Yesterday and today’s two-day tarot journal entry that reflects on the Eight of Pentacles reversed and the Three of Pentacles. This is a message about rest, creative alignment, and soul-led work.
Eight of Pentacles Reversed and Three of Pentacles Tarot Journal
Tarot does not shout.
It whispers… then it waits for you to notice.
Over these two days, one card slid in right as I was running out the door into the woods, and the next one arrived after rest, connection, and quiet work. Together they formed a story about what it means to be a creative, a craftsperson, and a soul doing real work in a body that still needs to breathe.
This was not about money.
It was not about hustle.
It was about energy, devotion, and the difference between sacred effort and self-punishment.
Day One, Eight of Pentacles Reversed
The Moment It Arrived
I pulled the Eight of Pentacles reversed on January 14th, 2026, right before leaving for what was supposed to be a hike at Cooper’s Rock. Plans shifted, distance mattered, and we rerouted toward Piatt Gorge near Woodsfield, Ohio. Rain followed us from Columbus through Eastern Ohio and back into central Ohio.
The card landed right as my shoes were on, keys in hand, already in motion.
That timing mattered.
I had been planning to pull it earlier, but tarot has its own sense of humor. It waited until I was physically stepping into the exact medicine the card was pointing toward.
What the Eight of Pentacles Reversed Means in Daily Life
Upright, the Eight of Pentacles is grind, mastery, repetition, building skill through relentless focus.
Reversed, it asks something very different.
This card does not mean laziness.
It means misaligned effort.
It points to moments where you are working hard but not necessarily working well. Where perfectionism creeps in, where every task becomes a test of worth, where even spiritual practice starts to feel like another thing to get right.
It is the card that asks,
Why does everything feel like a job?
In a daily pull, the Eight of Pentacles reversed is a pause button. It is a soft warning against turning your whole life into a checklist.
Perfectionism Is Not Devotion
This card kept circling one truth.
Perfectionism is the killer of good.
Not because standards are bad, but because obsessive refinement can become a form of self-distrust. You stop creating and start policing yourself. You stop listening to your body and start measuring it.
The reversed Eight of Pentacles is about stepping back from that loop.
Not quitting, not abandoning your path, but remembering that meaningful work needs breath, space, and rest or it rots into resentment.
Hiking as Ritual, Not Escape
Yesterday, I was heading into the woods.
Not to run from work, but to realign with it.
Hiking, for me, is not downtime. It is worship. It is how I remember I am part of something larger than productivity. It is how I bring my nervous system back into rhythm with the land. It is how I spend time with nature and show it love, while reminding myself I am blessed.
The Eight of Pentacles reversed was not telling me to stop creating.
It was saying,
Stop punishing yourself for how you create.
The card landed right before I stepped into the exact kind of soul time that heals this imbalance. That was not coincidence.
Day Two, Three of Pentacles
Today January 15th, 2026, after waking up, cleaning up, spending time with Skylar and the baby, while sitting in my garage, I pulled the Three of Pentacles.
This is what comes after realignment.
The Three of Pentacles is about skilled work done with intention. It is about building something that matters, not alone, not in isolation, but in relationship to others and to spirit.
Where the Eight reversed said,
Stop grinding,
the Three said,
Now build with care.
The Sacred Triangle of Work
In traditional tarot imagery, the Three of Pentacles shows three figures, often described as an artisan, an architect, and a spiritual figure.
Fire, the worker and desire.
Air, the planner and the mind.
Water, the spiritual witness.
Together they form a triangle. This is what makes work sacred. Not just effort, but intention, vision, and meaning braided together.
Rachel Pollack wrote once that practical work done consciously can become a vehicle for self-development. That is the heart of this card.
It is not about what you do.
It is about how you do it, and what you pour into it.
This Is the Card of the Artisan
The Three of Pentacles is not a gift card.
It is a proof of labor.
The person in this card is trusted because they earned it. They honed their craft. They kept showing up. Their work speaks for them.
This is the card that appears when you are no longer guessing at your path, but walking it.
It often comes when you are developing a talent, polishing a skill, or finally being recognized for what you have been quietly building.
And yes, it can also be about collaboration, mentorship, and being seen by the right people at the right time.
We do not work in a vacuum.
How These Two Cards Speak to Each Other
The Eight of Pentacles reversed cleared the static.
The Three of Pentacles tuned the signal.
One said,
Stop making everything a grind.
The other said,
Now create with purpose.
Together they describe exactly where I am standing.
2025 was about going live, trying things, learning out loud.
2026 is about using what I learned, refining it, and letting it mature.
Not frantic effort, but conscious craft.
Not burnout, but devotion.
This Is What Soul Work Looks Like.
The Three of Pentacles does not promise miracles. It promises something better.
Growth.
Creative, spiritual, and material fulfillment built on real effort.
The Eight of Pentacles reversed made space for this by pulling me out of self-punishment and back into alignment.
Together, these cards told me something simple and true.
You are allowed to rest.
And you are meant to build.
Get a ready from Poeaxtry by: Axton below:
