King of Pentacles

The King of Pentacles is thought of as a wise and careful ruler, worldly, more real than regal, but with ample enough gravitas, possessed of a steady temperament and a good fund of patience. He has the economy’s pulse. He’s a man of quality and substance. Each of the kings comes truly into his own when he has mastered an important life lesson. For this king, this is the courage to risk resources in just the right amount. Too much caution and conservatism could leave him with too few resources to provide for the needs of his heirs and the common good. On the other end of the lesson is the ability to know when to stop and declare that enough has been gained to meet all reasonable needs. Failing at this also fails his heirs and the common good. When he finds the sweet zone between these, the King is an influential man, a patron or sponsor who benefits the world. He gets most of his savvy from experience, and yet very little from devastating losses. He is often called competent, consistent, realistic, stable, accomplished, down to earth, enduring, steadfast, methodical, equitable, considerate, disciplined and worthy. He is a bondable character, although his word is as good as a bond. Modern politics has given a lot of horrible associations to several of our best words: conservative, liberal, and libertarian, for example. Setting aside the morons in office who call themselves by these names, this king is a compassionate conservative for the sake of his liberality towards his people. He is a builder of both infrastructure and social coalitions, and is a responsible steward of his resources, economy, and culture, and a patron of the more promising causes. Having some mastery of the material element, the competent businessman provides a good metaphorical model for this king. He makes guarded but sound investments, with a well-diversified portfolio. He is not a believer in getting rich quickly by taking foolish risks. He practices real economy in the older sense of the term, with practical capital and resource management. Capital is invested wisely, not mistaken for income, and resources are used only at their rates of replenishment. He is sure to have his contingencies covered carefully, and at some expense that might not be fully recovered. The cost of a little extra insurance is apt to be his greatest financial risk. He likes the tried and true, and the bonds and blue-chip investments over stocks and futures. While not overly speculative, he is apt to be a good, savvy reader of signs and trends that escape the notice of others. He follows the plan and does all the math, or at least the basic arithmetic. His wealth is apt to build its momentum slowly, like a freight train. The best way to secure our optimism here is by doing things correctly. He knows where he is going, but he usually has a good map, with little terra incognita. The King is not without ambition or entrepreneurial spirit. He is simply not in a hurry, not one for getting rich quickly or taking big risks. Others around him may be liquidating their resources and capital, calling them income instead, still overspending wildly and piling up crushing debt to justify the printing of increasingly worthless currency. Our King’s humbler ambition takes the longer-term view, still valuing quality and durability, and even saving a little of the wealth for future generations. He’s still driven to succeed, but he has a somewhat calmer and less deluded vision of success, where real needs are met in the least harmful ways. As a mover and shaker, he might move and shake a little less, but what needs doing gets done. Slow, steady progress, while not inexorable and unrelenting, is at least harder to stop, just as a firm, steady character will tend to be unimpeachable. It’s the exaltation permitted by surety of footing, compelling example, realistic attitudes, and level-headed respect for the powers in play. But like a goat climbing a mountain, this requires a kind of nearsight for the sake of surer footing, a heedfulness that likes to know exactly where it stands, and a humility that remembers how vulnerable life can be to earthly forces like gravity and inertia. Power will slip from the most competent hands when reality loses its status. But the up side to this humbler realism is that the goat gradually gets to the top of the mountain, where the grander views await. The Yijing counterpart is Gua 62, Smallness in Excess or Preponderance of the Small. Its lessons are cast in terms of reducing inflated expectations. It better represents the idea of humility or modesty than Gua 15, which usually receives this title. One of the primary metaphors is that of a high flying bird submitting to gravity, one of the ways that earth expresses its power. In evolutionary terms, the smaller creatures that proliferate here are r-strategists: it’s up to them to take enough care to survive in a world that can kill without caring. Realism and a proportionate caution are skills for success and survival. We are conservative in our desire for self-preservation, and then acquiring all that we need for success beyond that. We grasp our proper place in the larger picture and scheme of things. The King of Pentacles isn’t really the undisputed master of his realm: he serves. He’s simply trying to make his position work as well as it should.