4/Coins reversed

I've seen this card upright mean wanting to hold onto something that you believe you have a right to hold onto. For example, a husband trying to keep the house during a divorce because he feels that he is entitled to it.

What about the reversed though? Could it mean wanting to hold onto something you know that you don't have a right to hold onto, something that you know isn't yours to keep? For example, a boyfriend/girlfriend moves out but takes something that doesn't belong to him/her on the way out...and then later won't return it when asked? That's what I'm interepreting this card as in a reading and I'd like some input. Does this interpretation make sense?

Where does this particular card appear in the context of the reading? The way in which it is interpreted would be significantly affected by this, also, do any other Fours or Coins appear in the spread? This would bear influence upon the meaning also.

4 of coins - "it´s mine. selfishness . Holding on to things, inability to share.Greed. Holding on to things shows I have got power.
4 of coins RX - again, inability to share but for different reasons, usually, insecurity. Money, things, people become blankies... Holding on to things show I haven´t got power.

I have a more positive view of 4 Pents upright, it is conservative, yes, but not that penny pinching, grasping that many people think of. I think it's establishing security, holding on because it's things that make your life better and more secure. It's starting savings accounts and investing in the future, buying a home, making savings plans for college and trust funds, taking out life insurance... getting a membership at a health club, stocking up on vitamins. I think 4 Pents is learning the value of what is meaningful, neccessary and taking the precautions to ensure it lasts. It's treasuring and cherishing those things that give your life it's basis. It's also the basics of what creates a good foundation to build from.

4 Pents RX takes on the more negative qualities or lack of solidity.
It's possible it could mean insecurity and possessiveness, it might also be "penny-wise" and "pound-foolish"... like buying cheap stuff on sale that you don't use or falls apart and has to be replaced. I think the RX is more of the selfish, self-centered, hoarding quality and yet at the same time it could be the inability to establish a firm economic, grounded base. So in a way it could be "groundless", not rooted, instability and maybe drifting.

Since 4's are foundations, the reverse is that the foundation isn't solid, was flawed or never existed, or that the answer to the question is that it has no foundation, no grounds, no weight.

In some situations I could see it as giving the shirt off your back, being too generous... when you can't afford it. Like some people love to show off and spend way too much on others to show them a good time and then over extend themselves, mainly to create some sort of image.


Another thought is the inability to save or conserve, wastefulness or something that is like a leak, draining your resources. Something that is deteriorating.

So it could mean not to hold on so tightly, to let go of the things you've become too attached to, that they are only things and that you have to take a risk of some sort. Maybe being too conservative to the point where you stop all growth & development.

4 Pents has a lot to do with health and the RX could mean that things are taking it's toll... weight loss, fatigue, illness etc.

I realize that some of these observations seem contradictory, but I think they all hold for this card reversed.

Know when to hold 'em,
know when to fold 'em,
know when to walk away
and know when to run.
I'll bet it's knowing when to let go.

JennyM, your interpretation makes sense to me if the question asked was "what happened to such-and-such that's gone now that X moved out" or something to that effect. As someone else said, it depends on the question and the other cards in the spread, as well as the name of the position that card falls in. It could also mean that the boyfriend is very possessive of material things and just thinks she may have taken something that wasn't hers through his paranoid fear that he'll lose some material thing that belongs to him.

In all areas, I read this card reverse to mean 'insecure, unstable', whether that is what one feels and thinks, or it's the reality.

I have to say, I think that often 4ofCoins gets a bad rap. Upright, I really see it as a positive card representing stability and assuredness in ones possessions, or position.

JennyM said:

I've seen this card upright mean wanting to hold onto something that you believe you have a right to hold onto. For example, a husband trying to keep the house during a divorce because he feels that he is entitled to it.

What about the reversed though? Could it mean wanting to hold onto something you know that you don't have a right to hold onto, something that you know isn't yours to keep? For example, a boyfriend/girlfriend moves out but takes something that doesn't belong to him/her on the way out...and then later won't return it when asked? That's what I'm interepreting this card as in a reading and I'd like some input. Does this interpretation make sense?

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In a moving/break up situation - I would think it just represents that someone believes that he/her lost possession of something that belonged to him/her. Feeling unhappy/uncomfortable about that.
I couldn't clarify or elaborate about permanent loss, or fighting over it; I could see it being an issue of contention and ill feelings, if say, it was coupled with 7Swords or 5Wands.

I don't often use RX spreads, usually I interpret by proximaty to other cards and the position. But in some spreads that are requested, like the celtic cross etc, I do RX cards. What helps me with the 4 of Pentacles/Disks/Coins is to remember that in a reading it generally means holding on tightly, and since it is a money coin, it could suggest overly miserly if reversed. Turn him upside down (if you use, say, the Waite deck) and the coins start to fall out of his pocket. Meaning, he needs to be shaken up a little to get it out of him.

Psychebleu said:

In a moving/break up situation - I would think it just represents that someone believes that he/her lost possession of something that belonged to him/her. Feeling unhappy/uncomfortable about that.
I couldn't clarify or elaborate about permanent loss, or fighting over it; I could see it being an issue of contention and ill feelings, if say, it was coupled with 7Swords or 5Wands.

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Both those cards were also present.

ana luisa said:

4 of coins - "it´s mine. selfishness . Holding on to things, inability to share.Greed. Holding on to things shows I have got power.
4 of coins RX - again, inability to share but for different reasons, usually, insecurity. Money, things, people become blankies... Holding on to things show I haven´t got power.

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This would include holding onto something that isn't yours...because you feel powerless. You become powerFUL because you have this thing...and that's what I think is going on here. Someone took something that wasn't theirs to take...because it lent a certain amount of power...