Today I’m exploring the Seven of Swords tarot card meaning and what it personally means to me.
It’s a card that keeps on revealing itself in my readings and I really don’t like it. It makes me feel nervous but alas, I have a new tarot deck and therefore, a new way of interpreting it. Let’s begin!
I suppose I am a little addicted to purchasing new tarot decks, but it’s always good to challenge yourself with another artist’s and author’s interpretation.
Above you will find the Seven of Swords from The New Mythic Tarot deck and I’m seriously in awe due to the amount of information I gleaned from it. If you’re looking to purchase a new tarot deck, please visit my shop, Gemstone and Tarot.
Firstly though, I need to introduce the concept of The New Mythic Tarot.
The New Mythic Tarot
Juliet Sharman-Burke and Liz Greene are the authors of The NEW Mythic Tarot while Giovanni Caselli is the artist.
Sharman-Burke and Greene have revised and updated the text of their original 1989 edition, while Caselli has created beautiful images for it.
This deck depicts the characters of Greek mythology and if like me you’ve always wondered about these stories, this deck is your perfect opportunity to learn more. They also provide wisdom and guidance, which together with the tarot is a perfect form of revealing our hidden self. Today, I perfectly found new wisdom from this deck.
Seven of Swords Rider Waite
Your classic Rider Waite card depicts a man stealthily walking away clutching five swords while looking behind at the other two. The common interpretation is one of theft, or of one getting away with something. As you can see on the original card, there’s not really a lot more going on in this image.
In the Gilded Royal tarot deck shown below, he’s leaving a gated premises and like the original image of Rider Waite, they’re both leaving behind an environment of what I would interpret as safe.
My interpretation
Without referring to the authors interpretation, here’s what I got from the symbols in this card alone.
The hooded figure has his back to the moon which casts a long shadow before him. The moon signals illusion as it only partially lights up the shadows. He’s shrouded in mystery and he’s choosing to remain in the dark. Perhaps he’s being secretive? I also see the dualistic aspect of light and dark. Light is being truthful and honest, in the dark is fearful and negative. He’s choosing the latter!
He walks away from mountains that I interpret as inner strength as it takes time to build this to become strong, and grounded. Of course, when we have strong inner strength, we are firmly rooted and we can stand on our own two feet.
This he chooses to walk away from.
He walks towards ruins of columns or pillars. These again signal strength, structure and foundation that is now in ruins.
Finally, his long dark shadow falls before him and I see his ego. His ego is bigger than him and controls him. There’s no life other than him in this image. It’s almost as if he’s the only living thing in this world and therefore it’s all about him. Selfishness comes to mind.
Seven of Swords in the New Mythic Tarot
So, who is this image depicting in the New Mythic Tarot and what is their story?
Orestes is the man depicted who under darkness enters his old home to kill his mother. WOW! This sentence alone gives this card a sinister feel and it’s no wonder I don’t like it!
The story goes that when Orestes was a child, his father (Agamemnon) was murdered by the hands of his adulterous mother’s lover, Aegisthus. Once grown up, he avenged his father by killing his mother (Clytemnestra) and Aegisthus.
If you’re about to commit a murder under the cover of darkness, you need to take every precaution to ensure you’re not caught.
BEFORE YOU EVEN THINK IT – This card does not tell you to go and commit murder. I’m simply breaking it all down and merging the tarot card meaning with the Greek myth.
There are times when we must be stealthy and sometimes not true to our values to achieve the outcome we require. We must be clever and put plans into place, and this card today in my reading clearly puts this into perspective.
Dreams can come true
Me and my partner Mark are on the verge of acquiring our dream home and with that, the thought of living happily ever after. The problem is, we are in darkness about a lot of things.
Our first move is to find out exactly where we stand and then we can put our plans into place. We know we have opposition, and we also know that people are free coming with their negative judgement about our dreams.
This card landed in the position that shows me what I don’t know about my situation. The other cards surrounding it are positive and bright such as The Ace of Cups, The World and The Star.
For now, I must proceed with caution and plan it carefully. I’ll certainly keep a check on my EGO to ensure that I don’t ruin our chances. Fear of losing everything can be too overwhelming and if not careful I can snap, and say things that I will regret.
I trust in the process and I go with the flow is my go to affirmation. Right now, we need to shed some light on our chances and therefore, I have some work to do!
