man sits on the floor in the corner of a stone cell, chained to the wall. An empty plate, a dead rat, and a broken chair lie in the middle of the cell.
  • Meaning: Relative value of wealth. Hiding of feelings to gain some change. Quiet resistance and sulky anger.

The Queen Mother

  • Ecorelation: synnecrotic conflict
  • Image: An elderly woman sits reading, while three figures of authority sit at her feet listening although does not seem to be speaking. The three listeners are a soldier, an abbess, and a king.
  • Meaning: Wisdom of age. The need for death to enable change. Subtle influences which can have a major impact without anyone knowing they are even acting.

See also Three of Wands, Major Arcana, and Faerie Tarot.

— Scotus - 03 Feb 2001