Eight of Pentacles

poivre

There was something that always bothered me about this card.

Why is their empty space from the middle to the top on the
left hand side?

I guess I'm always feeling unbalanced looking at this card,
as if the balance is heavy in three of the corners and
no weight in the fourth corner. It is like one fourth of the
work is empty.

The main part is the bottom and right side, no focus in the
middle of the card.
 

Fulgour

ros said:
It is like one fourth of the work is empty.
I suppose the first thing we might ask is, what is he doing?
If someone wanted to accomplish the exact same things
he has done, would they even go about it the same way...

What a mess! He's doesn't have a decent workplace there,
only just a bench he's straddling like a dumb kid, and with
a probably wobbly block of old wood as an angled support.

VIII PENTACLES

Look at him with that big hammer, and the size of that chisel.
He could be carving a statue out of marble with those things.
And his "apron" looks like a false shirt front, worn by a clerk.

Four Pentacles are above eye level, Four Pentacles are below.
But what is he doing with them? Hung up and tossed around,
with one even seeming to float in the air by his foot, just look!

Pamela Colman Smith was not a stranger to hands-on work.
She had experience building theatrical sets, where precision
counts as much as appearance. These Pentacles are all goofy.

What did she want us to see here, and what was her message?
I used to think it might be, "If at first you don't succeed, try,
try again." Now I'd say: Don't send a boy to do a man's work.
 

Umbrae

What I see…and this is just what I see, and in no way am I attempting to imply what Coleman-Smith meant…

The whole picture leans to our right – it leans forward – to the future? As an Eight, it lies at the bottom of the Pillar of Judgement. Perhaps the whole thing is leaning towards or perhaps upon the Pillar of Mildness (Equilibrium and Unity)?

If you count all the Sepheroth (including Da’at) that are not on the Pillar of judgment are there not eight?

Just thinking mind you – I could be wrong but that’s how I look at it.
 

Fulgour

Umbrae said:
The whole picture leans to our right – it leans forward
– to the future?
I can see the west facing seal in the 3 ties of the frock,
and backward facing with the orientation to the spire.
I looked at the card using enlarge and wondered about
the three knotholes. They are very deliberately drawn.

The thickness of the borders around the Pentacles varies,
much as do the sizes and shapes, and their orientations.

Numbers rank among my failings, although I persist.
40 kept coming to mind with the 8 x 5-pointed disks.

The Pillar of Mildness would certainly be possible here,
given the strong Tree of Life imagery in the Pentacles
suit as a whole. Three and Ten are vividly presented,
with other possibilities as well.
 

tmgrl2

I see the trunk with the pentacles leaning toward the figure whose back is turned ...to the past?

Put yourself INTO your work and focus on the details and each piece of the job will build into the completed work to come.

Don't look back.

Trust your work.

terri