For You to See Life - 4u2c.life

The card of the Knight of Pentacles portrays a swarthy young man with dark brown hair, mounted on a stocky brown horse. He is dressed in a lime-green tunic and brown leather armour, and wears a brown leather helmet. In his right hand he holds a golden pentacle; in his left, a sheaf of wheat. Around him lie rolling pastures dotted with sheep, and an olive grove with beehives. Above him is a brilliant blue sky.

Minor Arcana ~ The Knight of Pentacles

Here, in the card of the Knight of Pentacles, we meet the industrious, versatile, and changeable dimen- sion of the element of earth, which is constantly in motion. This is embodied in the mythic figure of Aristaeus, who was called ‘Guardian of the Flocks’. Aristaeus was the son of the sun-god Apollo, by a mortal woman called Kyrene, and when he was an infant he was given to the Earth Mother who fed him on nectar and ambrosia. The dryads or tree-nymphs taught Aristaeus how to curdle milk for cheese, build bee-hives, and make the oleaster yield the cultivated olive. These useful arts he taught to others while still a young man, travelling ceaselessly over North Africa and Greece, earning honours as he went.

When Aristaeus grew to maturity, the Muses in turn taught him the arts of healing and prophecy, and set him to watch over their sheep which grazed across the Plain of Phthia. It was here that he perfected the art of hunting. One day Aristaeus consulted the Delphic Oracle of his father Apollo, who told him to visit the island of Keos, where he would be greatly honoured. Setting sail at once, Aristaeus found that a plague had fallen upon the islanders because of secret murderers who were sheltering among them. Aristaeus put the murderers to death and the plague ceased, and the Keans showered him with gratitude.

He then visited Arcadia, and later Tempe, but at Tempe all his bees began to die, and he was advised by his mother to find the old sea-god Proteus, who was a prophet, and force him to explain the reason for the catastrophe. Aristaeus duly found and captured Proteus, who told him that the bees’ sickness was due to an unfortunate love-episode which resulted in the woman’s accidental death, for which Aristaeus was being punished by the gods. In expiation he offered various sacrificial beasts to the offended deities, and from the rotting carcasses of the slaughtered animals a swarm of bees rose, which he captured and put into a hive. Aristaeus then continued his travels, to Libya and thence to Sardinia, and eventually to Sicily. Finally he went to Thrace, still restless and searching for further tasks to fulfil. Eventually he founded the city of Aristaeum, and died there honoured for his wisdom.

Aristaeus, the Knight of Pentacles, is an image of the human capacity for industry and diligent service. He is not really a hero, for he faces no dragons or dangerous quests, and his greatest challenge is the healing of his sick bees. But he is a powerful and creative figure nonetheless. The character of Aristaeus is that of the lover of the countryside, and friend of animals and all wild creatures, to whom no task is too menial provided it serves the life of nature. Although his aims are limited - Aristaeus could never be accused of the grandiose pride which afflicts so many Greek heroes and which is the cause of their glory and their ultimate downfall - yet he is kind and dependable, willing to work long and hard for the matters which concern him. Although virtually every figure in Greek myth is culpable of some rape, seduction, murder or some other crime, it is a peculiar trait of Aristaeus that he willingly accepts such a detailed and tiresome ritual and discharges it impeccably for the sake of a few bees.

Thus Aristaeus embodies that side of us which is humble enough to relate to the humblest forms of life, and which is always ready to learn more about the varied and complex faces of nature. The Knight of Pentacles is not a glamorous figure, but he is capable of great contentment because his achievements are always circumscribed by realism and humble aims. This is the quality which allows us to accept with good grace the job which may be boring yet which must be done, and to discharge faithfully the tasks of ordinary living. Aristaeus has no pretentions to divinity, yet he is a god’s son and after his death is himself worshipped as divine.

When the Knight of Pentacles appears in a spread, it is time for the individual to develop that dimension of the personality which is comfortably and firmly anchored in the ordinary tasks of living. The Knight of Pentacles may enter one’s life as an industrious, humble, gentle, hard-working young man, perhaps lacking in imagination but rich in the qualities of reliability and gentleness. But if such a person enters one’s sphere, it may be seen as an opportunity to leam more about this side of oneself through the catalyst of another.

I will explain in my readings what each card means, this is a general interpritation taken from the Mythic Tarot Deck

Information Source: Mythic Tarot Deck
[published in 1986 by Juliet Sharman-Burke and Liz Greene and Illustrated by Tricia Newell (not the New Mythic Tarot)]