"very brave, i can only imagine the hate you get"

7 of Wands Tarot Guidance for 7 February 2024

Happy Wednesday, mystical souls and curious hearts. When I pulled the 7 of Wands as our card of the day this morning, I couldn’t tune into the energy straight away. The idea of fighting for anything feels quite alien to me at the moment. I truly have no enemies and no real opposition between me and goal which is simply to be of service.

But then I realised that is not true, thanks to the message that someone sent me through the website survey on my Free Tarot Readings page this morning. I do still have enemies. So I made that person’s short message the title of today’s newsletter because it was such a great fit with the card of the day. I have no idea what they mean because I don’t get hatred off anyone in any form at the moment. And if I did, I’d simply use it as fuel for further growth.

But if someone is out their using their imagination to conjure up hatred for me, then on some level, it’s an undeniable fact that I have enemies because their thought form is a type of attack. Thankfully, it’s the form of attack I relish these days because I can use that too as fuel for my creativity.

Back to the card of the day! Some of the popular meanings for the 7 of Wands are courage, assertiveness, confidence and resilience. In the traditional Rider Waite image, we see a man standing above six other figures that are just out of view. All we see are the 7 sticks raised in an attempt to defeat the figure in a more elevated figure.

So, yes, it might take courage to fight off the other six but when you take an elevated position, you are always going to have the upper hand. One way of taking the elevated position is to centre yourself in the absolute truth that you have no enemies.

Everyone that is in your life right now is there for a reason. Even when it appears as if someone is a foe, the real reason for their presence is the lesson they bring. They mirror something from within your own psyche back at you, so that you can begin to heal that aspect of yourself.

Radical self-love takes courage. Why? Because we can’t love what we don’t know and radical self-love means loving all of ourselves. So first, we must face the shadows within ourselves and everything that we have been working so hard to repress because our ego labels it shameful. This paragraph essentially describes the kind of soul work I had to engage in while I was working on healing from CPTSD-related Religious Trauma last year.

Fighting to Die While We Live

As part of the mystery rites at Elysium, the initiates were mocked and shamed relentlessly to bring about the necessary surrender to their Higher Selves. Before they could become priestesses of the mysteries, they had to let go of their skilfully crafted personas.

The lesson to take with us from the echoes of the ancient past is that fighting to die before we die is the only fight worth fighting. This truth is inherent in all shamanic initiation rites. It doesn’t take nearly as much courage to fight other people as it takes to face the Guardian of the Threshold within.

To muster the kind of courage needed for true spiritual initiation, we have to learn to alchemise thought forms into pure energy. This can be likened to harnessing the power of the dragon within. The incoming thought forms (Air) then act as fuel for the Fire of the dragon within. We breathe and our enemies are destroyed.

And by that I do not mean that we destroy anyone who is attacking us from the outside but rather any of the thought forms within that act as mirrors and magnets for outside attacks. It’s sort of the converse of ‘breath in peace, breathe out tension.’ You breathe in toxic thought forms and exhale peace.

On the Right Track

Another, equally valid way to look at this card of Valour, is to see it as if you are on the right track. If you are fighting to achieve anything worthwhile, you will run into opposition. That’s because anything worth fighting for upsets the status quo and their are many who won’t like that. So keep going and keep standing your ground.

Questions for Your Tarot Journal

1. Reflect on a recent situation where you felt like you were standing your ground against opposition—what strengths did you discover about yourself during that process, and how did it mirror the energy of the 7 of Wands?

2. Consider the notion of 'internal enemies' such as negative thought patterns or self-doubt. How can you actively confront these inner foes to harness their energy for positive transformation, as suggested by the 7 of Wands' message of resilience?

3. Take a moment to recognise a lesson you've learned from someone who appeared as a foe. What insight into your own psyche did this person reflect back at you, and how has this contributed to your journey toward radical self-love?

4. Describe a scenario where you've had to 'fight to die before you die' metaphorically speaking—letting go of outdated personas or ego-driven reactions. How did facing this ultimately empower you?

5. In what ways have you experienced resistance as a sign that you're on the right track with your goals or beliefs? How does the energy of the 7 of Wands inspire you to view opposition as a motivator rather than a hindrance?

If you would like a Tarot reading with me, please visit my services page.

Whatever you do today, I hope you do it with joy in your heart and peace in your mind.