Seven of Wands Tarot Card

Card Name: Seven of Wands, 7 of Staves

Category: Minor Arcana, Suit of Wands

Position: 7

Keywords: Sustainability, Excellence

Active element: Fire 🔥

The Seven of Wands is a card of real fighters and warriors. The energy of the Arcana is comparable to the Scandinavian Vikings, who put the very art of battle in the first place. Every movement of the body is important here, the coherence of thoughts is only in the key of future victory. This is the defender of his land, not afraid to go out against a whole crowd of enemies. However, the vibrations of the Fire card are more friendly than the Arcana of the Swords suit. The goal of the struggle is not to destroy rivals, but only to turn them to your side, to make them allies. The hero of the card pursues high good intentions. This is what distinguishes a brave Viking from an ill-mannered barbarian.

Symbolism and Key Ideas of the Seven of Wands

On the Seven of Wands card in the classic Rider-Waite Tarot deck, a man is depicted, as if defending himself with a staff from invisible enemies. His facial expressions express bewilderment, an active impulse of action. The remaining six poles are visible in the foreground. The figure of a man is located on a hilly cliff with a green meadow and a river flowing through it. The clothes of the protagonist are designed in muted tones of the earth – ocher, green, burgundy. At the same time, the shoes on the man’s feet are different – a boot with a high top is visible on the left, and a light summer boot on the right. A similar solution is sometimes found on the Hierophant card in decks by other authors.

It is not known for certain what Arthur Waite wanted to express with the scene on the Seven of Staves. However, tarologists Goodwin and Katz draw parallels with Shakespeare’s play "The Taming of the Shrew". They believe that the man on the card is trying to put his wife in her place. If you pay attention to the pose of the hero, you can also find similarities with the medieval swordsmen of England. A similar act of struggle is described in the novel "Ivanhoe" by Walter Scott. If we consider the individual details of the Seven of Wands Arcana, then the different shoes of the protagonist immediately catches the eye. This may be a reference to the two seasons of the year, as well as an attempt to adapt to the environment. The landscape in the background personifies the compulsion to balance or stand firmly on one’s feet.

Meaning of the Upright Seven of Wands Card

• The struggle for important interests, values, the implementation of their plans.
• Contrasting the desires of the querent and the people around him.
• The active phase of actions, the stage of resolving problems, situations.
• Willingness to defend one’s ideas against the opinions of others.

In the upright position, the Tarot card of the Seven of Wands denotes a leading position. However, this is not the Six of the same element of Fire. If the latter shows the scene of an unconditional victory, then on the Seven the hero has yet to prove superiority. This is an active stage of gaining a certain authority in the eyes of others. Also, further actions to maintain order can be included here. The man on the card stands firmly on his feet, despite the uncomfortable conditions – in this regard, the Arcana shows a readiness to overcome difficulties, the presence of endurance, the desire to survive everything. The 7 of Wands denotes active actions, protection of one’s own interests and resources.

Any spread in which this card fell out becomes full of emotions and drive inherent from the Fire element. This is a kind of confrontation – in a relationship with a loved one, at work or in oneself. The querent will have to take the position of defender in order to gain respect. At the same time, the solution of all problems lies only on the shoulders of the fortuneteller. The situation is reminiscent of the saying "One man is not a warrior". However, this is the very exception to the rule, when the hero manages to resist the whole world and win. The Seven of Wands Tarot gives the hope for a positive outcome.

Love and Relationships (Upright)

• The need to prove feelings, to fight for relationships.
• Taking on the role of leading the couple, the sole leader.
• Problems with personal life due to excessive perseverance.
• Too serious approach to building a love connection.

In the love spread, the card does not take on a very good value. It talks about the need to prove her right to a relationship with a specific person. This is the same situation when relatives, parents, friends or girlfriends interfere in the affairs of a couple. One of the partners has to take on the role of a tyrant, forbidding listening to others. According to the Seven of Wands, the desire to assert oneself with the help of existing relationships, one’s soulmate, also sometimes passes. However, in a positive sense, this is a willingness to fight for the attention of a lover or beloved, to prove the truth of intentions.

For lonely people, the Seven of Wands promises the appearance of some problems that interfere with the establishment of personal life. There will not be enough resources and time to build a love connection. Worries about pressing matters will come to the fore. But, often the card also shows the need to prove one’s right to love. Close people are not always ready to support the querent. Most frequently, it is more convenient for them to use the location of a loved one, without sharing his attention with someone else.

Career and Finance (Upright)

• Evidence of the importance of your figure and professional competencies.
• The struggle for a vacancy and the location of superiors, subordinates.
• Work in the field of sales, processing incoming requests from customers.
• Variable success in business, an attempt to establish cash flow.

The meaning of the Seven of Wands in the career spread will be more positive than in terms of love. Here, an active position in the future will bear fruit. However, now the querent will have to gain authority in a team of colleagues or among partners, competitors. For this, a convenient opportunity will present itself in the form of the emergence of new problems and tasks. The situation requires a quick reaction and mimicry under the circumstances. This is a kind of crisis that can be solved only by directing all the forces and available resources here.

This card is the work of the manager, the seller. This is a constant reception of incoming applications that need to be processed quickly. Financially, the Seven of Wands is unstable. The card shows the situation "sometimes thick, sometimes empty." To stay afloat, a person needs to constantly make a huge amount of effort, fully invest in maintaining a source of income. Perhaps for this, you will have to compete with others and think only about your potential comfort.

Health and Spirit (Upright)

• Strong immunity, recovery stage of the body.
• Healing of cartilage tissue, cuts on the skin and burns.
• Intense sports loads on the muscle corset.
• A psyche built on the struggle with others, with oneself.

In terms of health, the Seven of Wands has a correspondence with the connective cartilage tissue, as well as the hands. The card shows the rapid healing of wounds, burns, fractures and sprains. But surrounded by negative Arcana, this can be interpreted as the appearance of neoplasms, cysts. However, in the upright position, most often the Seven of Wands simply speaks of a quick recovery of the body, strong immunity of the querent. Sometimes the card falls on athletes who are used to constantly increasing the load on the body.

In the context of the psyche, the Seven of Wands shows closeness and a struggle with other views. The questioning person is accustomed to defending his own interests and putting them above the opinions of others. If we take a positive aspect, then such individuals are often morally strong, they are used to achieving everything on their own. They are not afraid to get into a critical situation, as they rely only on themselves. The principle of social proof will work as an incentive for the querent. The more distrust and ridicule he receives, the faster he will achieve his goals.

Situations and Questions (Upright)

• Confrontation between a person and relatives, friends.
• The crisis of self-identification, opposing oneself to others.
• Cultivating one’s own point of view or self-determination.
• Opposition to the pressure of the surrounding majority, family.

The Seven of Wands represents the classic scene of opposition between the seeker and the crowd. However, this is not the primary crisis of the Four of Cups, when the querent only thinks to get out of the usual framework of society. Here the person has already plucked up the courage to express himself directly and not be afraid of condemnation. The process of internal changes has begun, and the accumulated critical mass of experience does not allow silently obeying the foundations. Surrounding people may not fully realize their own motives and the true intentions of their opponent. Sometimes, they remain driven only by grafted unconscious behaviors without any practical meaning.

The card asks questions: "Am I ready to defend my boundaries?", and also "Where does the "I" as a person begin and someone else’s influence ends?". The Arcana of the Seven of Wands is a kind of psychological sieve that helps to filter what is needed from the husks of other people’s ideas. Sometimes, everything generally accepted is false, and a small guess inside is that very truth. Most often, others struggle with the opposite opinion only because of the fear of asking a question and hearing the answer inside.

Meaning of the Reversed Seven of Wands Tarot

• The tendency to argue, to prove their importance to others.
• The internal struggle of the soul, the difficulty to cope with oneself.
• Problems with self-expression and positioning of the personality.
• Variable success, protracted conflict, a battle of principle.

The Seven of Wands in an inverted position loses the main value of strength. Now the position of the protagonist becomes shaky, and the majority has every chance to take advantage of the hitch. Let the man on the card still fight, but the opponents still have the advantage. The six staves come to the fore, and the hero figure moves down. This is a last-breath fight. The reversed card has several symbols. The first speaks of a tendency to argue and prove something to someone without a good reason. The squabble of character in this case plays against the querent himself. And in the second case, the position of the Arcana shows the inequality of forces.

One way or another, fortune is not on the side of the questioner. A little more and his defense will collapse. However, the confrontation is not yet over. The driving force of the reversed Seven of Wands is the desire of the ego to assert itself, even with unequal initial positions. Sometimes this struggle can take place within a person. It fights the true intentions and aspirations of the soul with the voice of the majority. The position of the card, in this context, will show a tendency to take the side of the ordinary.

Love and Relationships (Reversed)

• Tendency to listen to others instead of dialogue with a partner.
• The habit of interfering in the affairs of a loved one without asking.
• Trying to get love for always being helpful.
• Using the querent for personal gain, for profit.

In a love spread, the reversed Seven of Wands shows the suppression of one partner by another. At the same time, conflict situations can often be repeated, being the main scenario for the relationship of lovers. It is difficult to build a constructive dialogue with such a partner. A person understands only the language of universal encouragement. An inverted position also indicates a tendency to take someone else’s point of view as one’s own. Society and relatives put pressure on a loved one. A little more and he will obey the decision of others.

For lonely people, the Seven of Wands in the opposite sense does not predict bright prospects. As in the upright position, the card signals the appearance of some problems in other areas of life. The reversed Arcana exacerbates this situation. Now the querent has no time to deal with his personal life. Difficulties of relatives may be added, which the questioner will have to solve. In the card itself, there is a hint of the true reason that does not allow building a relationship – this is the tendency to take everything upon yourself and waste your own energy in vain.

Career and Finance (Reversed)

• Failure against the background of competitors or stronger rivals.
• Fighting windmills, senseless actions.
• Low paying hard work, no growth prospects.
• Exorbitant expenses, rapid growth of interest rates on loans.

For a work spread, the Seven of Wands reversed is not a good card. The querent is losing ground and his candidacy can be replaced by someone more competent and competitive. Often the position of the Arcana speaks of the last days or months in the intended position. Soon, dismissal or demotion on the career ladder is possible. Next to the questioner, there are more interesting competitors, aiming for the same vacancy. For unemployed people, the inverted Arcana shows illiquidity in the labor market.

Finances for the Seven of Wands in the opposite sense leave much to be desired. Existing money goes to cover basic expenses, and new injections are not expected. Problems grow like a snowball, and the querent himself is almost unable to cope on his own. Sometimes this suggests that one person is involved in financial matters. He is responsible for the family, children, and therefore can burn out, completely squander the entire internal resource.

Health and Spirit (Reversed)

• The appearance of neoplasms on the body or inside, oncological diseases.
• Slow regeneration in cartilaginous, bone tissues; prostration.
• Suspicion, distrust of others, quarrelsomeness, jealousy.
• Fear of losing control of one’s behavior or reality.

In terms of physical health, the reversed Seven of Wands does not lose its main significance. But now the rehabilitation process is more difficult, it lasts longer. Irreparable changes occur in the body. Perhaps a rapid increase in body weight, the appearance of many papillomas, moles. Sometimes this will be the result of a wrong lifestyle, but often just a genetic predisposition. Whether the neoplasms are malignant or benign can be found out by drawing an additional card.

In the context of mental health, the Seven of Wands in the opposite position speaks of the inadequacy of behavior. There is no apparent reason for quarrels or any evidence of their point of view. The querent becomes suspicious, he does not trust anyone, as well as himself. Perhaps an anxiety disorder – a person double-checks several times whether he turned off the iron and whether he closed the front door. He also bothers close people with conspiracy theories, crazy ideas about an imaginary danger from the outside.

Situations and Questions (Reversed)

• Unwillingness to go against certain dogmas, foundations.
• Humiliation of one’s own strengths, existing virtues.
• A mask of struggle, a frivolous attempt to defend the borders.
• Uncertainty in oneself, one’s orientations, aspirations.

In spiritual terms, the reversed Seven of Wands speaks of an unpassed stage of crystallization of one’s own opinion. If the card lay down in the opposite form, then this is a direct indication of the querent’s unwillingness to become completely independent. In his soul there is doubt about the correctness of the chosen path. The Indian mystic Bhagwan Rajneesh said that in order to get out of the influence of any tyrant, you must first remove this person from your own mind. The habit of obeying comes from an inner need to be an obedient slave, to follow the orders of superiors. The position of the Seven of Wands signifies this submission.

Visible confrontation is just an external mask. Inside, external circumstances have already won, soon the warrior will lay down his arms and stand back in line. The reversed card asks questions: "Which part of my mind is alien?" and “Why do I let others decide for me?” The decision to win or lose a fight is simply the willingness to accept defeat or not. The Seven of Wands upside down speaks of doubts that will affect the final result, the outcome of the battle.

Seven of Wands: Combination with other Tarot Cards

Advice and Warning of the Seven of Wands Card

The Seven of Wands in a upright position advises to arm yourself with your own interests and try to defend them. The card says that the querent has every chance to get his place under the sun. However, there are people around who are not ready to share the booty. The Arcana suggests putting yourself first, regardless of the opinion of the majority. In the context of a warning, the card indicates that relatives or work colleagues are not on the side of the questioner. You have to be careful or even go to open conflict. The querent can not wait for help, you should rely only on your own strength.

The reversed Seven of Wands, on the contrary, advises listening to the opinions of others. Relatives, business partners will be right. Excessive unwillingness to obey will only lead to losses on the part of the fortuneteller. As a result, he will still be forced to accept other people’s rules of the game. As a warning, the reversed Seven of Wands speaks of the radical sentiments of the opponents of the querent. This can result in dismissal, write-offs in the family circle. They do not want to see the questioner in a certain society, a narrow circle. All attempts to improve the situation, somehow manifest themselves, are doomed to failure.

Seven of Wands: Daily Card Meaning

In the spread of the card of the day, the Seven of Wands symbolizes activity. It can be sports, martial arts, various competitions. A surge of adrenaline will invigorate the spirit of the questioner. He will have to compete in speed of reaction or strength. Sometimes the Seven of Wands also shows mundane affairs that will require intervention from the querent. You get the feeling that you need to do everything at once. This position is inherent in businessmen or people in leadership positions. Some processes will need immediate settlement. Often they relate to the relationships between people in a team.

If the Seven of Wands fell upside down, then the day turns gray. The querent will not be able to quickly solve the problems that have arisen. On the contrary, there will be a feeling that the whole world has set the task of taking the questioner out of himself. Difficult tasks and confusing situations will pour like from a cornucopia. The universe seems to test the strength of the querent’s spirit for strength. It is possible that unforeseen problems will appear that will lead to a dead end, will force you to deviate from the originally plans. The querent will feel that he cannot cope alone. Fate is not on his side this time.

Suit of Wands