Getting chilly out there today. Burrrr!! Tomorrow is going to be even colder.
The image on the IV of Pentacles shows four heavy and large golden coins embedded in the ground. Above them is an intricate spider web; trapped in the web are blue butterflies. One additional butterfly appears to be flying toward that web. The keywords for this card are hoarding, greed, materialism, and stagnation.
We've seen the II of Swords before; the image on this card shows two crossed Swords with hilts up and tips pointed downward. At first glance the Swords appear identical but they are not; their handles are different and the blades are embossed with patterns, again appearing the same but actually slightly different. Immediately below the handles the Swords are intact, but in the area where they cross and below, the Swords are crumbling apart. Between the hilts floats a piece of paper with writing on it; that paper is shredded, looking like it was clawed, to the point that it is difficult to see what is written on it. The keywords for this card are blocked off, refusal, avoidance, and stuck.
Both of these cards talk about a pause or a sense of protecting that is extreme enough to prevent movement. The coins in the image of the IV of Pentacles are heavy and cumbersome. They are deeply embedded in the ground to the point that removing them would be difficult. It appears the coins have been stuck there for a while, because vines are beginning to grow on them. This card reminds us that wealth does nothing if we keep it hidden safely away. To make these coins valuable, they must become something, they must be used in order to create something. The II of Swords tells of the pause that occurs when two equal but opposing forces go against each other. In the end, unless one side gives, no movement will happen. Together these cards are reminding me that being careful and conservative is good to some extent, but not choosing a side or an action is still a choice, a choice that will impede growth.
Pulling Elemental Dignities into the interpretation, we have learned that Earth (Pentacles) and Air (Swords) are unfriendly, which means their effects actively cancel each other out. The IV of Pentacles represents protecting to the point of hoarding, and the II of Swords represents the inability to confront a situation in order to create an outcome. Hoarding resources and deliberately choosing to not see the danger of not acting are the results of this unfriendly combination. One element takes away the power of the other element to effect change. The result: stagnation.
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