Seven of Swords
Secret whisperHe slips away with five blades; not every cleverness is wisdom.
Upright meaning
Upright keywordsstrategy, stealth, deception, cunning
Strategy — or deception — is in play. Be smart, but check whether someone (perhaps you) isn’t playing fair.
Reversed meaning
Reversed keywordsconfession, coming clean, conscience, getting caught
The truth comes out. It is time to come clean and drop the act.
About the suit of Swords
Swords belong to Air: thought, truth, words, decisions and conflict. They cut both ways — bringing clarity, and the pain that clarity can cost.
Reading the Sevens of the tarot
Sevens test you: reflection, assessment, temptation and standing firm.
In Waite’s own words (1910)
From A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, public domain. Original English text.
Divinatory meaning: Design, attempt, wish, hope, confidence; also quarrelling, a plan that may fail, annoyance. The design is uncertain in its import, because the significations are widely at variance with each other.
Reversed: Good advice, counsel, instruction, slander, babbling.
The picture
A man in the act of carrying away five swords rapidly; the two others of the card remain stuck in the ground. A camp is close at hand.
