Symbolism & Imagery:
This imagery description is based on The Original Rider Waite Tarot Deck design.
The knight sitting on a horse represents power, regality, and respect. However, the Knight of Pentacles can often be seen as a tragic figure because he is unhappy despite his wealth and status. Although he’s proud of who he is, he looks for something more beyond castle walls.
The Knight of Pentacles is the only card with a knight seated on the horse that isn’t moving forward. This means that current events aren’t mobile but at a standstill. Although it’s true that the knight wants to reach his goal, he has to stay stationary to the present.
The present is where the knight can learn from his mistakes, and the lessons he learns now will transform him into a person that can better reach his goals in the future.
As he stands here, he is looking at a plowed field, which can either represent a recent harvest, a soon-to-be planted field, or a dead landscape. Interestingly, it could mean all three:
Recent Harvest: Represents a job done but a new job to follow. Frustration.
Soon-To-Be Plated: Represents a job to do, a work in progress, stagnancy.
Dead Landscape: Failure, unwillingness to grow, stubbornness.
The knight may look at a dream unfilled, a dream in motion, or a dead future.
While the focus may be on the horse or the knight’s body, notice that he’s looking right past the pentacle. He’s angry, determined, and frustrated by his current situation, but he’s staring forward to the unknown. We are not aware of what his dream is, but we know he’s aware and that it’s somewhere past the horizon. His focus is apparent by his positioning.
Some decks say that the pentacle is actually a coin, which carries a higher financial weight than the card would otherwise have. Since the knight is looking past the pentacle (or coin), it could imply that he’s more concerned with his duty/dream and less about the financial incentive.