The 7 of Wands

Representing reinvention; the 7 of Wands represents our need to adapt and be flexible in our approach. No human is blessed with a foresight that can foresee every eventuality, it is an inevitability that new information will come to light, new experiences will be had, and new wisdom will be gained as we walk through our path in life. To hold onto the plans that we created in the beginning with rigidity is to deny the value of this experience and prevent ourselves from evolving as spiritual beings.

In the upright state the 7 of Wands asks us to consider a change in our approach, it does not necessarily require us to start over from scratch but rather to take our original vision and revisit it with fresh eyes, knowing now what we have learned. We often say to ourselves “If I knew then what I know now” in reference to the decisions we made in our past, with these words often spoken in the shadow of regret but we forget to remind ourselves that the commitments we once made that we still hold onto are not only a memory they are a legacy, whether we are still bound by that legacy is a choice, albeit one that may be difficult to change. Regardless, to embrace our growth we need to be able to accept that our priorities shift, our vision clarifies, and our direction can and often will change.

In the inverted state the 7 of Wands asks us to consider what has been built so far, and revaluate whether or not we have met our original vision by a different interpretation. For example, if we set out with the desire to write a book but never manage to achieve this goal explicitly, but in the process write enough content that could fill a book, reconsider whether your objective was in fact met, in other words, consider whether you have written more than the measure of a book in your mind even if you never decided to publish it in the end. It is often the rigidity of our vision that determines our failure rather than reality.

To give another example if you set out originally to become a CEO of a company with the goal to achieve the financial security that job would provide, yet in the course of this pursuit you gain promotion to a lower level with a pay grade that provides financial stability to you, then you should reconsider whether your original objective has been met by this altered perspective – has your desire been fulfilled albeit not in the way you originally envisioned?

In the Rider-Waite deck the 7 of Wands depicts a man attempting to balance a single wand on top of 6 Wands set into the ground. The endeavour is futile as the six wands set into the ground are uneven of varying heights, this futility represents the arduous nature of attempting to build creative projects on the foundations we built without foresight; in contrast to this futility, our hindsight provides clarity and the opportunity to recognise the mistakes and misconceptions of our past. The man stands in front of a clear blue sky without a cloud, representing the clarity of mind, “blue sky thinking” as a concept requires entertaining the actions we would take without limits and constraints hindering our creativity.

In self-reflection the 7 of Wands serves as a prompt to consider whether your existing approach is fit for purpose or whether you need to return to the drawing board and begin again, this may require a reset and loss of progress or merely a reposition applying a different approach to what has been achieved so far.

The 7 of Wands is your opportunity to return to the Ace of Wands by adopting the same mentality of innovation and novelty that you employed before, this time applying it to a task in progress. Ask yourself “Do I need to start over?” or “What can I salvage from this?” or perhaps “Can this be saved?”