7 of Swords is, in my view, one of the most complex cards in the Tarot. It is full of nuance, and its appearance in any reading can bring up many more questions than answers. Like any 7, the energy here is split or fragmented in some way. It’s often interpreted as a card of deception, cheating, or lying, and while that may certainly be true, it’s not always such a scathing indictment. Sometimes we *are* obfuscating our intentions, but it’s not always nefarious. The Next World Tarot, for instance, uses the keyword ‘escape’ for this card, and I really like that. Sometimes we do need to hustle out of a situation with haste and without owing anyone an explanation, and 7 of Swords can indicate that for sure. Or sometimes we are putting up some sort of smokescreen to hide our real motivations, and while sometimes that’s a necessary sleight of hand, it can also indicate a lot of shame. 7 of Swords can also indicate a major and very unexpected ‘plot twist’ in the story of our lives, and sometimes it reflects that we’ve left something significant unsaid and it’s causing us a lot of regret and misgivings. I also find that it often shows up for those of us who tend to keep our emotional bags always packed and sitting at the front door, so to speak. It’s astrological correspondence is Moon in Aquarius, and that energy can be remote and hard to pin down. If this card reflects that tendency within you, it’s worth asking if you’re able to go ahead and settle in to whatever situation or relationship you find yourself in, because commitment of some kind may offer you a lot of room to grow.
the Hierophant
The Hierophant is a card that’s really layered with meaning and has lots of potential interpretations. And this makes sense, because a hierophant is someone who, in history, was a translator of the sacred, or of the mysteries. In more old school Tarot approaches, the Hierophant often represents institutional religion or a spiritual teacher of some sort, as well as tradition and the morals/values of our culture. This can certainly still be true, but in the more modern approach of looking at each card as a way to deepen our personal development, the Hierophant asks us to trust in our own innate ability to find meaning in what we encounter, to develop our own internal moral compass, and to trust that the difficult experiences of our lives will lead us towards wisdom. I say that because the Hierophant is card 5 of the Major Arcana, and if we look at each Minor Arcana 5 we find hardship and struggle. Suffering is what has given birth to spirituality, in so many ways; suffering is what inspires us to ask Why, and through our own difficult experiences we must develop our own Why. We so often want to outsource this kind of meaning; we want some outside authority to tell us why. We want the Void to answer back. But in the Hierophant we learn that, ultimately, this existential Why can only be answered from within.
On a more practical level, this card can come along when we’re examining what we’ve been taught; this has particular significance if we have children and are questioning if what we’ve learned from our parents is what we want to pass down. Also, the Hierophant can call us into a teaching capacity.
the Empress
The Empress is a card, in so many ways, of love: sometimes it’s about how we show it to others, but more often it’s about how we show it to ourselves, and how we allow ourselves to receive it from others. The Empress asks us to wrestle with our ideas of worth, and whether we fundamentally believe that love is something that we have to earn or if we are worthy of love simply for existing, for being here, as we are. I like to teach cards 1-7 of the Major Arcana as an act of reparenting the self, and when we reach the Empress this is essentially what I say: If you had just had a baby—a baby that you wanted and anticipated and longed for, you would love that baby from the moment it was born. It wouldn’t have to DO anything to win your love or earn your affection. This baby doesn’t have to prove itself. You love it simply because it has arrived, and its existence is a kind of miracle. You love it because love is what makes babies grow and thrive. The Empress has many connections with creativity, with what we nurture, with fertility, and with motherhood (though keep in mind that no card in the Tarot is truly gendered). Often when it comes up in our readings it’s asking us love ourselves as we would this child, to remember that just as we’re intuitively aware that children require love and acceptance in order to blossom, so do we. We can’t wait to love ourselves *until*……until we meet some entirely arbitrary standard or metric that, let’s be honest, will always be a moving target. We must love ourselves now, because we are worthy of love right now. Right now.
2 of Cups
2 of Cups is a card of intimacy, first and foremost, but it does not always mean intimacy with another. When this card does come along to reflect a relationship, it is a nurturing and equitable one, and though it’s not always romantic, it very often is. However, I find it most often shows up when there is a part of ourselves—usually one long held in judgment or looked upon with shame—that we are working to heal our relationship with. For example, I have seen this card in readings to indicate recovery from disordered eating. 2 of cups is really about a willingness to look at our deepest wounds and vulnerabilities and welcome a compassionate dialogue with them. We are working towards self forgiveness in this energy, and we are likely learning that, since our relationship with ourselves is one we can never escape, it is the wisest course to become the best partner to ourselves that we can be.
8 of Cups
8 of Cups is a card that often indicates a sorrowful parting. It can reflect that you have left behind a relationship, a business/career path, a place you once called home, and that this leaving was bittersweet. We often poured a lot of ourselves into whatever is indicated here, and it may have made us happy for a long time…..and yet. We must leave, on a path we may not see clearly yet, but that we know will lead us somewhere necessary. The Golden Dawn (an esoteric order whose members Arthur Waite, Pamela Coleman Smith, and Alistair Crowley-who created the Thoth deck—gave us the 2 most popular decks in modern Tarot) called 8 of Cups the Lord of Abandoned Success. And yet, if you are someone who pulls cards as a daily practice, this interpretation of 8 of Cups needs some broadening, as we are not ‘abandoning success’ all that often. I think that within a more everyday context, 8 of Cups asks us to break from emotional patterns that no longer serve us. 8s in the Tarot are about transformation and finding alignment, and relate to the Strength card, which is healthy confrontation with ourselves. When 8 of Cups comes up, you may be in a situation that is bringing up a lot emotionally and you are being offered the opportunity to choose something different. Can you respond consciously instead of react unconsciously? It can ask us to cut ties from our “old self” and choose a path of emotional maturity.
I will also say that this card sometimes comes along very strongly to recommend sobriety, particularly from alcohol.