7 of Cups

Have you ever wondered what the 7 of cups means in Tarot? It's a mysterious card, a shadowy figure is presented with 7 magical golden cups, he can only choose one. If he chooses wisely will he have a dream come true?

7 is a number of change - not THE number of change, that of course is number 5 but 7 represents spiritual change or rather the possibility of it. The 7's are all about a test, pass the test and you will level up spiritually and materially. If you don't pass the test you stay repeating the cycle until you are ready to be tested again and finally pass. The people involved, the situation you find yourself in may change but the lessons and challenges remain the same. The 7 of pentacles is a test not only of patience but of faith, how much faith do you have that the seeds you planted will grow? The 7 of wands represents a test of belief in yourself and your values, will you fight for yourself and with integrity? The 7 of swords is a test of courage, of recognising that a dramatic or petty situation with others won't resolve because those others enjoy the drama and your only choice is the courage to walk away, the 7of swords can also represent the challenge of calling out someone else's deceitful behaviour.

The 7 of cups is also a test of self, but this is a test of the inner self. The shadowy figure, black with anxiety has somehow fallen for the illusion and believes he needs to choose one cup, his Holy Grail and that in doing so he will have his wishes come true. This is not the case, he does not know what is in each cup and when he tries to guess he gets more and more drawn in to the illusion, more and more worried about making the correct choice. The truth is there is no correct choice in what is presented to the man, but he believes there is. If you look closely at the card you will see poison signs underneath the laurel wreaths. Perhaps the little blue dragon looks appealing but will it grow into a hungry monster? All of the cups represent destruction. If the figure picks a cup with a monster or poison, it is instant destruction, if he picks a cup with tainted jewels he will still be destroyed but slowly and more painfully, his joy will be short lived as he realises with horror that he picked a curse. The test of the 7 of Cups is not about choosing the correct cup it is about realising that none of those fantasies are worth having in and of themselves. The figure needs to walk away and follow his soul as shown in the 8 of cups, he can make the choice to follow his soul any time and when he does he passes the test and can move on to the 9 of cups where he gets all of his dreams and the satisfication, joy and fulfillment that he wanted from them because through his 8 of cups journey he earned it. The 7 of cups can easily distract and fill the human mind with fantasies and dreams of material goods that are worthless without the spiritual and heart fulfillment of earning them through the soul's journey. How long will it take for the man to learn the lesson? Will he stand there distracted his whole life, so anxious of losing his fantasies that he rots where he stands? At least making the wrong choice would be a death (a painful ego death protracted or quick depending on the cup) and give him a chance to repeat the cycle, to have an illusion of living. But if you are not living for yourself are you really living? That is the lesson of the 7 of cups, stop chasing the house, the career, the relationship, the car, they are all external material things and cannot provide you lasting happiness and fulfillment because they are outside of you. If however you choose to follow and chase the light of your own soul, to live and breathe the passion of your heart all of those external things will come to you because you will already be and will always be fulfilled and sustained from the light that comes from living your soul's purpose.