Tarot · Swords
Seven of Swords
- cunning
- going it alone
- caution
The picture
A man tiptoes away from a camp carrying five swords and looks back over his shoulder, leaving two swords stuck in the ground.
The meaning
The man carries more swords than he can comfortably hold, and he is looking round. The tradition reads the Seven of Swords as cunning, going it alone and sometimes dishonesty. It stands for strategy that can be clever or underhand. The card asks whether you are playing with your cards on the table.
Reversed
Reversed, it is read as a confession, a return to openness, or a plan that is found out.
In love
In love it is read as something left unsaid, or a request for more honesty.
At work
At work it stands for tactics and the reminder to stay fair.
As your card of the day
A clever plan is worth it today, but play with your cards on the table. It saves explanations later.
The Seven of Swords stands for caution. Consider carefully today whom you trust with what.
Swords belong to air. Readers see in them thought, decisions and plain words, the uncomfortable ones included.
Picture: Pamela Colman Smith, Rider-Waite-Smith tarot, 1909, public domain (Wikimedia Commons).