Gaining more insight - 7 of pentacles

tarot_quest

Hello ATers!

I was meant to ask this questions since a long time. I have gained some insights about this card while reading different threads on AT. However, I still don't understand something about this card.

When getting 7 of pentacles, are you INVESTING something or HARVESTING the fruits of your labor?

* This is not from a specific reading. Inputs from any type of deck are welcome!
 

Thirteen

Invested but NOT harvested...

The "original" (aka, Golden Dawn) meaning, from which Waite derived that image of the fellow looking at a bush full of pentacles is "Failure." Which doesn't necessarily mean you're facing failure so much as that you're feeling that something is a failure.

So, you've already invested in something--tree already planted and grown. BUT you haven't been able to harvest it. The card can stand for, alternately, impatience--you think you've failed and are going to turn away and miss out on the opportunity to harvest these fruits. OR you were given these seeds and had high hopes, but the result isn't what was anticipated and you're facing disappointment, a feeling like you were cheated (and if reversed--or read as ill-dignified, then you were cheated and it's never going to happen).

In both cases, the message of the card is "Patience." Either you're not willing to wait--and so will miss out on the harvest when it comes, or you have jumped at an opportunity that wasn't genuine. If the latter, you need to learn to be more patient. To not jump at something that looks really good, but might lead to failure rather than to harvest.
 

AprilShowers

I'd say the first. You are playing the long game, biding your time.. holding your breathe, and slowly sighing.

When the sky is cloudy you come along with your pretty little song
 

Thirteen

I'd say the first. You are playing the long game, biding your time.. holding your breathe, and slowly sighing.

When the sky is cloudy you come along with your pretty little song
Well, that assumes that the person IS patient. But the card is about a person who is having trouble with that. They need to learn to be patient. Meaning, stop staring at the still green fruit brooding about why it's not ripe yet and thinking all kinds of thoughts about "maybe those seeds were no good..." Patience! Patience!

Or, putting it at its most simple: A watched pot never boils.
 

tarot_quest

Well, that assumes that the person IS patient. But the card is about a person who is having trouble with that. They need to learn to be patient. Meaning, stop staring at the still green fruit brooding about why it's not ripe yet and thinking all kinds of thoughts about "maybe those seeds were no good..." Patience! Patience!

Or, putting it at its most simple: A watched pot never boils.

I find this card quite complex since there are so many possibilities involved! So if I understand correctly, the investment may or may not be a beneficial one? I am assuming that the surrounding cards help to clarify this point in a reading (+ intuition).

Since patience is the key word, only time can tell if your investment was good or not?

I still feel confused a bit even if your description is good. Do you have a concrete example with this card?

Thanks!