The Eight of Pentacles represents mastery of one’s skill set. You are regarded as an expert in your chosen field, have dedicated yourself assiduously, and are now in the position to teach others.
This card often appears when someone has made a career out of a hobby or when they have graduated from an apprenticeship. It also reveals that the querent takes great pleasure in their work and can sequester themselves, fully engrossed in the satisfaction their trade brings them.
In the Rider Waite deck a craftsman is shown hammering a gold coin, shaping it to perfection, and near his workplace a further 7 coins are displayed like trophies, a sign of his skill and pride in his work.
In the background a distant town is shown, indicating that this individual has had to make sacrifices, possibly by leaving his native area and isolating himself from the joys of society and ordinary life in order to pursue his goals.
In a love reading, the Eight of Pentacles is a card of mixed meanings. On the one hand it can indicate that you and your partner are willing to work things out and determine the best course of action to take as a couple, or it can indicate that you or your partner are much too independent and are more concerned with personal rather than joint progress.
Less positively this card can indicate that your partner considers that they are too good for you, that you are in some way beneath them and that their attentions are better placed elsewhere. It can also betray a certain arrogance in the sense that your person of interest feels as though they can read you like a book and in that sense have “mastered“ you.
In a work reading, this card is overwhelmingly positive. It shows that you have dedicated yourself to such a degree that you have reached the height of accomplishment. It represents a student becoming the master who is ready to teach others. It also shows that you will make enough money to sustain your lifestyle while enjoying your profession. Since this is a card associated with craftsmanship, those of an artistic persuasion may find that this card foretells a time when they will be able to make good profit from their hobbies.
Positive Aspects: expertise, dedication, skill, profitable hobby, enjoyment in one’s profession, ability to teach, pride in accomplishments
Negative Aspects: sense of superiority, preoccupation with one’s own interests
