Description
An androgynous man is defending his territory from six encroaching wands. He is wearing two different shoes, indicating that this attack has taken him by surprise. Regardless, he is ready to fight, because he has something valuable to protect.
But is it an attack at all? Or just six wands – six sticks, really – hovering somewhere below, where they can’t really reach him, since his platform is elevated. Unless he keeps moving closer to that edge…
7 Thoughts
You know when celebrities get really caught up about social media hate, and make these performatively vulnerable videos and statements about it? That’s a 7 of Wands moment. (While I find this kind of annoying, I don’t think it’s necessarily bad.) The celebrity / public figure has a level of wealth, attention, privilege that gives them distinct advantages over most other people; they are on an elevated platform. The trolls who resent them for this are just poking sticks above their heads, hoping it might get them a fraction of that attention. It doesn’t mean what they’re doing is right; just that it’s a form of aggression that, in most cases, isn’t life-threatening. While the celebrity / public figure has every right to defend themselves, it would probably be wiser not to take that shit personally.
This card is about defensiveness and overreaction. We think of defensiveness is a form of overreaction by default, but it’s not. It’s a natural reaction to an attack. Whether that attack is real or perceived, direct or implied, it has taken the defendant by surprise. Therefore it is understandable that one would try to pick up whatever stick is laying nearby and defend oneself. The overreaction part comes when the defensiveness persists, long after rational thought has confirmed that actually, it’s not an attack, it’s just six sticks hovering below that can’t really reach you (unless you keep moving closer to that edge!). So when this card shows up in a reading, it’s an opportunity to ask: Am I overreacting? But it’s important to not feel ashamed of it, because an overreaction is just a type of reaction; ‘over’ or ‘under’ is a subjective judgment call. It’s a card that asks you to consider the difference between caution and hypervigilance.
Some interpretations of this card say that the six floating wands represent negative thought patterns, rising up from the depths of our unconscious minds to punish us, because how dare we think we can live in peace in that elevated platform we surely don’t deserve because we are bad or unloveable. If this resonates, I think the key here is not to focus on the six floating wands, but how the figure has sprung into action with his lone stick, even if he didn’t have the time to put on the right shoes. The energy to fight the fight is a beautiful thing, and it needs to be maintained and preserved.
Seven is the addition of 4 (The Emperor’s number in the Major Arcana) and 3 (The Empress’ number in the Major Arcana). As such, the number 7 (4 + 3) in tarot can represent a combination of masculine / yang energy with feminine / yin energy. But 7 is still an odd number, which hints at imbalance – there is an extra point on the masculine side, one too many dicks on the dance floor.
But I am starting to move away from describing energetic polarities as ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ (unless it gives me an opportunity to revisit an old Flight of the Conchords video, because I’m a millenial). Calling it masculine / feminine is a bit outdated and not very accurate.1 A better way to describe it might be active and passive, but passive has a negative connotation. It’s more like the ‘masculine’ / yang / active polarity is about doing something, and the ‘feminine’ / yin / passive polarity is about considering what’s already there. It’s like that recipe instruction that tells you to let a cooked steak rest before cutting into it. The reason is because if you cut it too quickly, all its juice will leak onto the chopping board, and you will be stuck eating a very dry steak. But if you let it rest, it gives the steak time to retain all the juices that make it taste good. In this example, the knife is the active polarity, and time is the passive polarity.2
Here is Rachel Pollack on the subject, from Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom:
People often link passive with ‘negative’… inferior and weak. But passivity contains its own power. It gives the mind a chance to work. People who only know action never get a chance to reflect on what that action has taught them. In a deeper sense, passivity allows the unconscious to emerge. Only through withdrawal from outer involvement can we allow the inner voice of vision and psychic forces to speak to us. It is precisely to avoid this inner voice that many people never rest from action and movement. Our society, based completely on outer achievement, fosters a terror of the unconscious, yet without its wisdom we can never truly know ourselves or the world.
…or a good steak.
So how does the figure in the 7 of Wands, or the querent who pulls this card, strive towards better integrate these polarities? By embracing passivity. Being patient. Letting that steak rest. Resting, full stop. Not complete passivity, just a bit more passivity. Put that stick down; keep it within reach, but put it down. There are better uses for a wand than weaponry.
Stray Thoughts:
My favourite sandwich at the moment is bacon, roast chicken slices, guacamole, and tomatoes, in soft white bread, fridge-cold. BLT-adjacent. (This chaotic desk is not all mine!!!!)
In astrology, the ‘masc’ / active / yang signs are fire (Aries, Leo, Sagg) and air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius). The ‘fem’ / passive / yin signs are earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) and water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces).
In more crude terms, it’s the sperm and the egg. You need both for creation.