EIGHT OF PENTACLES, LORD OF PRUDENCE

   As your ally creates golden pentacles, his attitude and his simple tools and apron reveal the dignity and worth of labor, the honor that comes with being a workman, and the significance attached to a life of service for the good of others. He appears almost lost in his work, yet he has a deep knowledge of the value of prudence, which nowadays has the negative connotation of "stodginess," but which on the positive side suggests foresight and deep knowledge of the self and the world. As he carves the five-pointed star with his mallet and chisel under the influence of the Sun in Virgo, he reveals a single-pointed focus. The Sun on the Tree of Life is a central symbol of the Emanation of Beauty ("Tiphareth" in Hebrew), a state of equilibrium and harmonizing love, which is symbolically associated with the Christ-force. The laborer's work suggests the sacrifice and discipline necessary to create and maintain harmony, for each pentacle symbolically represents the unity of the subtle elements of Air, Fire, Aether, Water and Earth. Besides representing the harmony and unity of the elements, each pentacle here also literally represents the Christ-force: the Hebrew letters Yod, Heh, Shin, Vav, Heh are associated with the five points of the Star and together spell Yeheshuah, one translation of which is "Jesus." So, each pentacle, made of incorruptible gold, can on a symbolic level represent any work of harmonizing love and sacrifice. A road in the distance extends from the town to the space where the artisan labors. Your ally knows that any work of harmony and balance, whether physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual, needs to remain connected to the community to be meaningful.

CORRESPONDING COLOR: Yellowish black, flecked with white.

Reversed: a lack of passion or purpose, uninspired, disconnected; works of chaos or destruction.