Seven of Wands Tarot Card Meaning

Seven of Wands upright

The Seven of Wands shows a situation of opposition in which you need courage. You are in a position to hold your ground and win in spite of obstacles. When you get to the top, as in the previous card, others are waiting to challenge you or bring you down: that is what happens here. You are in a position of strength, because you have the advantage of height, and those facing you may have trouble reaching you. You may have to take a stand and defend your place, your convictions or your ideals. You may have to face competition, opposing views in a discussion or a speech, or disapproval. Victory remains possible, but it depends on the energy and courage you put into it. It comes from effort and competition carried through to the end. This card also speaks of discussion, negotiation, sometimes heated exchanges of words, meetings and commerce. It gives influence over those who depend on you.

Your strengths

You have courage and persistence in the face of adversity. You hold your position and resist those who oppose you. You dare to become a person who leads, and you can bear being challenged. You can fight alone: when forces are in disorder, your personal worth makes the difference. You can gain confidence in your worth by facing problems, rivalry and conflicts with persistence, but with restraint.

What holds you back

You may feel on uncertain ground, even when your position is good.
You spend energy on opposition, and it can steal time you would use better elsewhere.
You risk fighting without knowing against whom or why: the situation becomes confused and part of your energy is wasted.
You may lose confidence, because your energy scatters in all directions with no precise aim.
You risk quarrels, arguments, threats and pretension.

What helps

Keeping restraint along with persistence.
Defending your position, your convictions and your ideals without wearing yourself out.
Placing and organizing the elements of your project well, rather than scattering everything.

Work

You are led to negotiate, face competition and defend your point of view in a meeting or an exchange. It can also concern commerce and exam results obtained through sustained work.

Seven of Wands reversed

You feel overwhelmed, or you have too many things to handle at once. You may have to override the objections of your family or friends about a job or a relationship. You may also put up defenses to keep others at a distance. This card carries the idea of embarrassment: both awkwardness, and an excess of things that complicates the situation.

It can also show the fear of being attacked, even to the point of paranoia, or the moment when you get past this fear and bring down the barriers between you and others. It can finally mean that defenses, walls and barriers between people disappear. You may reconsider your need to stand your ground and push back opposition.

Your strengths

Your defenses sometimes give you time and space to think before you decide. You can work through your difficulties apart and adjust things in peace.

What holds you back

You busy yourself to avoid taking the next step.
You become too cautious or fearful, especially when you feel in an inferior position, and you back off or react in a passive-aggressive way.
You compromise in a negotiation to win other people's favor or popularity, instead of holding your position.
You become inflexible, aggressive or angry to make up for a feeling of vulnerability and the fear of being a victim.
You hesitate, change your mind and get discouraged.
You project onto others: you see them as weak and servile, or as people who harass you and will not let go.
You feel anxiety, doubt and perplexity.

What helps

Setting stable reference points and recentering yourself, especially when you open up to others or face fears you had set aside. Asking yourself whether your position still needs to be defended with as much force.

What the card shows

In the image, a young man stands on a steep height and brandishes a staff. Six other staves rise toward him from below. This drawing says that on the surface, six attack one, but that he holds the best position. Because he is at the top, his opponents have trouble reaching him. The figure seems to straddle a ditch at the edge of a cliff: he dominates the situation, but he wears two different shoes, which may point to uneven or uncertain footing. He may also be planting the staves in the ground: the card then speaks of the right placement of the elements of a project.

In another version of the image, a rough staff, closer to a club, rises above six fixed staves, reduced to the background. The club is the first weapon that comes to hand. The flames are scattered and go in all directions, with no precise aim. In a third version, three hands hold staves: two hands grip six staves, three of them crossed, and a third hand comes out of a cloud with an upright staff that passes between the others. Flames burst out where the staves meet.

The meaning of the card is valor, that is, courage in the face of opposition. The card speaks of holding your place and keeping the advantage despite obstacles. When you reach the top, as on the previous card, others wait to contest your place or bring you down. Overcoming these obstacles puts your strength to the test. After daring to become the one who leads, you need courage and perseverance in the face of adversity, even in a simple negotiation. You may have to defend your position, your convictions and your ideals, face competition, or meet opposing views in a speech or a discussion.

On the level of the mind, the card means discussion, a battle of words. In business, it means negotiations, competition, exchange. It also brings difficulties, quarrels, ignorance, pretension and threats, with courage to face them. Victory is possible, depending on the energy and courage you put into it. It can concern small matters and give influence over subordinates.

The card shows the battle itself, and the effect is stimulating. The figure uses the excitement of conflict to rise above uncertainty and discouragement. He is not so much master of his life as he is staying on top. As long as the fight lasts, you enjoy it. This type of temperament needs to feel alive and to get back the surge of adrenaline that proves it. With time, the habit of permanent fighting ends up shutting you in. In the other version of the image, the fight has degenerated into disorder: there is enough energy left to fight, but no one knows quite against whom, and the energy is often lost. Each person then fights for himself, and victory, if it comes, depends on individual worth. The energy feels out of breath: it struggles desperately and may be defeated.

Your strengths

You have the courage to hold your place in the face of opposition.
You have perseverance when you are challenged.
You can gain confidence in your worth by facing problems and rivalry with perseverance and restraint.
You have a good sense of your position: you know how to defend what you believe.
Conflict gives you vitality and lifts you out of discouragement.

What holds you back

You may feel targeted and believe that everyone is against you.
You spend a lot of energy staying tense and ready for a fight.
You can waste time and energy on opposition that you could devote to something better.
You can let yourself be shut in by the habit of constantly fighting.
You can fall into indecision, embarrassment and worry.
You can scatter yourself, not knowing what your energy should fight against.

What helps

Hold your position with perseverance, but with restraint.
Choose a clear line of action: your confidence then returns and helps you overcome worries and outside problems.
Place and organize the elements of your project well.
Notice when lowering your guard is not the right choice and when the situation calls for staying vigilant.