Seven of Swords Tarot Card Meaning

Seven of Swords upright

The Seven of Swords speaks of an attempt, a project or a wish that you carry with hope and confidence. You try to improve your chances and recover what you had lost. You do it through the mind, with strategy, research, preparation and cunning. You are resourceful, but also sometimes evasive.

The meaning of this card stays uncertain, because its meanings go in opposite directions. On one side, it speaks of perseverance despite insecurity, faith in your efforts and new plans. On the other, it speaks of futility, deception, evasion and plans that may fail.

Your effort is unstable and your successes are partial. You may give in when victory is within reach, as if you had used up your last strength. The little energy you have is closer to a dream than to sustained work, and sustained work is what carries a project to its end. You hesitate, you want to find a compromise and you show a certain tolerance. This attitude resembles a policy of appeasement, whose result depends on the strength of those who oppose you.

Your actions then do not settle the heart of the problem. In relationships, this card sometimes evokes infidelity and secret loves: trust can break. It also evokes disappointment within a family or between people who share an interest.

You know how to meet a challenge of the mind with skillful means. Your quick mind lets you disarm others and get past their defenses. You are capable of a bold stroke that neutralizes the opposition. You persevere despite insecurity and you believe in your efforts. You know how to do research and prepare a project.

What holds you back

Prepare a careful plan before acting. Not keeping your plans and difficulties to yourself, and accepting help.

You give up when you are about to win, for lack of holding the effort to the end.
You are hesitant and not very reliable.
You lack the strength for long, steady work.
You sometimes act on impulse when a careful plan would be needed.
You propose plans or actions that solve nothing.
You keep to yourself and refuse, or don't know how, to ask for help.
You often hide your real plans or intentions, with no real reason.
You get around what you do not want to face.
You like abundance, you are fascinated by show and you like compliments.
You can hurl affronts and insolence, and spy on others.
You sometimes betray confidences, not always on purpose.
Idealistic goals can make you accept any means, including deception.

Seven of Swords reversed

The Seven of Swords speaks of strategy, cunning and discretion. Reversed, it touches how you act when you have something to hide or avoid. You may be more cautious out of fear of being caught. You may also be too honest to succeed by dubious means, or too reckless to listen to good advice. You tend to avoid danger. You may deny acts you are ashamed of. You may also question plans and arrangements already in place.

There is sometimes an inner conflict between what you want and a sense of vulnerability. If you lack confidence and envy others, you may avoid open action and choose cunning and behind-the-scenes manipulation. You may also act alone, unwilling or unable to ask for help, and hide your real plans, often for no real reason. Your plans and actions then resolve nothing.

The card also has a meaning turned toward others. Isolation turns into communication: you seek an opinion on your problems from a tarot reader, a therapist or friends. What matters is your ability to listen and to ask for help. You may also return to the scene of a past episode, take something back or help someone. You may give back what was taken, examine your past actions to understand what went wrong, ask forgiveness and make amends. You may advise someone, warn them or remind them of what they forgot. The old meanings of the reversed card point this way: instruction, counsel, warning, prudence.

What you perceive in another person counts too. If you project the card onto someone, you may believe them capable of stealing, betraying or manipulating to get what they want. You may also let someone take advantage of you, take part in your own situation as a victim and put yourself in danger. You may have misplaced strategies or loyalties, and the "enemy" you see may not be one.

Your strengths

You also know how to be open to prove you have nothing to hide. You know how to seek help and listen to advice.

What holds you back

You avoid acting openly for fear of being caught.
You sometimes deny what you are ashamed of.
You do not always listen to good advice.
You act alone and hide your intentions for no real reason.
You may depend too much on what others tell you to do when you should count on yourself.
You sometimes let someone take advantage of you.

What helps

Coming out into the open instead of living with what you fear.
Asking for advice and accepting help from someone you trust.
Reviewing your past actions, asking forgiveness and making amends.
Checking whether the enemy you see really is one.
When independence and asking for help pull against each other, looking at the other cards in the spread to see which will bring you more.

What the card shows

The image

A man hurries away with five swords, and two others stay stuck in the ground. A camp lies very close. He smiles as he walks off with the opponent's weapons. He has not attacked the camp and he cannot even carry everything. The swords left in the earth may stand for tasks or goods that are handed out, or ideas that stay on the ground. The swords divided into groups also show broken trust and a whole split in two. The card indicates a journey by land, or moving about without being noticed.

What the card means

It bears the name Futility. It is a card of strategy, cunning and trials of the mind: you take on challenges using your intelligence rather than force. It speaks of a dangerous opportunity that calls for discretion. In this situation, you can act with resolve or hesitate. Your quick mind can serve to disarm others. Idealistic goals may make you accept any means, including concealment. The card covers a wide range, from research, strategy and preparation to spying, deception and flight. You may gather ideas or prepare a project, and you may also manipulate a situation to your advantage or dodge what you don't want to face.

The Seven is a card of continuing struggle. It shows action against problems: sometimes a bold move, a blow that takes the strength out of the opposition. More often, it is an impulsive act, when a careful plan would be needed. Its acts and plans settle nothing. It also carries a sense of isolation: you act alone, unable or unwilling to ask for help.

Reversed, the card changes meaning. You become more cautious out of fear of being caught, or too honest to succeed by dubious means. You avoid danger, and you may deny acts you are ashamed of. If you lack confidence and envy others, you may avoid open action and turn to cunning and hidden manipulation. Isolation also becomes communication: you look for advice on your problems, from a tarot reader, a therapist or friends. What matters then is your willingness to listen and ask for help. The card can also indicate too much dependence on those who tell you what to do. The traditional reversed meanings are advice, warning, caution, good advice sometimes not followed, but also slander, quarrels and passing setbacks.

Your strengths

You have a strategic mind, and you know how to prepare and do research. You persevere despite insecurity and keep faith in your efforts. You can dare a bold move that disarms the opposition. You have a quick mind for disarming others.

What holds you back

You give in when victory is within reach and lose for lack of continuing the effort.
You hide your real plans, often for no particular reason.
You act impulsively when a careful plan would be needed.
You hesitate and come across as unreliable.
You may betray confidences, not always on purpose.
You lack the energy for sustained work, and you stay in dreaming.
You may dodge what you don't want to face.

What helps

Asking for advice, listening to others and accepting help. Coming out into the open rather than living with what you fear. Examining your past actions to understand what went wrong.