Seven of Swords Description and Symbolism

A man in a Fez hat is striding away with five of the seven swords he wants to steal. Two remaining swords are erected into the ground. They look strong and stable. The man has his eyes closed and is facing the carnival colored tents. He has a smile on his face, which looks more like a smirk.

His hat is common in North Africa and Turkey. We may deduce that this man is a foreigner. This symbolizes doing something that is outside of normal European social norms, where tarot derives.  Fez hats are also traditionally donned by the military. He uses his military stealth tactics to take the swords. We might even assume that he stole the hat to appear more like the enemy. Perhaps he’s a European in a foreign land. The Seven of Swords often comes up for someone foreign to you. Perhaps, the people in the tents have traveled to foreign lands and they are out of their element. On the flip side, he could be the foreigner infiltrating the native camp. Either way, he appears cunning.

The yellow sky can represent sunset or sunrise; his sneak attack is done while the others are planning and eating. Yellow in tarot represents intellect, so we have the element of someone who uses their intelligence as their primary mode of activity. We see the shadowy figures in the background with a sword raised. Sneak and covert attacks are a recent military strategy. Warfare use to be conducted with both parties knowing when and where the battles were to take place. The military fellow is using extremely underhanded tactics while playing this war game.

Seven of Swords Interpretation and Divination

One of the main meanings for the Seven of Swords on a basic, exoteric level indicates stealing. Sometimes it is done for the rush of stealing and other times it is a well-designed and thought out plan. If you are the person who is in the shadows, you may not even be aware of the thief, so stand guard over what you value whether it’s your heart or your possessions.

The Seven of Swords is a lot like the Five of Swords, but you don’t know that you are playing the game. Are you the hunter or the prey? If you didn’t know there was a manipulative game taking place, then you are probably the prey and you just might get played.

This might be someone who doesn’t want to be honest and open. They don’t prize communication, but would rather run from the truth. The Seven of Swords is represented by The Moon in Aquarius, which brings in a dark, detached feeling to the world. Moon in Aquarius is one of the most cool, calm and unemotional placements for the moon. A perfect emotional placement for this guy, who is unaffected (he even has his eyes closed) by the people in the background.

Seven is a prime and a single number. This indicates that you, and only you, are on this journey. You must be clever, keen and acutely aware of your current situation.

The Seven of Swords can also indicate that a thief creates their own problems.

Seven of Swords in Love

This is a very unsavory card to get in a love reading. It indicates that someone is sneaking around behind you. It could indicate an affair. They maybe clumsy about it. Look for clues. Do they smell like perfume or cologne? Do they work late, yet aren’t accounted for at the office? Do they often have business dinner meetings? If yes, someone maybe cheating on you.

If you are asking about a potential love interest, he or she probably wants to go at it alone. This is the soloist card; the card of the lone wolf. You may also want to be very careful around this person. He or she is very shrewd and cunning.

Seven of Swords as Feelings

You may feel a surge of cunningness or calculating behavior. You may even feel left out or attacked and are on the offense. You feel shrewd, crafty, acute and perhaps even a bit crafty.

If you are asking about how someone feels about you, they may feel that you have slighted them. They feel that you are someone who goes at it alone. You could be in a situation that makes you feel that the other person is vengeful and an antagonist.

Seven of Swords as Advice

The Seven of Swords urges you to use your mind to escape a situation. You may be stuck in a situation where you need to be cunning. You may need to do some spying or searching to one up on someone else. The best defensive is an offensive move. Make sure all your ducks are lined up before someone else comes in and attacks. The Seven of Swords indicates a stealth like attack. You may not even realize there are other options for you when you are in a tricky situation.

On a more positive note, the Seven of Swords can be helpful when you need to solve a puzzle or use your mind in a different way. Thinking out side of the box should be your objective. This is a solo mission. Trust yourself and your instincts. Look out for numero uno.

Seven of Swords as an Action

When the Seven of Swords shows up as an action, then you (or someone you know), will end up investigating the situation. Maybe you have a love interest, who feels the need to be indirect with you, so instead of being up front, they ask round about questions. They might not even ask questions at all.

For example, say you work in the clothing industry. Someone wants to know where you work. They have already confirmed a vagueness about your job from another friend, but no one is exactly sure what your role is, so instead of asking, “Where do you work”? They start talking about how they are very interested in clothing design and manufacturing. By doing this they are trying to prompt you to talk about your job and industry.

Seven of Swords as an Outcome (in love)

I am always hesitant to write about the outcome on my website because an outcome means that you’ve probably drawn several cards. All cards in a reading need to be looked at.

At a basic exoteric level, the Seven of Swords in love doesn’t bode well. It’s not a favorable card and it means that there will probably be a cunning, underhanded conversation between two people, with the end of the conversation favoring the other person (or yourself). One person will outwit the other person. Swords are about the mental world, so it’s a mind game of sorts.

In today’s world of Internet communication, the way we communicate has changed. Since swords rule the mental level, the kind of communication that Seven of Swords is communicating can absolutely be online. The Seven of Swords as an outcome can mean that someone is intrigued by you on some level. What they thought about you is inaccurate (Moon in Aquarius) and they have to readjust (5 swords being left behind) what they knew about you; they may or may not go back to pick up the remaining 2 (balance, duplicity) swords.

This can easily translate into a work environment. Perhaps your boss has found out some information about you that changes their perspective. They end up snooping around the Internet for you, doing stealth, undercover research.

In a love reading, this doesn’t look promising as it denotes someone is doing research about you online. Instead of just asking you, they google your name, look through your face book friends and all your social media accounts. This begs the question, “Why can’t they just ask you to begin with?” Are they hiding something as well? Is it a power struggle for one person to discover discernable data over the other person? Would that be a good start to a relationship or good in an existing relationship? If you thrive on secrets and mystery in your romance, perhaps it’s a good outcome card to get. If you are like most people, you probably want a relationship that is open, honest and straightforward.

But let’s look at it from another perspective, an esoteric perspective. Air is less stable the higher the number. For example, the 2 of Swords is more stable than the 10 of Swords. The 7 is in somewhat in the middle, which is probably why the picture depicts a man who is leaving two swords behind. The number seven, on a qualitative level, represents victory, equilibrium and mastery. If you are to seek balance with the 7 of air, you might need to leave something behind. If I am looking at it from this vantage point, I see a person who is trying to balance themselves because of information coming in. Since 7 is not as stable as a 5 of air or even a 3 of air, then the 7 needs that balance. A 7 seeks equilibrium. Knowing this, we might deduct that the person will actually be back to get the other two swords. This does not mean a reconciliation, though it could mean the person takes longer than usually to call you (from a romantic perspective). It could mean that the person will have to adjust to something new and then assimilate the extra two.

On the tree of life, the seven corresponds to the sphere or Victory (Netzach). This position is in the world of Yetzirah. Interestingly, the sphere of Netzach or Victory is governed by Venus, the planet of romance and love. Taken in these very simple terms, we have the world of formation (Yetzirah) being governed by a Venusian realm of victory or our realm of emotions.  One could feel that they are forming another opinion of someone they love. If you were to travel from Hod to Netzach, you would notice that the path is the Tower. I re-emphasize that someone is readjusting their image of you or you are readjusting your imagine of them. They are acting from an emotional level, which needs to be rebalanced with the mind (Hod). Some new information is being presented. This could come as quite a shock to either you or the other person.

Since Swords are mental, then this is actually a better position than a sword that falls in another sphere such as Malkuth (Ruin/ Ten of Swords). Obviously, it’s still not the best. What combinations on the tree can you come up with? Do you study the Tree of Life in conjunction with tarot? If not, you might want to add it slowly to your list of things to do. Tarot is a useful tool and takes years to really understand. These exoteric elements are only the tip of the iceberg. Many blinds have been set up and the image of the Seven of Swords is merely a blind for something much deeper. Again, I want to stress the importance of this exoteric knowledge being in our field of mass consciousness right now, so your interpretation from an exoteric standpoint is, in fact, valid, but if you were to dig deeper into a spread and see all the other cards, you might be able to correlate them to the Tree of Life and Astrology to come up with the perfect, exact conclusion. Like I said prior, it depends on the surrounding cards. Did you get the Lovers or the Tower in this reading? If so then we have more clues as to the outcome.

This is taken from a purely basic esoteric perspective. It’s a more Marseille-style deck where the pips just have the number and the element on them. The Seven of Swords have seven swords on it; they lack illustrated pictures. The Thoth deck and Marseille decks both use this method. Thoth attaches the word ‘futility’ to the Seven of Swords.

I’ve even thought a lot about this, but I think the Moon in Aquarius is another blind. I don’t think the Seven of Swords actually relates to the Moon in Aquarius. For me, these need to be readjusted, but that’s just my idea, yet to formulate on paper. As I study more and more astrology, these correlations just don’t make sense. For now, they are in our sphere of mass consciousness, so it is what we have to work with.

Seven of Swords Professions

Carnie. Spy. Swindler. Thief. Street Urchin. Military, especially Turkish or North African. Corrupt Banker. Any profession that involves going at it solo. Magician. Sorcerer. Investigator. Private Investigator.

Seven of Swords Reversed

The Seven of Swords reversed can indicate a situation that catches you off guard. A sneaky, scheming plan you may have had has fallen through. Someone else may have the upper hand and uses excessive lies to manipulate you even further. You may start babbling and are caught completely off guard and blindsided.

On the other side, you may want honesty from a situation and get it. You realize how you’ve been duped the entire time. A lover, friend or business associate could come clean about how they have manipulated you. You are now mentally confused because your allies have turned against you and are really your enemies. This might be a good time to channel your own inner upright Seven of Swords and turn the page against them.

On another level, it can indicate that a thief or criminal is caught. Look for the Reversed Seven of Swords, Justice and Eight of Swords to indicate jail.

Seven of Swords Tarot Card Combinations