Kings are associated with control, mastery, discipline and resolve.  Pentacles are associated with the material world, acquisitions of wealth and possessions, our connection to Earth and Nature, sensation, matters pertaining to the physical plane and the element of earth.  Pentacles can also be connected with practicality, groundedness and being realistic.  The King of Pentacles represents someone solid, reliable, mature and comfortable with his physical nature.  He may also be very materially comfortable.  This is a person who is comfortable with his authority and able to use it with common sense and practicality.  This card is someone who is at home with his material world and comfortable with the sensuous, physical side of human nature.  He is a master of all he surveys and understand how to work with his environment. 

Fairfield:  This shows an end to a physical, material, or financial patterns in your life.  There is no point in re-committing resources, physical energy, or money to this project.  It is important to recognize that your investment in this security pattern has run its course.  It is time to take some action to end the old pattern, and withdraw from your involvement in that direction.

Spiritual Tarot:  The King of Pentacles represents attainment in the physical realms and reward for diligent effort.  He is realistic and uses good judgment in handling money.  He knows how to enjoy his possessions.  Consider if you have taken on too much or too little responsibility at this time in your life?  Do your work attitudes and style reflect your deepest human intent?

I love the concept of using a shaman to represent the ultimate expression of the suit.  I can understand that.  By the time we have reached that position of authority in the tribe, we need to have wisdom as well as experience.  Cleverness and "book smarts" alone won't do the job.  I think this is something we have lost sight of today.  We are so obsessed with youth and newness that we assume a young college graduate with a MPA can do the same work as someone with a bachelor's degree and 20 years experience.  Very often we don't give the credit to wisdom gained from experience that such a gift deserves.  This card reminds me of a song that I remember from church - "Take care to wonder at the through through which you wander.  Never hurry by an open door.  For we live in a universe filled with miracles galore."  I need to be open and take the time to wonder.


Now I'm the first person to admit that experience and age doesn't always equal wisdom.  I know a lot of people who have been at the same job for 10 years and know just as little know as they did when they started - mostly because their own arrogance assures them that they already know all they need to know.  I am the first to admit that as a 20-something I was arrogant enough to believe that I knew it all.  And with each year I spent in the workforce I realized how little I actually did now.  I was able to learn a lot through my experience but only because I was open to it.  I think the Shaman of Disks symbolizes being open to the messages that surround us in a physical sense.

We can learn a lot from the world and people around us.  I know I sometimes walk around in a fog or more accurately stated - covered by a protective shell.  I don't want to open myself up to sensory input from the hordes of people that surround me in NYC (the results aren't always pleasant).  But right now I'm at a place where opening myself up to those sensations is a doable thing.  I can expand my senses without fear of overload.  This card can certainly represent someone who has it all in a material sense, but it may also indicate someone who is very at home in his or her skin and revels in the physical sensations of life.  This is someone who can enjoy the taste of a fresh strawberry or the smell of newly cut grass.  These are things I am finally started to learn to appreciate once again.

It's time to start listening to my body rather than rule it.  I need to re-connect with that side of me that loved smelling the seasons change and the simple joys in a wonderful piece of candy.  I think I applied my "more is better" approach to life to food as well as everything else.  As a result I overeat and enjoy the food less.  There is nothing wrong with have an occasional piece of chocolate - as long as it isn't a 1/4 pound box.  Instead of truly savoring and celebrating one fabulous piece of something, I eat 10 pieces of mediocre chocolate.  What's the point?  Isn't it better to have one taste of something exquisite rather than to gorge on banality?  I suppose that's getting a bit philosophical but that is what I'm taking away from the King of Disks today - let myself savor and enjoy the sensations of my body and the world around me.  Don't try to bury them by overdoing it.