If we are looking for insurance against want and oppression, we will find it only in our neighbors’ prosperity and goodwill and, beyond that, in the good health of our worldly places, our homelands.
Wendell Berry

Despite these rocky, uncertain times, including some abysmal developments over the weekend and doubtless more ahead this complicated week, the Tarot is offering us a powerful gift that will nurture us and help us stay calm and steady. Say hello to the Ace of Pentacles.

Because the Pentacle is a magical tool that is ruled by the element of Earth and North, the Disc or Pentacle of the Tarot may represent a sacred shield, a coin, or even a scrying mirror of destiny. Its power is to give birth into physical reality that which your imagination (Air), desire (Fire), and heart (Water) long for.

Note that the arched bower is reminiscent of the Major Arcana’s powerful ally, The Magician, hinting at this card’s involvement with manifestation. This is no accident. The Aces are the Ones of each suit and hearken back to the One of the Majors: The Magician.

So each Ace shows a magical hand of Mystery emerging from a cloud and offering a gift. This is not given based on your special virtue or merit, for these gifts are beyond any earning. They come from unconditional, hallowed love. And like all Aces of the Tarot, the Ace of Pentacles holds the full potential of its suit: all the things that are possible in the realm of the material, physical world.

Interestingly, this is the only Ace that does not portray the yods, the golden symbols of the Divine spark of creativity and genesis. This appears to be an acknowledgment of how the Earth itself is our sacred Source.

This Ace is shown within a garden, that numinous place where the will of Nature and humanity work in harmony, resulting in food, medicine, and beauty.

As you can see, this garden features the rose and lily motif so frequently seen in many of the cards, and especially prominent in The Magician. Here, the foreground is filled with the white lilies that indicate purity and spirituality. The arbor in the background is rose-covered and offers a boundary of shelter, fertility, and protection.

The round garden gate is the passageway to the distant mountains. This is the physical threshold you cross when you venture into the wider world.

Mercury’s Influence Throughout the Week

The Aces of the Tarot are also linked to the planet Mercury. So don’t be surprised that our brilliant guide to the stars, Elisabeth Grace, tells us that Mercury is an active influence this week. The planet messenger of the Gods rules Gemini and Virgo. Is it simply coincidence that Virgo season begins Saturday (Eastern time)?

Kicking off the week on Monday, despite the Void of Course Moon most of the day, Mercury has a showdown with sober Saturn. Elisabeth cautions:

Stick to routine concerns, and note that in this airy void, your mind can handle sobering thoughts as Mercury trines Saturn at 11:26 AM ET.

At the same time, Venus (money, art, women, worth) — functioning with high efficiency in Libra (justice) — gets a supportive boost via a sextile (easy connection) from Jupiter at 12:15 PM ET. 

So, no, adjudicated sexual abuser and current White House Occupant, SCOTUS will not entertain your second plea to not pay E. Jean Carroll the millions you owe her.

By the way, if you are feeling the intensity of this eclipse window, I highly recommend signing up for Elisabeth’s very popular, very helpful Eclipse Insights Special. It consists of several handcrafted paragraphs about how these eclipses are likely to unfold in your own personal world (she’ll need your birth information if she doesn’t already have it).

It’s an essential bargain that the Ace of Pentacles heartily approves of, for only $65. The special button is here.

In addition, Louise Edington of Cosmic Owl Astrology notes that under this trine we’d be wise to be –

…thinking about elder wisdom, about how we’ve matured, about what our Saturn lessons have actually taught us. Even if you’re a fourth-grader to someone else’s second-grader — you’ve lived something. You know something. Bring that…

Stop putting people on pedestals. This South Node in Leo is taking ‘kings’ out — people who’ve been at what they thought were permanent pinnacles. This is not done. The eclipse energy is not finished. These are my words as we stand right underneath it.

If the oxygen is getting a little too thin at some elevated height, it might be time for a walk outdoors. Let us learn to relish this Ace’s gifts of those things that are wholesome, healthy, and real.

Then on Wednesday, Mercury squares the Scorpio First Quarter Moon. As you may know, the waxing Quarter Moon phase brings a potential crisis or reevaluation following the new beginning you set in motion during last week’s eclipsed New Moon. Whatever it was, it may face its first obstacles.

Elisabeth cautions:

Scorpio Moon squares Mercury in Leo at 1:01 AM ET, possibly punctuating last night with obsessive thoughts and words that just won’t go away.

Be careful of how easy it might be to overreact, leading to misunderstandings.

If you do feel extra pressure to make quick decisions or take bold action, turn to the Ace of Pentacles, which reminds you that abundance and well-being can be yours. Just keep your feet firmly on the ground, slow your pace, and make sure you take care of the small, ordinary things; they always add up.

A New Epoch Beckons

If you are one of the many, many people who are struggling with material challenges right now, there is tremendous hope in this card. The Ace of Pentacles is involved with matters that are for your physical well-being. Its gifts touch upon your prosperity, work, abundance, health, and security.

You might want to take a fresh look at what “wealth” really means to you. Business as it used to be has been sputtering to a seized-up halt for some time, and life as you knew it is not coming back, no matter how much the secular vested interests pretend it will.

This Ace invites you to be a co-creator on this sacred planet and to use your amazing Homo sapiens capacity for inventiveness and creativity with the recognition that no one is “in dominion” over anything. We are each an integral part of the All.

It is long past time to say goodbye to the poisonous old power structures and embrace the fact of your interrelatedness with All.

This good friend also reminds you that the greatest non-renewable wealth there is, is time. While your soul may leave and return to this Earth many, many times, your incarnation right now is finite, and it is your greatest treasure. Thus, you are urged to reality check how you spend your hours and days, making sure that you first and foremost take care of the sacred priorities that are entrusted to you.

Root yourself in the literal, physical earthiness of what is home to you, the very roots of your existence. Stay connected to what is solid, secure, and true, especially during the often foggy and conflicted current events.

How might you contribute to living more lightly and successfully on our planet, without perpetuating the ancient cycles of war, hoarding, and lack?

For, clearly, the ways this civilization once lived and took for granted are not sustainable. They are failing, for better or worse.

When this card comes to call, you are given the prospect of a new beginning. You are handed a gift of physical, literal well-being from Mystery. Consider what plans and potential will enable your soul’s garden to flourish.

The Ace’s Gifts

This is a golden opportunity to prioritize and tend to the practical matters in your life that matter most to you. This could translate to better time management, new work duties, an endowment, an opportunity, or a synchronistic encounter.

If you are considering entering into a contractual agreement of some sort, especially one that can bring you financial rewards or that perhaps offers a new career direction, this card shows the opening.

There is now a potential for a new start, one that has, in its very structure, the elements for a successful outcome. Could there be a promotion, new job, or inheritance coming for you? Are you considering buying a new home or upgrading your current dwelling? The Ace of Pentacles indicates the timing is fortunate.

But as indicated from the astrology, take your time. Move at your own deliberate pace. During eclipse windows, time itself can feel strange and planning is usually a better activity that making new starts or finalizing old matters.

Additionally, be on the lookout for ways to rediscover the wonders of your physical environment. Perhaps you might begin a new workout regimen, plan a Fall garden, or learn to prepare new kinds of nurturing foods. You might also like to explore new sensual delights.

This Ace is a bit conservative, though, so it does not give you a green light for wild risk-taking or crazy spending. But if your investments are sensible, very good things are likely. Patience and steadfastness pay off.

In what ways might you introduce a new level of comfort, beauty, and wholesomeness to your life? How can you use this opportunity to improve your sense of abundance and security? Is it time to prepare for a new, happier relationship with money?

Our truest protections against scarcity and oppression come from cultivating the good will and prosperity of our neighbors. Prosperity depends on how we care for the Earth Herself.

This week, consider how to build strong foundations and embrace the sweet sacredness of the physical, manifest world. Ground yourself in work that you like, in the body that brings you pleasure, and align yourself with the beautiful gifts of our planet.

With blessings from this ally, the hand of Providence taps your shoulder, inviting you to reclaim your true inheritance, which is the joy of contributing to lives and systems that honor and nurture one another. Thus may gratitude overflow in your heart.