King of Pentacles

Quick answer

The core meaning of King of Pentacles is Mastery in the realm of Material. Upright, it usually points to Valor, intelligence, business, mathematical gifts, and success in these paths; reversed, it may suggest Vice, weakness, perversity, peril.

Card imagery

The face of this figure is dark, suggesting courage, and the bull's head should be noted as a recurrent symbol on the throne. The sign of this suit is represented throughout as engraved with the pentigram, typifying the correspondence of the four elements in human nature and that by which they may be governed. In old Tarot packs this suit represented money. The consensus of divinatory meanings is on the side of change, as the cards do not deal especially with questions of money.

Upright meaning

Upright keywords: Material: Mastery. Waite gives the upright divinatory meaning as: Valor, intelligence, business, mathematical gifts, and success in these paths.

Reversed meaning

Reversed keywords: Material: Mastery (blocked). Waite gives the reversed divinatory meaning as: Vice, weakness, perversity, peril.

Love, Career, Money, and Growth

Love

Upright, the King of Pentacles is a mature, steady partner who provides security and material support and values commitment and responsibility. Reversed, a materialistic relationship, love measured in money, or a controlling and stubborn partner.

Career

Upright it is the successful, well-resourced leader who turns experience into steady results. Reversed, greed, autocracy, profit without regard for people, or comfort that refuses innovation.

Money

Upright it often shows financial maturity, solid assets, the capacity for far-sighted investment and planning. Reversed, beware risk driven by greed, obsession with wealth, or money used to control others.

Personal growth

The King of Pentacles has you consider what mature success looks like. Upright, use experience and resources to build long-term value; reversed, wealth is a tool, not an identity.

Example question

You ask whether working with this boss will end well and draw the King of Pentacles. Upright says they are well resourced and experienced, and the collaboration is steady if you look at the long run. Reversed says they are greedy or see only profit and not people, equating worth with money; hold your own bottom line when you negotiate terms.

How they feel

When King of Pentacles shows how someone feels about you, the feeling shows up in where they place you in their daily life and how much responsibility they are willing to take on. They weigh it together with their position and responsibilities, and once decided, they hold firm. Upright it leans toward steady management, long-term results, and leadership over resources; reversed, toward greed, controlling resources, or equating value with money alone.

Yes or No

Upright

Yes

Reversed

No

This is our own quick read, based on which way the card’s meaning leans. Traditions disagree about individual cards, and a “Maybe” needs to be weighed against the position in the spread and your actual situation rather than taken as a one-word answer.

Waite’s Original Text (1911)

Additional Meaning

A rather dark man, a merchant, master, professor. Reversed: An old and vicious man.

Quoted from A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith. The text is in the public domain.