The Tarot of Eli 2, LLC: Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot-Ace of Pentacles & The Archeon Tarot- Ace of Pentacles

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Radiant: Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot- Ace of Pentacles

The Rider–Waite–Smith Ace of Pentacles

The Ace of Pentacles, in the Rider–Waite–Smith deck, is the equivalent of a seed: the concentrated essence of Earth’s promise. Whereas Waite often clothed his images in prosaic Christian mysticism, this card reveals far deeper Hermetic and Qabalistic symbolism than first meets the eye.

An Angelic hand, emerging from the luminous clouds, offers the Pentacle—a glyph of Earth, matter, and manifestation. Yet the Pentacle is more than a coin or symbol of wealth. It is also the image of the Ascended Human, the five-pointed star of Spirit ruling the four elements. Thus, the hand is not only giving material opportunity but extending the possibility of embodied divinity: Spirit crystallized into form.

In the background, a rose-covered arbor invites us inward. The rose, long a symbol of the Divine Feminine and the mysteries of fertile energy, blossoms upon the arbor, which itself serves as a symbol of the cosmic Womb. The arched gateway suggests the Vesica Piscis, the sacred passageway of manifestation through which Spirit enters matter. This arbor is penetrated by the narrow path leading through it—a phallic symbol of the Masculine aspect of the Divine Creative. The polarity of Rose and Arbor, Feminine and Masculine, reveals the ancient Hermetic principle: it is through union of opposites that manifestation occurs.

In the foreground, white lilies bloom. These lilies, pure and radiant, also signify the Divine Feminine. Yet here they represent more than mere beauty—they proclaim the fecund power of renewal, resurrection, and perpetual growth. Just as lilies emerge from the mud to rise toward the Sun, so too does Spirit, clothed in matter, rise to reveal its Solar nature.

Thus, every detail of this card points toward beginnings: the first stirring of life, the first planting of the seed, the first impulse of creation. The fruitful garden suggests abundance, prosperity, and the promise that if one walks the path through the arbor, life will be enriched and brought into full bloom.

In Hermetic terms, this Ace is Earth at its most exalted: the first crystallization of the Divine Will into the fertile field of Malkuth, where Spirit becomes experience. It is the eternal “Yes” of matter, opening to receive the command of Spirit.

This imagery is echoed in other modern decks such as the Archeon Tarot, whose Ace of Pentacles also emphasizes the abundance of the natural world and the primal surge of creative growth. In all cases, the Ace of Pentacles is the seed of prosperity, vitality, and the capacity to ground one’s spiritual inheritance into tangible real

All Aces of the Tarot—whether of Wands, Cups, Swords, or Pentacles—issue forth from Kether, the First Sephirah upon the Tree of Life. Kether is the Crown, the primal emanation, and the white brilliance that crowns the supernal triad. Its Divine Name is Eheieh—“I Will Be”—the archetypal declaration of existence before form, a vibration of pure potential that precedes manifestation.

Kether is often represented as the Point: a singularity of Being, complete unto itself, containing all within but without extension into space or time. It is also seen as the Crown, resting above all the Sephiroth, symbolizing the ineffable Source from which all emanations descend. Another of its sacred emblems is the Swastika, not in its corrupted modern usage, but in its original esoteric sense as the whirling motion of the Point radiating in four directions—the primal rotation of Spirit into the quadrature of matter.

Thus, the Aces embody this unmanifest potential. Each is the seed-form of its element: the Ace of Wands as the seed of Fire and Will, the Ace of Cups as the seed of Water and Desire, the Ace of Swords as the seed of Air and Thought, and the Ace of Pentacles as the seed of Earth and Form. They are not yet fully developed expressions of their suits, but concentrated essences—the “I Will Be” of their element, distilled into a single glyph.

In meditation, to contemplate the Aces is to return to the purest vibration of an element. To draw an Ace is to be offered a beginning, an uncorrupted seed, the chance to plant Spirit’s intent in the fertile soil of experience. And just as the Point of Kether contains all dimension yet defines none, so each Ace contains within it the entirety of its suit, though still unmeasured and unshaped.

This is a deeply important and nuanced subject of Aces. The Swastika/Svastika is one of the most ancient and globally persistent sacred symbols known to humanity, and its esoteric significance is profound across many spiritual traditions. Long before its appropriation and distortion by the Nazi regime, the Swastika was a sacred glyph representing cosmic harmony, dynamic balance, the motion of spirit through matter, and the primal act of creation—the "first swirlings," as Crowley so eloquently put it.

Origins & Universal Reach

The Swastika is found across the ancient world—India, Tibet, China, Japan, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. In Sanskrit, svastika means "well-being" or "to be good/lucky." The root su means "good" or "auspicious," and asti means "being." Thus, the Swastika originally denoted a state of spiritual and cosmic auspiciousness.

It appears on artifacts from:

• Indus Valley Civilization (3000 BCE+)

• Neolithic Europe

• Ancient Troy

• Navajo and Hopi tribes in North America

• Celtic and Norse symbols of solar movement

Its visual structure—either right-handed (clockwise) or left-handed (counterclockwise)—evokes rotation, dynamism, and the spiral nature of reality, which is key to its sacred meaning.

Esoteric and Hermetic Perspectives

In Hermetic and Qabalistic terms, the Swastika can be seen as a glyph of Tetragrammatonic motion, expressing the dance of the four elements or the four fixed signs (Leo, Taurus, Scorpio, Aquarius) in the Wheel of the Zodiac—the Chariot of Ezekiel. In this light, it is akin to a dynamic form of the cross, where the horizontal and vertical axes are put into motion, creating a spinning wheel—the Wheel of Life and Becoming.

In the Tarot of Thoth, this symbolism is most directly encountered in cards such as:

• The Magus (Beth): The gesture of weaving elements together—Mercurial movement.

• The Wheel of Fortune (Kaph): The wheel in motion; the cosmic spiral of fate.

• The Universe (Tav): The four kerubic beasts in motion—perpetual regeneration of the cosmos.

The Swastika embodies this idea of dynamic balance—a force ever spiraling outward from the center of creation. It is not a symbol of stasis, but of evolution and return, of the breath of the Logos exhaling and inhaling through the Aeons.

In Eastern Traditions

• Hinduism: The right-facing Swastika symbolizes Surya (the Sun) and prosperity, while the left-facing version is linked with Shakti, the divine feminine and tantric energy.

• Buddhism: The Swastika appears on Buddha's heart center, representing the Wheel of Dharma, eternity, and the infinite unfolding of consciousness.

• Jainism: It marks the seventh Tirthankara and maps out the soul's evolutionary states.

The rotation of the Swastika, in this context, mimics the Samsaric wheel—birth, death, rebirth—but also the turning of the Dharma Wheel—the movement toward Enlightenment.

Spiral as Creation

The term "first Swirlings" is alchemically potent. In many Hermetic traditions, the act of swirling or spiraling is the moment when the Divine Breath (Ruach Elohim) moves over the waters of the Abyss. This is the first motion, the Word (Logos) becoming Light and the first swirlings of life in a child (each of us are the Breath of the body).

In this, the Swastika is akin to the spiral form of the galaxy, the helix of DNA, or the Vortex of the Qabalistic Four Worlds being breathed into manifestation from Kether.

Sacred Geometry and the Solar Centre

As a solar emblem, the Swastika is aligned with Tiphareth—the heart of the Tree of Life, the Sun/Son, the Christed Logos. It is the radiant child born from the spinning forces of Geburah and Chesed, the tension and mercy of the divine. The Swastika can be thought of as a Solar Cross in rotation, representing the ever-becoming balance of opposites.

Contemporary Reclamation

As metaphysicians and Hermetic practitioners, we are tasked with reclaiming sacred symbols whose meanings have been corrupted by time or politics. The Swastika is one such symbol—its desecration in the 20th century is tragic, but its primordial power remains untouched in the Akashic light.

To gaze upon the true Swastika is to remember the primordial spiral, the Aeonic Breath, the Solar wheel turning at the heart of Being.

Ritual of the Solar Swastika: The Dance of the Turning Light can be found on magickeli.mystrikingly.com in the magick blogs.

In the Archeon Tarot, the Ace of Pentacles appears less as the esoteric seed of Earth, and more as a tangible coin or disk—an emblem of resources already manifest rather than potential waiting to unfold. Where traditional and Hermetic tarots emphasize the Ace as the first germination of elemental force, here we encounter a more masculine perspective, focused on outward achievement and practical gain.

This Ace heralds the arrival of a windfall of resources—unexpected opportunities, material success, or the influx of prosperity that allows dreams to be pursued with confidence. It carries the vibration of good fortune, contentment, comfort, and successful ventures, reminding us that the elemental force of Earth, when offered by Spirit, provides the stability and nourishment required for growth.

Symbolically, this presentation differs from the more archetypal esoteric seed: it emphasizes the coin of reward rather than the germ of potential. Yet the principle remains the same—the Ace is Kether manifesting in Assiah (the World of Matter), and whether perceived as seed or coin, it is the condensation of the Infinite Point into the fertile abundance of form.

Reversed Meaning

When inverted, the Ace of Pentacles turns its light upon the shadow side of material pursuits. It may represent misery, greed, poor planning, ill-advised investments, or loss. The very abundance once gifted is squandered through imbalance or attachment. In Hermetic terms, it is the corruption of the seed of Earth, when the pure Will of Kether is confined by the false ego’s clinging to possessions.

Yet even here, the Ace carries a hidden consolation: all fortune is cyclical. The wheel of Earth turns, and what is lost in one season may be regained in another. The inverted Ace reminds us that wealth and security are transient, but the true seed of prosperity lies in Spirit’s continual outpouring. Good fortune eventually smiles on all, if only for a moment, and the wise soul learns to plant that moment into lasting harvest.

Beyond the symbolism of seed or coin, the Ace of Pentacles also represents the body itself as a divine gift of Earth. For the Earth—whether we name Her Erda, Gaea, or Prithivi—is the matrix of manifestation. She governs our instincts and sensations, which are not hindrances to Spirit but the very organic intelligence through which Spirit experiences incarnation.

The Ace as Kether in Assiah reminds us that Spirit’s first descent into matter is clothed in flesh. This is why the garden in the Rider–Waite–Smith deck and the coin in the Archeon deck are more than symbols of prosperity—they are emblems of embodiment. Earth offers us a body, sculpted of her own substance, and bids us to inhabit it with the light of the Soul.

Often, Earth comes to the seeker through animal guides, for we too, as Homo sapiens sapiens, are animals. Our senses—the sight of color, the scent of rain, the warmth of fire, the pleasure of touch—are the sacred languages of Gaea. To honor them is to honor Her.

More than this, Earth governs the relationship between Spirit and body. We must learn to love the body as the temple of the Soul. Spirit is free, but it has chosen incarnation. Earth has granted us stewardship of her organic form, and our task is to wed the Macrocosmic Wisdom of the Solar Self (Tiphareth) with the instincts of this animal body. This is the great Hermetic marriage of Above and Below: the Solar Soul illuminating the clay of Gaea.

Thus, the Ace of Pentacles is not merely the promise of wealth, success, or opportunity—it is the embodiment of Spirit into matter, the sacred offering of Earth Herself. To draw this card is to be reminded that prosperity is rooted in incarnation, and incarnation itself is the greatest gift of all.

We are not here merely to “ascend.” Our presence upon Earth is itself the act of descension. We come from the stars—emanations of Stellar Intelligence—and we have descended into form through the ladder of the Four Qabalistic Worlds:

• Atziluth (Archetypal Fire – Will) – the divine spark of pure intention.

• Briah (Archangelic Water – Creation) – the imaginative matrix, the blueprint of form.

• Yetzirah (Formative Air – Mind) – the architecting of structure, law, and idea.

• Assiah (Material Earth – Action) – the world of embodiment, the crystallization of the above.

From these strata of Being, Spirit descends into incarnation, clothed in Earth’s substance. Thus, we are not “fallen” in a negative sense, but rather descended masters, fragments of the Divine Trinity of Mind (Will, Imagination, and Reason) who must now master form, time, and space.

This is why the Hermetic axiom “As Above, So Below” is not a metaphor but a mandate. The Stellar Intelligence of the Above seeks integration with the Earthly Intelligence of the Below. Spirit is not to escape matter, but to wed it—to bring the eternal into the temporal, the infinite into the finite, until both reveal themselves as One.

Even the Tetragrammaton—Yod Heh Vau Heh—enacts this descent:

• Yod – the primal seed of Fire, the spark of intention.

• Heh (first) – the matrix of Water, the womb of imagination.

• Vau – the nail of Air, the connective law of form.

• Heh (final) – the Earth, the Daughter, the manifestation of the whole.

Thus, the final Heh of the Divine Name is not a diminishment, but the completion. Spirit does not culminate until it descends into Earth. Sometimes, as I have often said, going down is truly going up—for to embody is to fulfill the arc of creation.

Astrologically, the element of Earth corresponds not only to material resources, stability, and form, but to imaginative and productive states of consciousness. Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) are not merely pragmatic; they are the gardeners of imagination, capable of grounding celestial inspiration into practical manifestation.

Where Fire ignites vision, Water nurtures desire, and Air structures thought, Earth makes it real. It is the soil in which the seed germinates, the stone upon which temples are raised, the body in which Spirit incarnates. Earth-consciousness is the alchemy of productivity, where dream becomes deed and eternity takes root in the present moment.

🔑 So the Ace of Pentacles is not just a lucky coin or seed of potential—it is the moment of Stellar descent into Earth, the hand of Spirit offering incarnation itself, the invitation to root cosmic wisdom into material reality.

WHEN THE ACE OF PENTACLES IS THROWN DURING A DIVINATION:

It implies:

• Union between the physical and spiritual aspects of the querent.
• Beginning a new pathway in life that will bring satisfaction.
• A new planting of seeds, for a new home, job, career, or some form of security.
• Materialization of ideas brings stability to skills that produce results.
• Could also be a time of meditation, an inward pulling of energy.
• Good beginnings for financial wealth, material gain and worldly status.
• The beginning of any new material form
• A most auspicious card showing the bringing together of internal and external talents and resources. Even if ill dignified it shows a sharing of treasure.
• Also, the Card of a Shaman, or one who is practiced in the arts of Earth Magic (k).

If reversed, it implies:

• Materialism.
• Stinginess.
• The vile side of affluence. 

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