Seven of Blades – Meditation.  In this card an Eskimo woman stands on the hard-packed snow next to a hole in the ice, where she is waiting patiently for her prey to surface.  She holds ready a spear and a gutting knife.  Stuck in the snow behind her are five other spears, and her canine companion sits and waits.  The woman and her dog manage to look both patient and alert at the same time.  Behind her a glowing pink, green, and blue sky reflects on the ice and snow and creates a sense of calm.  This card speaks of the perfect calm and orderly mind of someone using their waiting time to meditate and achieve a oneness of body, mind, and surroundings.  In our Western society we are always trying to fill every moment with activities, looking ahead to the next thing and multi-tasking.  This card is a reminder that time has value, that quiet moments or even hours spent in meditation and simple existence are worth as much or more than the frenzied activity of our days.  The moment will come when this woman needs to act swiftly, and the time for action will be upon her.  Until then, she uses her time in a focused and insightful way.

Seven of Pentacles – Appraisal.  Very similar to the RW 7 of Pents, this card shows a woman farmer standing in her garden of sunflowers with a shovel and two goats.  She looks appraisingly at the mature crops standing around her waiting to be harvested, and breaks new ground at her feet for the fall planting.  She looks like she has seen many turns of the seasons, and knows just how good this crop is and exactly what to do next.  Like the previous card, there is a patient sense of fitting within her surroundings and being at home in her environment, and doing everything at its proper time.  In this case, the planting and harvesting process is slower than the swift movements called for in the Seven of Blades, but its purpose is similar.  Taken together the two cards radiate a sense of self-sufficiency and competence in skills that are basic to community survival and the environment, hunting and agriculture.

Seven of Flames – Victory.   With this card we move completely out of the realm of nature and into the otherworld.  Here we have three Crones, riding wild horses, galloping across a field of dark blue which could be a night sea or skyscape.  Behind them is a large orange moon, with jagged lightning bolts flashing from it.  They ride bareback, naked, and exultant, with orange fireballs streaming from their fingers.  When I see this card I think, “so this is what the Crones get up to when the Maidens and Mothers are safely in their beds!!” :-).  The victory here is a complete freedom from restraint and convention, and a giving over of oneself to the joy of life without any reservation.  Here these women can show off and play with their fiery powers, and ride all night if they want to.  In the morning they will appear as their quiet, dark-robed crone-selves again, but inside will be a flame of fiery independence that forms their core identity.

Seven of Cups – Jealousy.  Here a not-so-positive but nevertheless powerful card.  A woman crouches naked in the desert, performing a ritual with seven cups.  Perhaps she is trying to cast a spell to attract a lover away from a rival, or perhaps she is just caught up in her anger and despair.  A poisonous snake twines around her arm and a vulture flies overhead, adding to the imagery of darkness.  Five of the water-filled cups tumble over and spill into the sands, while she holds the other two in each hand and pours their water and tears out onto the desert.  Such a waste of emotion and water in the desert, when it could be used instead to heal or sustain life.  If read positively, perhaps she will gain some healing and closure from this ritual, and if negatively, perhaps she prolongs the negativity by feeding her jealousy and trying to influence the will of others.

Thrysse