Name the Pentacles card from its scene: tarot quiz
A blizzard and a lit window, scales on the steps, a craftsman at a cathedral, a falcon on a glove: name the Pentacles card from the scene. Twelve questions.
- 5 questions
- ≈ 2 min
- +5 bronze keys for a flawless run
Can you name a Pentacles card from one scene?
This quiz tests how well you remember the Pentacles artwork in the Tayna deck. Each question gives a short description of a scene: who is in it, what they are doing, what surrounds them. You pick the card from four. Each round draws five of twelve questions, and every answer comes with a note.
The pictures carry their names, but the scenes look more alike than you might think: many figures hold golden coins, several have a town or a castle behind them. So the trick is to remember not the coin but what happens around it.
Why remember the picture, not just the meaning?
A card's meaning is easy to forget when it lives in your head as a list of words. A scene sticks much better: two people in a blizzard, a craftsman on a bench by a column, a young man leaning on his hoe. Recall the picture and the meaning comes back on its own, along with nuances that keywords can't hold.
Details in the artwork also hint at how to read the card for a particular question. Where the figure is looking, whether the hands are open or clenched, day or night: each of these shifts the emphasis. A seasoned reader looks at the whole scene, not only at the number of coins.
The descriptions here come from the Tayna deck's own artwork. Other decks may differ in the details, but the suit's main images are usually recognizable.
How to play and earn keys
Some questions ask you to pick one of four cards by their pictures; others ask you to name the card or judge whether a statement about the artwork is true. Answers are final, but you can replay as often as you like. Tayna keys go to a flawless round.
Under each note there's a link to the card page, where the scene is described in detail. Before your next round, open a couple of those pages and take a closer look.
All questions and answers
Open after you play: the full question set with right answers and explanations.
1. A young man in a tall cap dances on one foot while ships rock on the waves behind. Which card?
Right answer: Two of Pentacles
It's the Two of Pentacles: a dance on a wet floor with the world rocking around, balance kept by motion.
2. On which Pentacles card does a woman in a vineyard hold a hooded falcon on her glove?
Right answer: Nine of Pentacles
It's the Nine of Pentacles. The hooded falcon is restlessness tamed: the power is hers, but it doesn't rule her.
3. Two people trudge through a blizzard: a man on crutches, a woman in an old shawl. Which card?
Right answer: Five of Pentacles
It's the Five of Pentacles: a hard winter, with a warm window glowing above the travelers. Help is closer than it seems.
4. There is no person on the Ace of Pentacles, only a hand from a cloud.
Right answer: True
On the Ace a hand reaches out of a cloud holding a coin above a garden, an arch and a mountain path. No people at all.
5. A craftsman in a leather apron stands on a bench, working on a cathedral column. Which card?
Right answer: Three of Pentacles
It's the Three of Pentacles: a craftsman, a monk with a blueprint and a man in red, three roles in one shared task.
6. On which Pentacles card does a brown hare sit at the foot of the throne?
Right answer: Queen of Pentacles
It's the Queen of Pentacles. The hare speaks of fertility and a peaceful life; the roses above the throne, of a tended garden.
7. A man in a turban holds scales on the steps while two people kneel before him. Which card?
Right answer: Six of Pentacles
It's the Six of Pentacles: the scales in the giver's hand show that generosity here is weighed, to each in measure.
8. On which Pentacles card is the throne carved with bulls' heads, with an open chest nearby?
Right answer: King of Pentacles
It's the King of Pentacles. The bulls stand for strength, patience and land that must be worked long before it gives back.
9. A young man leans wearily on his hoe, looking at a thick bush. Which card?
Right answer: Seven of Pentacles
It's the Seven of Pentacles: a pause over the garden bed to weigh what has grown, with the sun setting over the valley.
10. On the Ten of Pentacles the family gathers around a festive table.
Right answer: Myth
The family on the Ten gathers under a stone archway: an old man, a young couple, a boy and two white dogs.
11. A crowned man sits on a stone throne with his back to a town at dusk. Which card?
Right answer: Four of Pentacles
It's the Four of Pentacles: he has plenty, yet he has turned away from the world and holds on tight.
12. On which Pentacles card does a rider on a black horse with red ribbons look over ploughed fields?
Right answer: Knight of Pentacles
It's the Knight of Pentacles. The horse stands still: the rider isn't racing anywhere but deciding where to put his effort.