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Holding a balanced scale, a merchant drops coins to one of two kneeling figures while six pentacles float overhead.
Rider–Waite–Smith, 1909 · public domain

Minor Arcana · Pentacles

Six of Pentacles

Help is moving again, from people who have it to people who need it. But the giver decides how much, and the people receiving have to kneel. Notice which side you're on, and whether it ever changes.

Rank
Six — Harmony
Suit
Pentacles — earth, material
Reads as
Material balance restored.
  • Generosity
  • Charity
  • Sharing
  • Giving
  • Receiving

Updated October 2026·Little Grimoire card reference

What Six of Pentacles means

The merchant's giving says two things: their life has gone well, and their heart is good. When you're the one with coins to spare, the card can mean both, that you're doing well enough to share and that you want to.

Between equals, the scale means fairness. Two roommates working out who pays what for the bigger bedroom are doing this card's weighing, and it goes better when both of them can see the scale.

When you'd see this

You cover a friend's rent while they look for work, because they'd do the same for you.

The loan from your parents gets you to payday, but asking for it was harder than you expected.

Two years into the friendship, you realize you've paid for every dinner, so you finally say something.

What's in the picture

  1. 1

    A well-dressed merchant holding a scaleA wealthy merchant in fine clothes holds a scale balanced in the left hand. They aren't giving on impulse. They're weighing, measuring, deciding.

  2. 2

    Coins into an outstretched handCoins fall from the merchant's right hand into the cupped hands of a kneeling beggar. Real resources moving between people. Giving that can be seen and counted.

  3. 3

    The second beggar, waitingA second beggar kneels on the other side, also in need, also watching. They haven't received yet. Who gets and who waits is part of the picture.

  4. 4

    The merchant's raised scaleThe scale is held up, not down: balanced, judging. Not uncomplicated generosity. Generosity with a hand on the scale. The giver has power, named or not.

Reversed

Four ways to read this card reversed. Which one depends on the question.

Blocked. The coins are counted but the hand stays shut.

Internal. The coins arrive and the giver is never in the room.

Excess. Giving until the scales are empty on your side.

Shadow. You like the weighing more than you like the giving.

Where it sits in the suit

The Suit of Pentacles, ace to king

  1. A
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. Page
  12. Knight
  13. Queen
  14. King

Ten numbered beats, then four people who carry them.

Both kneeling figures wear patched cloaks, like the pair out in the cold on the card before. They might be the same two people, and this time they've stopped to ask for help.

Reading a card is a skill, not a lookup

Every Pentacles card here is taught in full in Chapter V of Little Grimoire, with drills that make the meanings stick.

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