Egipcios Kier - 71 Avarice

Card 71 depicts a man carefully recording his possessions. Before him stand jars of grain and shelves holding additional stores of food or wealth. He wears an elaborate necklace, suggesting that he is already prosperous. Yet the title of the card is Avarice, inviting us to ask when prudent stewardship becomes endless accumulation.

The lower portion of the cartouche contains a large jar adorned with uraeus serpents. It resembles the canopic jars used to preserve the organs of the dead. Whether or not that association was intended, the image quietly reminds us that wealth cannot outlast mortality. Eventually every account is closed.

Above the scene appear the Hebrew letter Tet (ט), several magical symbols, and what Kaplan interprets as either a waning moon or the wounded Eye of Horus. Even abundance is subject to loss.

Kaplan associates the card with greed, possessiveness, and the inability to share. Reversed, he suggests obstacles, setbacks, and frustrated ambition.

Nelise Carbonare Vieira pairs Avarice with the traditional Eight of Pentacles, a correspondence that initially surprised me. The Eight of Pentacles honors patient craftsmanship and the satisfaction of honest work. Avarice asks a different question: What is all that work for?

Labor can become an act of service, creativity, and provision for those we love. But it can also become an endless pursuit of more. The difference lies not in the work itself, but in the heart of the worker.

The man on this card may simply be taking inventory. Or he may already have more than enough and be unable to recognize it. Avarice reminds us that contentment is not measured by what we possess, but by knowing when enough is enough.