Six of Pentacles
The Six of Pentacles is about keeping giving and receiving in fair balance. You may soon find yourself offering help to someone or gratefully receiving it.
The giving may become lopsided, so be wary of help or gifts that quietly come with strings attached.
The card's advice: Give back something, however small, for what you receive.
Six of Pentacles: reading the picture
A brass scale hangs perfectly level from the hand of a young official in a blue and red silk robe and a gold-trimmed black hat. With his other hand he drops coins into the cupped palms of a gray-bearded man kneeling below. On the opposite side, a woman in a head scarf kneels with her hands out too, and a few coins lie scattered on the ground. Six more float overhead, three on each side. Everything is symmetrical except the people: the giver stands, the receivers kneel. So one frame holds both the kindness of giving and the uneven heights it can create. A tile-roofed pavilion sits in the distance.
Six of Pentacles in love, work and money
- Love and relationships
Check whether giving and receiving feel balanced between you. A relationship where only one person gives can wear thin, so return your gratitude, even in small ways.
- Work and study
Welcome support may come your way, such as help from a mentor, funding, or a recommendation. Remember the help you received and pass it on to newer coworkers to keep good relationships going.
- Money
If you lend or borrow, clearly set the amount and the repayment date. If you are comfortable, giving a small share of your income to others can make your heart feel richer.
The friend who picks up every check
A 31-year-old software tester earned more than most of her college friends, so at their monthly dinners she quietly paid the whole bill. Lately the group chat went silent whenever she suggested plans, and she felt unappreciated. She drew the Six of Pentacles: the scale is level, but the giver stands while the others kneel. Her generosity had made the table uneven. For the next dinner she suggested a cheaper spot and splitting the check, and offered to host a potluck instead of treating.
Questions to ask yourself after drawing Six of Pentacles
- In this relationship, am I the one holding the scale or the one holding out my hands, and where does that switch?
- Does the help I give come with quiet expectations I've never said out loud?
- Has the weight of owing someone kept me from simply saying thank you?
Six of Pentacles as a yes or no
Yes The flow of give and take is open, so it is a good time to ask for help or offer it.
Easy to confuse with Justice
A scale appears in both, so they get mixed up. Justice holds scales and an upright sword and faces forward, weighing what already happened: contracts, rulings, accountability. The scale in the Six is for sharing, not judging. The question isn't who was wrong but how much of what you have goes to whom. Settling a dispute is Justice; balancing give and take is the Six.
A common misreading of Six of Pentacles
People sometimes wait for this card to mean someone will hand them money. The asker can be on either side of the scale. Depending on where you stand, the same card can suggest asking for help or recognizing that it's your turn to give.
Symbols in Six of Pentacles
A well-dressed figure holds a set of scales in one hand and gives coins to two kneeling people with the other. The scales show a wish to share fairly, and the six coins overhead stand for wealth that keeps circulating.
How we drew Six of Pentacles
- Kept from the 1909 card
the well-to-do figure holding scales, the coins given to two kneeling people
- What we changed
The giver and the two kneeling people all wear hanbok (traditional Korean clothing).