King of Pentacles: tarot meaning, upright and reversed

A king sits among vines with sceptre and pentacle, his castle visible behind him.

Upright

stewardship · established skill

Manage material resources with experience and responsibility for their continuity.

Reversed

possessiveness · material fixation

Security may be pursued through excessive control or measured only in possessions.

In a reading

The position gives this card a particular task: a description of the situation, a challenge, or guidance. Read its image and meaning alongside the other cards and the question that brought them together.

Golden Dawn correspondence

King (mounted): Fire of Earth. 20 degrees Leo to 20 degrees Virgo. Court naming differs between decks; this identifies the Book T rank explicitly. This is the attribution in Book T.

Sources

A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot. These notes are original interpretations of the Waite–Smith imagery, informed by that text.