Ten of Pentacles (Reversed)

From The Key to the Tarot by A.E. Waite:

Ten of Pentacles - A man and woman beneath an archway which gives entrance to a house and domain.

Divinatory Meanings: Gain, riches, family matters, archives, extraction, the abode of a family.

Reversed: Chance, fatality, loss, robbery, games of hazard; sometimes gift, dowry, pension.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pents10.jpg

Sometimes the sovereign of a realm has business abroad that requires their physical presence, no third party will suffice as replacement. Sometimes that business abroad takes years to resolve, and sometimes the consequences to decisions made attending to said business require even more time abroad and away from one's realm.

The scene depicted on the Ten of Pentacles shows an old man sitting outside the gates of a city, one that is protected by armed forces and governed by the rule of law, or so the city itself advertises on its gates.

For an old sovereign away from his realm for so long the local population, including his own family, greet him as an old beggar, it is a small comfort the local dog population does recognize and remember. Having returned from his odyssey the old rule sits outside the gates of the city he once governed, and now no rule governs the city.

What is an identity? Who is who? When the realm is in chaos governed by fools, who can say? If the new rule refuses to recognize the old as legitimate, all who based their identity on legitimacy verified by that old rule lose their legitimacy as well. With just a thought entire populations lose their legitimacy, become stateless and thus homeless since the State provides all homes. Everyone will eventually find themselves cast out beyond the city gates, just another nameless beggar as determined by those camped in the fortifications.

Only the animals remember and behave in a civilized manner. At some point we must realize the dogs have the right of it, we must accept everyone for who they are as they are. We must verify and legitimize each other, not rely on the chaotic whimsy of fools crouched in their fortifications rendering arbitrary judgment from down low.

From The Tarot of A.E. Waite and P. Colman Smith: The Story of the World's Most Popular Tarot, by Johannes Fiebig with essays by Robert A. Gilbert, Mary K. Greer, and Rachel Pollack

I will use this text to expound on the minor symbols of the Ten of Pentacles.

"The grapes: AS grapes ripen relatively late in the year in temperate climates, they are used here to represent maturity, a fulfilled life, and accomplishment. They stand for the advantages and benefits of age and the value of slow development."

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." - John Steinbeck

Those cast out and disremembered by the State can walk through the city gates once more and reestablish their legitimacy on the backs of the slaughtered suitors clamoring for the crown.

"The staff leaning against the wall is reminiscent of the staff shown in The Chariot. We know the expression 'passing down the baton' from relay races, and it often comes to mind in the context of transferring duties or responsibilities, as in from one generation to the next."

If the current rulers refuse the baton from the previous one, they not only refuse the legitimacy of the old rule they refuse the duties and responsibilities of ruler-ship altogether. Here it is important to remember legitimacy belongs to human beings, not to private property.

"The tree of life: The pentacles in the image are placed like the 10 stages of the tree of life. Comparable with the astrological zodiac system, the Kabbalistic tree of life is a model of wholeness and completion. However, the links between the individual nodes are missing in the Tarot image."

The Ten of Pentacles is a culmination of all the other numbered minor arcana that come before it.