Tarot Discussion Group, Card of the Week.

The 7 of Swords is often seen as a very negative card, it is the thief. I think Melanie's image does a wonderful job of rehabilitating this card. I see the young woman depicted in the card as a Pirate Queen. The old song Pirate Jenny, comes to my mind. The Heron, a totem of Self Determination, and Self Reliance. Is figured prominately in the card and is I think wonderfully rewrites this card. It makes "Jenny" a women stepping out into the world, filled with the self confidence and optimism of youth. The card to my mind is about embracing lifes possiblities. So I see the firey sky as a dawn not a twilight, and the ship as her past. The ship has carried her thus far, but now she is moving beyond the familiar confines of the ship into the unknown. So we are contemplating expanding horizans. Jenny carries with her two small bags, refering to the fool, Melanie points out the shoulder bag carries lifes lessons. The golden bag can be seen as a purse. So Jenny is traveling light, she will be need to rely on her wits, rather than loading herself down with possessions.

This is our 3rd 7 and like the other two it is a very personal card. The VII of Cups was about dreams. The VII of Wands, spoke to an individual muse, a person shut out by larger society. This Card is about the individual Journey. A journey we all take I think. Some of us embrace it like Jenny, some are kicked screaming from the nest, but it is a necessary part of growing up. We all need some part of our lives on our own, with out spouse or parents, to truely find out for ourselves who we really are inside, and what we are really about as a person.

The Robin Wood card is much more in keeping with the traditional reading of this card. A grim faced man, making his escape by vaulting over the stone wall, his booty in the form of five swords in hand. Leaving two behind, to lighten his load. So we have some common themes, Like Jenny, the thief is acting alone. In leaving the two swords behind he is adjusting to circumstances as they come. Better to make off with five swords than be caught with seven. Yet there is a darkness to the card that should not be overlooked. Visually, Melanie's card is brilliantly lite with a new dawn. While the Robin Wood, is dominated by a deeply overcast sky. It is a reminder that when we become too much about ourselves we can become like the thief. Dark and brooding and thoughless of others. In the divination section Robin points out the Bravery, Care, and Stealth of the theif. All good qualities I think. It reminds me of C.S. Lewis's comment in the Screwtape Letters, that a person can only do great evil, by perverting a potential for good.

So when the Seven of Swords comes your way, remember Jenny, and embrace the positive aspects of this card. Be careful however, not to overlook a warning the cards may be sending you, that someone or something in your life may not be quite what the seem. I have divided the divination section between the two decks, more or less, because they have such widely different interpertations of the card. You will not the Gendron Deck see's the card Reversed as Poor Counsel while the RW see's it as fair councel. So the deck you are using and your own intuition as a reader are very important here.

Divination: Totem: Heron, Self-Determination, Self-Reliance. Shoulder Bag, lifes lessons. A Change in life: Job, Residence. Confidence, Endeavor Hope. Perseverance. Bravery, Care, Stealth. RW Theft, Betrayal, Spying. Less than Honerable Action.

Reversed: Arguments, Reluctance to complete a job that is well underway. Laziness. Uncertainty. Poor Counsel. RW Over Qualification, Fair Counsel, Return of Stolen Property. Repentance of bad behavior, amends made.