Up: [[Cups]] Related: [[Compulsion]] Created: 2025-02-28 Updated: 2026-04-04 > [!leaf] In Brief > Too many choices; stuck in daydreaming about the future; get out of the delusions of grandeur and come back to earth #Art ![[7 of Cups (art).webp|500]] In Rider-Waite-Smith (see below) and others, the contents of the chalices are either a mixture of fears and desires, or they are unknown. The reminder is to look beyond the illusion and allure and focus on what has meaning for you. I’ve done that in this art by spontaneously gluing down appealing images. I’m delighted because the images have a lot more power and a lot more meaning than my initial list of “things I want in my life.” Working clockwise from the top left, the images are symbolic to me of: - Magician from Tarot — a deep understanding of tarot; taking action to live my life’s purpose. - Birds — inner freedom; loving myself; not concerned with other’s perceptions - Woman — embodied, spiritually connected - Lion — strength and determination in all aspects of life - Snoopy — laughter, joy, connection - Tree with flowers — nature, beauty, psychic growth - Yin/yang — marriage of inner feminine and masculine Snake — change, transformation Sun — maintain positive hopefulness [[Spiral]] — progress; always in a new place on path of individuation > [!leaf] What Matters The 7 of Cups is not a very comfortable card. *Llewellyn Tarot* offers the great phrase that we are *window shopping for paths and goals.* There’s often a lack of focus, to the extent of feeling lost, and a feeling of emotional overload. If you’re wanting to express yourself more confidently, this card may appear at a time when you have too many things you want to say and no idea how to say them. Some tarot authors associate this card with [[Compulsion]], with the things you reach for when you are feeling frustrated or depressed. This card is about getting to know yourself well enough that you can make important life choices based on self-knowledge, rather than based on daydreams and illusions. This involves not just knowing what you desire in terms of material possessions but, more importantly, what matters to you on the inside. It is also about recognizing that everything in those cups — hates and fears as well as desires — are part of you and need to be integrated into your personality. Because of this *Spiritual Tarot* claims the 7 of Cups a *pivotal card in our personal and spiritual development*. > [!leaf] Shadow You are living the shadow side of this card if you get so overwhelmed by choices that you do nothing, or if you are lost in daydreaming delusions of grandeur. > [!leaf] Actions to Take 1. There’s the brisk, no-nonsense advice to just pick something and do it! You’re not getting any younger sitting there lost in fantasies. 2. A slightly gentler approach is to write out seven desires on slips of paper, pull one at random and do it for at least a day. 3. If you want to go deep, think about your [[Calling]], your purpose in life, take stock of your skills and abilities, then make a realistic and specific plan. 4. If #3 is appealing but too difficult to do, start by simplifying. Let go of the possibilities that feel vague, uninspiring or that come from other people’s expectations of you. See what’s left and use your intuition to take a next step toward something that matters. 5. *Vision Quest Tarot* takes a different approach. If you can’t decide what to do, do nothing right now. Something is zapping your energy. Don’t beat yourself up. Just go quiet and wait. Look at how you’re treating yourself. The choice will become very clear. 6. Journal or freewrite in response to any of the following prompts or quotes: - What do I really want? What is the next, most necessary step to attain it? - How am I deluding myself? - What dream is it time for me to let go of? How do I know? > [!orbit] Henry David Thoreau > If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. > [!orbit] Rebecca West > It is the soul’s duty to be loyal to its own desires. It must abandon itself to its master-passion. ![[7 of Cups - RWS.webp|300]] > [!leaf] Symbolism The contents of the cups in the Rider-Waite-Smith card are open to interpretation. Some of the alternatives include: - a blue smiling woman’s head representing sexuality; a cloaked angel, spirituality; yellow snake, energy or wisdom; blue castle, adventure; jewels, wealth; green victory wreath, success although skull design on the cup says it will be short-lived; blue dragon, untamed emotions. *Spiritual Tarot* - archetypal qualities of beauty, danger, power, wealth, fame, heroism, the divine. *Tarot Deciphered* - seven stages of alchemical transformation *Tarot Deciphered*