FOUR PILLARS SOCIETY TAROT: SEVEN OF SWORDS

Notes on: The Seven of Swords

(Futility and Mystdirection)

Artist’s Notes:
 
Many of us like to consider ourselves rebels against the order of society. We break a small rule, usually not even out of principle as out of convenience and set ourselves up as champions who have ‘stuck it to the man.’ Most times though, our real motivations are our own dopamine pleasure/pain receptors as much as they are a rational response against the constrictions of society.
 
At this point there are so many laws, many of them obscure that on any given day, the vast majority will have committed at least a few misdemeanours. Most of them are not heavily enforced and the only way we would ever be held accountable for them is if we were under suspicion of doing something far worse and the powers that be were looking for reasons to prosecute. Thus in reality the systems are so rule-bound that most of us could be considered criminals.
 
With both of those things being said, how do we decide where the line is between what is legal and what is honest? How do we choose where the lines are so that we can add, not only to our own lives but also to the communities in which we live? If reality is whatever we can get away with, what are the choices that will make our realities quality ones to inhabit as opposed to desolate wastelands where nothing can be trusted?
 
 
About the Archetype:
 
The suit of swords represents thoughts, ideas, plans, and conflicts. Sevens represent our desires and wants and the paths and challenges we take to achieve them. It also may represent an excessiveness in the force involved. What do we do when what we want to do conflicts with the framework in which we live?
For many of us living in societies that for various reasons offer less and less freedom, this question is becoming more and more important. It is possible to live conflicted in society and work the system, taking what we can for ourselves but quite often even tho this may mean our needs are met, our lives become more and more unfulfilled. It seems the very act of futility to be shaped by a society that we feel we should be shaping. We run the hamster wheel and yet at the same time, we hope to find a better way of doing things. The gift of this energy may very well be the tenacity to keep on looking for that way and the knowledge that it must exist.
 
Placement Within the Narrative of Swords:
 
Sometimes when we over-identify with a viewpoint or ideology that we have taken on, we may find aspects of it coming into conflict with values that we hold at our core. When this cognitive dissonance happens, we have to decide whether we are going to be true to ourselves or toe the party line. Either way, it can feel like a betrayal.
 
 
Astrological Correspondent:
 
Moon in Aquarius – This energy tends towards intuition and group dynamics. It seems to hold a greater understanding of what is going on yet can be very remote and unfathomable even to itself. The Moon in Aquarius focuses on the greater good. The energy is open to all and disapproves of little yet finds it very hard to connect in a very ‘in the world but not of it’ way. More than anything else this energy needs the freedom to think what it wants and to live as it wants
 
 
In a Reading:
 
When the Seven of Swords occurs in a reading, it may mean that we are having trouble expressing ourselves in the environment we find ourselves in due to people whom we believe to be in authority over us. We may feel like we are compromising ourselves rather than surrendering who we are. It may also be that we are learning how to maintain our inner beings while living our day-to-day lives. It usually denotes a feeling of isolation and a need for self-reliance. This card may also mean thievery or underhandedness in our environment. It may also mean that someone close to us is hiding their true nature.
 
When the Seven of Swords shows up reversed or badly aspected in a reading, it may mean that rather than only relying on ourselves, we may need to consult others for advice on how to extricate ourselves from a tricky situation. It may also mean that we are finding it difficult to do what we need to do to get out of the troubles in which we find ourselves. It may also mean that we are feeling internal pressure to bring out into the open what we may have felt the need to previously keep hidden.
–GAR
 
 
Fate’s Whisper:
 
While it seems foolish, many have waged war on the Spider. This led to a place where the discarded weapon of the fallen warrior was the only reminder of how pointless a feat it truly was. Regardless this graveyard expands to this day.
 
There are two types of foes we are presented with in life. One is the one we project on others in the absence of productive growth. The other is the expectations we have of the first foe. As we walk through life some will use this to their advantage while others will overdo it to prove their inferior nature. When we take on a foe it is important to understand the objective stance of what we are facing that way we can properly use the second foe to its greatest potential. To overestimate yourself can lead to a bad situation where you lose more than you gain, while the other side is where you think yourself too low to beat what you are presented with. Find your balance of these and you will find true victory.
–NF

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