Renaissance Tarot (Jones / Lyle) - 4 of Pentacles

Sulis

This card is all about solid foundations to me.
It's double earth as the element of the suit of Pentacles is earth and the element of the number 4 is earth too.
So it's solid, stable, fixed, unmovable.
It gives a good, solid base on which to build but it can also be a bit too bogged down, a bit too stiff and unmoving.

I'm not getting the holding things close as much with this card as with many versions of the 4 of Pentacles as the image on the card seems quite open although having said that the bloke with the pentacles is quite stuck in that position, there isn't really much room for him to go anywhere or do anything without losing his pentacles so in that sense he certainly is holding onto them.
 

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Papageno

it speaks to me of the stability of the Emperors throne.
the 4 of penatcles are the building blocks for establishing a solid foundation.

only when that has been achieved can he mount the Chariot and advance his objectives.

I see the figure in this card as a powerful embodiment of 4 great pillars.
see the attached Da Vinci image and compare it side-by-side with the Renaissance 4 of Pentacles.
 

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Enchanted

WOW!!! I hadn't seen the connection to Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, the resemblance in posture is significant.

When I first looked at this card today, I saw a snow angel or in Australian terms a sand angel. When you lie on the ground and make a shape by moving your legs and arms. I guess that is similar in a way, when you do that you are always trying to reach out just that little bit further.

He looks balanced and stable, secure in his position, he doesn't look as thought he will fall.

I get a fair bit of pride from this card, a sense of accomplishment, this is what I built/made. He is proud but he is also stuck, as Sulis pointed out, he cannot grow much further from this position.

With the connection to the Vitruvian Man, perhaps it would be fair to say that he has a degree of mastery over the material world, but needs to open out to the spiritual or inner world to be complete. He looks open to making that shift but not completely certain how to go about it.
 

Sulis

It's a lot more open looking than most 4 of Pentacles depictions isn't it?

Still very stable, grounded and solid but you really get the feeling that this isn't it, this isn't the end. It's the foundation, the thing on which to build so there is still so much more in front of this guy.
It's like there is more confidence with this person, he's saying 'look what I've got' instead of holding his coins to him with a 'these are mine, go away' (which is what I seem to get from the closed up RWS man).

Thanks Papageno for the Da Vinci image - yes I too see the four pillars now :)

Don't you just love this deck?
I'm really pleased that we're doing this study, I feel as if we're getting so much out of these cards :)
 

Emily

It strange but before I got this deck I always used to think - 4 Pentacles - Miser, someone trying to hard to hang onto what they've got.

This card is different, these Pentacles are perfectly balanced, as is the figure. The first two Pentacles rest on his hands but he's standing on the second pair. It looks a sturdy, solid card.
 

Papageno

Enchanted said:
He looks balanced and stable, secure in his position, he doesn't look as thought he will fall.

I get a fair bit of pride from this card,

<g> Pride goeth before a fall......it's all too true ya know.

http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=1126364&postcount=15

"............You have the tools at your fingers and need to be weary of over confidence."

the four is not impenetrable
 

Enchanted

I saw the sense of pride as being about accomplishment and self-worth, rather than the kind of pride that comes from a place of conceit, that is indeed a set up for a fall. I see that as differing from pride, that's not pride, it is vanity.

I don't see him as impenetrable either, he is actually quite vulnerable, because he is so open, protecting himself, would mean letting go. Which is actually something that this guy is going to have to consider at some point, that or stay as he is.
 

Papageno

Enchanted said:
I saw the sense of pride as being about accomplishment and self-worth, rather than the kind of pride that comes from a place of conceit, that is indeed a set up for a fall. I see that as differing from pride, that's not pride, it is vanity.

I don't see him as impenetrable either, he is actually quite vulnerable, because he is so open, protecting himself, would mean letting go. Which is actually something that this guy is going to have to consider at some point, that or stay as he is.

<g> I know where you were coming from, I was just engaging in a bit of soul baring here, makes the discussion more tangible instead of constantly speaking in abstract terms. conceit vanity the wrong side of pride, been there done that. <g>

but since we're moving into the darker side of the 4/pentacles your observation about letting go is well taken especially in regards to Emily's miser.
not just letting go of the material gains he holds close to him (and putting that to better use), but releasing the fear within him that makes him a miser.
the miser hoards, in part, because he feels threatened and sees that as his protection.
(Ebenezer Scrooge feared poverty and the uncertainties of life, something apart from pure greed and avarice)

edited to add:

we also agree that the structure of the fours is not impenetrable, but just throwing out an observation here that it takes a great force to bring down the pillars, so when the fall comes it's fairly staggering.
the foundation is intact, you can rebuild, but you're left with a freaking mess to clean up. LOL
 

Enchanted

Letting go is the hard part, the clean up just takes longer! :D
 

Debra

Um. I'm seeing this differently. Try standing like that: hold something in each hand, extended overhead, and take a wide stance (if not on your pentacles, then perhaps on your high heeled shoes) and then...hold it...hold it....hold it....

Such balancing is a strain.