Eight of Pentacles: tarot card meaning

Eight of Pentacles is card 8 in the suit of Pentacles, associated with the element of Earth. Drawn upright it speaks of momentum, work, money; reversed, of material delay, stagnation.

Upright meaning

momentum, work, money

Craft, diligence and mastery -- dedicated practice turns honest effort into real skill through repetition.

Reversed meaning

material delay, stagnation

Drudgery without progress, or perfectionism that stalls -- keep the craft, but drop the bit that is not serving.

The suit of Pentacles belongs to Earth and to work, money and the body.

In a three-card reading

In the past position Eight of Pentacles describes the current that carried you to where you are; in the present position, what is most alive in the situation now; in the future position, the direction things tend toward if nothing changes. A reading weighs it against the other two cards rather than on its own.