The Three of Penacles
Symbolism
Here there are three figures, coming from different walks of life. There appears to be one from the court, a clergyman, and then there is the mason or worker. The creative trio is in communication and is talking about a common project which seems to be a church or temple.
The three figures refer to different people in our lives that we collaborate with as well as different aspects of ourselves. The work we are looking to build seems to be for the greater good and our spiritual work.
They are discussing plans and the mason is standing on the bench symbolising in this instance that his part of the work is the most important or ‘highest’ in value.
Keywords
Upright: Collaboration, holy work, communication, effectivity, teamwork, counselling, spiritual path.
Reversed: Fear of collaboration, blocked creativity, overworking, over-planning, no empathy, no plans/goals, going solo.
Upright meaning
This Three expresses the creative energy of the pentacles. It talks about collaboration and working in a team. This collaboration is normally seen as an external one but the three figures also represent our mind’s knowledge, our heart’s intuition and our body’s action, all in harmony working together to get a job done. The figure on the bench highlights the importance of action and getting our hands dirty in the ‘Doing’ part of the project.
This card speaks about work that has a higher purpose. This is why it relates to our spiritual mission and working for the greater good. We are not asked to ignore our personal needs but moreover, to understand how our needs can be in harmony with the needs of many. This is a wonderful time in our lives to get the ball rolling with a project that benefits a bigger community.
If we communicate clearly with ourselves and check in with our hearts and minds, our actions are likely to be much more successful. This is equally the case when we check in with others and listen to the ideas and creative advice of more people. Cooperation is more important than going it alone and now is a time to be open for guidance and ask for some external input, especially when the mutual goals we have are aligned.
Reversed meaning
There can be many reasons for being closed to the collaboration referred to in this card. Traumas from working with others can come in different ways. We may have been unrecognised in our work, we may have been given most of the work to do, we may have lost ourselves and ignored our personal needs. There may have been poor communication and resulting conflicts. The distrust in working with others is the shadow asking to be healed here.
There is a dual way of reading this reversal when it comes to the importance of ‘doing’. On one side of the coin, we need to plan well and have a clear vision of what our work is so that our labour can be as efficient as possible. On the other side of the coin, we can so easily give too much importance to the planning and theorizing to the point that we don’t get moving and just do it. Both sides of the coin will be blockages to getting the job done and the middle path is key.
Another way to read the advice from this card is to see that sometimes working with others can be a distraction. We may be so caught up with the communal dynamic that our productivity decreases. Sometimes we need to just do it ourselves. We can also get carried away with the stress of this work. We can burn out and need to delegate more. Take a look and see what your extreme pattern is, whether it is getting distracted by others or getting carried away in doing it yourself. One of these patterns is out of balance. Time to find some balance.