Am I The Only Who Doesn't See the 6 of Pentacles as "Balance"?

[Enlightenment23]

Hey guys,

When I first started learning tarot, I had the hardest time with the 6 of Pentacles. Why? Because in perusing through the net and sifting through the threads, there was always one word that people always paired with this card - "balance."

Now that I am a little bit more experienced, I cannot disagree more. In my humble opinion, the 6 of Pentacles is not about balance, it's about imbalance of power and status. If we look at Rider Waite-based imagery, there is no balance of "give and take" - there is only one party doing the giving. And there is only one party doing the receiving.

So, on the plus side, this could materialize as someone with more leverage/clout handing a homeless man some money, a well-known socialite holding a fundraiser for a charity, or an institution handing a student a loan.

But if you look at its shadow side, I've seen this card to mean a taker who abuses the generosity of others. So, for example, a perfectly healthy worker who keeps stealing money from government safety net programs that serve people with disabilities. Or a relationship where one party is doing most of the work, but the other is being passive and just receptive (e.g. an infatuated man keeps texting his crush, but the woman doesn't care to reply). I've also seen the 6 of Pentacles Rx mean unrequited love. So, for example, a woman who pretends to like a guy because he keeps taking her out on luxurious dates (free food!), but she's really using him.

So with these being my experiences with the 6 of Pentacles, it's just so strange to me that "balance" is paired with this card. To me, it's all about inequality - only one party is doing the giving.

Can anyone else shed some light on this for me?

 

[gregory]

For a start - no you aren't the only one who anything !

But no, no card means one thing all the time, and I totally get it as showing a taker, for instance. Also someone who shows off by giving to charity ("aren't I a wonderful person ?") and all sorts.

 

[DDwarks]

I don't think I've ever seen it as balance?
More like charity/ generosity which like Gregory said could be for many different reasons!
I've had it once on AT describing someone giving some crumbs of attention to a few gentleman suitors too.
Depending on who's doing the giving it could also be a windfall.

 

[gregory]

Oddly enough someone has just today drawn it for me for a friend who is TOTALLY a taker.

 

[Thirteen]

Taking and Giving aren't always so simple....

there is no balance of "give and take" - there is only one party doing the giving. And there is only one party doing the receiving

If you'd talking material goods than you're right. Only the rich man is giving and only the poor man is taking. But as more experienced tarot reader, I wouldn't think you'd limit your interpretation so severely. There is a long tradition in both Eastern and Western religions for very spiritual folk to give up all their worldly goods. To spend their time praying for people, or offering spiritual guidance. Or opening up charities to help the poor. And the tradition in many of these circumstances is for those with means to gain some spiritual guidance, prayers, or blessings, by parting with their worldly goods to support these spiritual folk. In the east, Buddist monks regularly had begging bowls,and those who gave them food or money for food or clothes were blessed. In the west, the rich parted with land where monks who had forsaking all worldly goods could live. The rich created churches and hospitals and orphanages. In more modern times, they created libraries and museums, assuming that their weath was not theirs to keep but to use for the greater good of humanity.

Do you feel that all these rich "givers" got nothing in return of their money? You mention that socialite and it seems like you feel that she is getting nothing in return. Why are you so sure of that? And let's revers that "worker who steals" from the government. I know of a woman who had to go on welfare. She hated it. She didn't want to. But she had to feed her children. She was on it briefly, and it saved her and her children from abject poverty. Once she was back on her feet, she was working and PAYING HER TAXES so that others would have that safety net when they needed it.

So. Was the government a giver and the woman a taker and that's that? I think the government was giving money, but was assuming that in giving this, it would be getting back a tax payer. And she in turn, took, but only so that she could later give. The balance may not be immediately clear in that picture--but 6's ARE the number of balance. And the balance is either in what you can't see (the giver getting blessings, which are worth as much if not more than a few coins), and/or the "passing it forward" that this giving will lead to as the taker, thanks to this gift, can then become a giver themselves.

I'm not saying it can't mean a lop-sided relationship--all cards have negative connotations. But I think you're severely limiting it if you only see it as that way, and incapable of having a much richer and more powerful message about giving and taking.

 

[Grizabella]

I've never seen the card as balance, but if you think about it, it is really about that, among its many other meanings.

Think about it---if there were no takers, then there wouldn't be the need for givers. So, givers need takers, yin needs yang, dark needs light, up needs down, north needs south---all these things need their opposite in order to be what they are. That's definitely a balance even if it doesn't seem to be.

I don't know if I've explained right, but maybe some will see what I mean.

 

[PenPendragon]

balance

I have never seen that card specifically as 'balance'. I feel that the interpretation of the Six of Pentacles rests heavily upon the question asked and the cards near it. If the querent's question concerns getting help of some kind.... i.e. 'will my parents assist me in paying my student loan for three months?", then yes, they'd be willing to help, at least for a short time or grovelling may be required.
(key word is 'willing'). If the question was, "Should I loan my ex roommate my truck on the day he moves house?", other cards may suggest if you'll get it back in one piece and on the day specified. But if the question is about repercussions... 'what will be the result of accepting a loan from my FIL to buy a house" the other cards might warn of a reversed King of Pentacles and/or of an unexpected controlling/ manipulative personality.

I think balance or lack thereof would be found in placements and of other cards in the layout. Card does indicate potential flow of energy/ material, money or help from or to another. If the questioner doesn't want to end up indebted to giver or not repaid if lender, he/ she must take steps before giving or receiving to make sure they themselves make effort to keep the balance.
Pen

 

[Barleywine]

I don't use the RWS interpretation for the 6 of Pentacles even when using the RWS deck, since I see it as one of several instances where the imagery "hijacks" the deeper meaning. I prefer the Thoth/Golden Dawn titles of "Success/The Lord of Material Success;" also, "Definite accomplishment. Thing carried out." The idea of "balance" with all the Sixes, as I see it, comes from their association with the central sephira on the qabalistic Tree of Life; it's balanced on both sides and top-to-bottom - showing "the full harmonious establishment of the Energy of the Element" (Book of Thoth), but also a transient state that ultimately gives way to further "unbalanced" growth before it reaches the end of the developmental cycle for its suit. I like to think of the Sixes as a momentary state of equilibrium along the way where we might like to linger for a while, but eventually must pass on to further labors.

 

[mollie600]

I am quite new to tarot, but thought I'd share my (developing) opinion anyway. When I first saw this card, I, despite the appearance of the scales, did not interpret it as meaning balance. I understood it to mean wealth and generosity as well as not being ashamed to ask for help when needed.

Everyone's interpretations are different though- surely your own take on the card is the true meaning that it is projecting, given that the guidance is based on your understanding?

 

[Enlightenment23]

I've never seen the card as balance, but if you think about it, it is really about that, among its many other meanings.

Think about it---if there were no takers, then there wouldn't be the need for givers. So, givers need takers, yin needs yang, dark needs light, up needs down, north needs south---all these things need their opposite in order to be what they are. That's definitely a balance even if it doesn't seem to be.

I don't know if I've explained right, but maybe some will see what I mean.

Hey there Griz ,

Right, well, I understand what you mean. I thought about what you said a little bit. And it makes sense, but in another way (or maybe in the same way, just a different perspective).

In order for there to be balance (in the way we think about Justice's scales), the giver would have to be of a higher status, I feel? The whole concept of "giving back to the community" maybe? Because, if the wealthy didn't give back (e.g. institutions handing out scholarships, charitable organizations etc.), the balance of wealth would be too heavy on one side and too paltry on the other.

So in that way, it makes sense, but at the same time, I still feel it's quite a stretch to use "balance" for the card. Because ultimately, the card is also about the dichotomy between the rich and poor as well. And it's just the nature of life that there haves and have nots, and therefore an imbalance. Gah, I hope I make sense? Lol.

Take a look at some of the threads below to see some discussions about 6 of Pentacles being about balance. Just so you know I didn't pull it out of my butt lol!

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=117933
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=110226
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=155687