Tools of a craft in tarot
Tools stand for skill and honest work, and medieval guilds and later Freemasonry made the mason's mallet, chisel and square into emblems of craft and of moral building. Three Pentacles cards show working tools. The Eight of Pentacles has an apprentice carving coins with hammer and chisel, the craftsman of the Three of Pentacles stands on a bench in a church with a mallet in his hand, and the young man of the Seven of Pentacles leans on a long-handled hoe over his crop. Readers take tools as practice, craftsmanship and effort applied with care over time.
Cards that show tools of a craft
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Three of Pentacles
Three of Pentacles: The craftsman on the bench
A young man in a dark tunic with a yellow apron stands on a low pink bench, holding a tool, his face turned towards the visitors. His raised position marks him as the one with the skill; his turned head shows he is listening, not just working.
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Seven of Pentacles
Seven of Pentacles: The tool
He leans on a long handle that ends in a dark blade at the soil, like a hoe. Waite simply calls it his staff. It shows that the growth beside him is the result of work, not luck.
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Eight of Pentacles
Eight of Pentacles: The hammer and chisel
He holds a mallet-like hammer raised in one hand and a chisel against the coin in the other. They are the plain tools of a trade, showing value being made by hand, stroke by stroke.