7 of Disks

Hermetics claim the Pillar of Strength (the Sephirot Chokmah, Geburah and Hod) is "outwardly corrosive and inwardly solar" while the Pillar of Mercy (Binah, Chesed and Netzach) is "outwardly solar and inwardly corrosive." There is an air of decadence and languor to the 7s:  Netzach's Venusian charms have sapped the Querent's will.  This is especially true of the 7 of Disks, the card Crowley called "Failure." Pretty dreams and idle hopes have been crushed beneath the weight of cold, hard reality.  Things have taken a turn for the worse and the Querent has not prepared for the crisis: the rose-colored glasses have dropped and the handsome prince is looking like a toad.

The 7 of Disks frequently arrives as unexpected trouble. But hindsight will show the disaster was a fait accompli from the start.  Natural laws and mathematical equations don't take our feelings into account.  We must base our business plans on prevailing market conditions, not on dreams of easy money.  No matter how much we love our partners and friends, we must be aware of their imperfections. When we forget this we will inevitably pay the price and the 7 of Disks is our notice of default.  The 5 of Cups describes the Querent's growing realization that cherished dreams won't come true:  the 7 of Disks signifies the event which makes this realization inescapable.

The 7 of Disks points to a situation where success on the Querent's current terms is impossible.  But its impact can be mitigated or even avoided if the Querent heeds its message.  This failure arises out of misbegotten hopes and expectations.  The surrounding cards will help show where things went astray and present alternate scenarios.  Becoming the next Anheuser-Busch may not be in the cards -- but microbrewing might still be an enjoyable and even profitable hobby.  Your campaign may not pull off that win against impossible odds -- but you may come away with a new knowledge of the system and a new network of friends and supporters.

Arthur Edward Waite had difficulty with this card, finding only a welter of "exceedingly contradictory" meanings. Pamela Coleman Smith, his illustrator, offered a much clearer interpretation. The young man stares at the pentacles like one enraptured: it is clear that he treasures them. But he is leaning on his staff as he gazes at them adoringly. He is in no position to defend them from a surprise attack, nor to plow the fields so that he may gain more.  His youth suggests inexperience, but it also suggests this failure may be a valuable learning experience.  The 7 of Disks generally signifies disappointment rather than catastrophe,  a setback that leaves the Querent bloody but not irredeemably broken.