Dedication. Following your skills and talents. Master of your craft. Hard work will pay off. Pride in what you do. Passing on your knowledge to others. Ambition and Perfectionism.
The overall message of the Eight of Pentacles is contentment. This is a card that represents pride in what you have accomplished and whether you are being financially compensated for the work you do or the craft you perform, there is a sense of satisfaction. You have a right to feel pride in your work, in yourself and in what you have achieved. This is also an industrious card, so while there is reason for pride and satisfaction, there is no time to rest on your laurels. Your hard work, efforts, skills and experience are paying off or they will if you continue to put in the effort. This can also indicate that it is time to pass on your skills and knowledge to others, either to the next generation or to those wanting to emulate you. Hard work, plying your trade and a strong work ethic will pay off. This is also the card of the craftsman, with a strong focus on following your natural skills but with hard work and dedication.
Reversed or with challenging cards around the Eight of Pentacles could indicate that you are working too hard, with workaholic tendencies. Putting your time and energy into wrong areas or that you lack the confidence to invest in your natural skills, talents or being too insular, failing to pass on your knowledge to those following in your footsteps. Fear of being overtaken.
Disappointment, Withdrawal. Retreat. A sense of surrender or acceptance. Walking away. Moving On. Abandoning a situation. If you let it go and it was meant to be, it will return.
The Eight of Cups can suggest walking away from or giving up on something and for various reasons. It can suggest standing back and letting a situation play out, releasing any investment in the outcome. This can result in a drop in tension, as you no longer feel the pressure that existed in the Seven of Cups to make a decision. This can be an act of surrender that you have come to yourself or circumstances suggest that you have taken something as far as you can. Yet this can also suggest walking away from something because it has been completed or that you find the motivation to put in one last effort to bring things to completion. This is a card that suggests you have done all that you can and if not, that you are able to marshal all your resources in order to make one last determined effort to complete or finish something. This makes this a card of completion. It’s time to abandon, pick up our walking stick, and move on.
Reversed or with challenging cards around the Eight of Cups, this could indicate that you have lost the will to go on with something or that you are giving up. This can let to feeling depressed or sad, as you face the reality of needing to let something go. You might feel like running away from a situation, a problem or a relationship.
Everything is lined up and is falling into place. Smooth sailing. What you need is at hand. Movement after stagnation. Rapid. Fast. Quick Changes. Messages. Communication.
The Eight of Wands represents movement after overcoming a roadblock or after a period of being becalmed. You have been ready to move and make things happen for some time but you haven’t been able to for whatever reason. However, the lights turn green and you are given the go ahead. It’s time to drive this new idea home. The changes can be quick. In hindsight, delays have been beneficial, for they have allowed you to spend time in preparation, making sure that your ship is ready to sail as soon as the winds are favourable. And right now, the winds are favourable. Your creativity begins to flow again, your competitive spirit is back, the road ahead clears and you are once again inspired and ready to make things happen. You are in the final leg of the journey but there is still work to be done and you are ready to embrace it. It feels good to be motivated and to have things moving again. Communication and messages are also emphasis.
Reversed or with challenging cards around the Eight of Wands, might indicate that things are still stalled or that you haven’t done your homework or spent time in preparation so you are not as prepared as you should be. It might be that you have become too fond of your routine or have become unmotivated.
Victim. Head in the sand. Easier to stick the blindfold on than have to make a difficult choice. Fear. Overwhelmed. Hopeless, Helpless. Embarrassed. Avoidance or deceiving yourself. Self- imposed restrictions or imprisonment.
The Eight of Swords is that moment when the weight of having to deal with a situation, make a decision or manage something that is mentally demanding is too much and it is easier to just ignore it. It is easier to stick on the blindfold or stick your head in the sand than to make a painful or difficult decision. This card often indicates fear. The fear of making a wrong decision, hurting someone’s feelings or the consequences of owning up. It is also the victim mentality. The subject is overwhelmed, hopeless, helpless, and usually has some sort of restrictions that they may not have control over. As with all the Minor Arcana, this represents a moment or a temporary state and not a permanent situation. Often it is the fear or anxiety of the choice or decision to be made that is worse than the consequence. So, we shut down in order to avoid something that will eventually have to be faced. Paralysed into reaction versus a conscious choice.
Reversed or with challenging cards around the Eight of Swords can turn this into a positive or a least a liberating card. Instead of being paralysed by indecision or shutting down in order to avoid something, you find the courage to break free, realising that the only thing holding you prisoner is your own mind. This can inspire the resolve to take action and ‘damn the consequences’.