Hanson-Roberts 9 of Pentacles
Today’s selection is from my mini Hanson-Roberts Tarot Deck which comes with The Essential Book of Tarot from Peter Pauper Press. This is a handy little combination small enough to fit into a purse and convenient for travel. (app. 4.25 x 3.5″) The deck is based on the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. Mary Greer, in Tarot For Your Self, describes it as “fairy-tale style, non-threatening”. This is the deck that doesn’t contain any nudity, not the Marseilles deck as I previously said.
The Nine of Pentacles shows a well-dressed woman in a lush garden holding a bird on her hand. A castle rises in the right background. My first impression was of material abundance and contentment.
Nine of Pentacles
Then I turned to the companion book and saw that it interprets the card as meaning: wisdom, knowledge & talent are present, but no love life; … a lonely time, to be met with a measure of detachment. Success, recognition and wealth will follow“.
Hm. Was I really so far off? I turned to Kenner’s Tarot For Writers to find her interpretation closer to mine. She calls it a card of “comfort and prosperity” and points out that though the woman is alone, she doesn’t appear to be lonely. In fact, she is smiling, though it may be hard to tell from my slightly blurred photo.
Kenner says the card indicates financial security, safety, solitude and peace; “gardens symbolize rest and reflection, order over chaos, and refuge”.
So I guess the lesson here is that the books aren’t always going to agree. That’s why it’s called interpretation.
What do you think? Is she lonely?
Lyndi
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