Seven of Swords
The Seven of Swords depicts covert and calculated actions often associated with deceit and betrayal. It calls for heightened self-awareness, reflection, and consideration of external influences. The card's meaning is nuanced and context-dependent, urging us to scrutinize our behaviors before blaming others. It acknowledges that sometimes survival requires subtle, even morally ambiguous actions.
Keywords
Comparison with the Five of Swords
To me, the Five and the Seven of Swords echo each other. Both represent conflict with an uneasy result, both feature suggestions of a battlefield as their backdrop, and both portray a figure with more swords than they can potentially handle. But while the Five is the immediate aftermath of an altercation, the Seven is more covert and calculated. Thus, the meaning of the Seven of Swords is often highly dependent on the cards surrounding it. It is nuanced and asks for a heightened degree of self-awareness and reflection, as well as an in-depth inquiry into our current external influences.
Deceit and Betrayal
The Seven is frequently read as a card of deceit and betrayal, of getting away with something. I've struggled a lot with my own reading of this card in the past. I'm someone who, despite being grumpy and not easily trusting, tries to think the best of people. There was a time in my life when I would draw this card a lot and, when I did, I always thought it referred to me—that I was acting in an underhanded manner without realizing or acknowledging it, that my shadow self was showing through and I was just excusing it somehow. It took me years to realize that there were people in my life being represented by the card, and even longer for me to actually do something about it.
Self-Awareness
I think self-awareness when pulling this card is important. We should always look to ourselves and our own behaviors instead of immediately jumping to blame someone else. Sometimes, we may be the person sneaking away with our plans clutched tightly to our chest so that no one else may guess at them until we get what we want and it’s too late for anyone else to do anything about it.
Moral Ambiguity
The tricky thing is...that’s not always a bad thing. I do not disagree with the negative connotations implied in the reading of the Seven of Swords, but I think life and human motivation is a lot more complicated than that. What someone sees as a lie is someone else’s means of survival. What one person considers a betrayal may be a way out from a harmful situation to another individual. Every person thinks they are right in an argument, and at the end of the day the only guide we have is our own moral compass. Sometimes, we have to put ourselves first even if someone else considers that selfish, calculating or cruel. Sometimes, we have to sneak out the backdoor instead of openly charging the main gate in order to escape a situation that is harmful or no longer supports us.
Fyodor Pavlov tarot
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