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Significations of the Seven of Cups

The Seven of Cups Minor Arcana card is one of confusion, distraction, and being pulled outside of ourselves by different forces or comparison.

When it shows up for us in a reading we likely have many thoughts, desires, and options swirling around in our heads and hearts, we may want many different things and try to have them all. The invitation is to get really clear on what matters most and come back to our highest values, choosing the most important thing.

Read on for more significations of the 7 of Cups, including its Astrological and Numerological correspondences, what it means in a reversed position and in a career, love, or general reading:

The 7 of Cups Tarot Card Meaning

An upright seven of Cups card typically comes to us when we are feeling confused and distracted by may shiny objects and temptations. It can be a card of avarice, greed, and generally the Seven Deadly Sins, but it can also simply be when we want to have our cake and eat it too.

Sometimes we don’t know what we want. In a world full of social noise, it can be easy to get pulled into consumerism or aspirations we don’t truly value through the likes of Instagram, Tik Tok et al.

When this card shows up for us, it is a reminder to come back to ourselves and choose the thing that matters most to us, to decide based on our values, to really listen to what our heart wants deep down, and get laser-focussed on that. Don’t water down your attention, pleasure, and enjoyment of one thing by spreading it thinly across many.

After the trip down memory lane of the Six, we may be pining for how things used to be or what others in our community have. As the Eight of cups that follows reminds us: only you can choose what is right for you. Pick what’s most important.

This card can also represent the choice paralysis that comes with being present with many options and opportunities, again— decide using the vision of your highest self as guidance.

Seven of Cups Tarot Card Description

In the Pamela Colman Smith rendition, and most other Tarot decks in creation based off of it, we can see a person— really a shadow of themselves— seemingly overwhelmed by lots of shiny, glossy cups and trophies.

In one there is the promise of fame, in another riches and power, others point to lust or vanity, some are marked by fear. At the top is the one that is most prized: our unseen soul. Choose this one.

Don’t become outside of yourself, this is the only Tarot card that features a shadow rather than the actual figure— come back home.

It is interesting that one cup, the one with the laurel wreath of victory, has a skull on it. It appears the desire for success and fame may be the most deadly of all.

I also find it interesting that three out of the seven cups— the head (lust/vanity), the tower (power), and the dragon (our fears)— are shaded in blue, the colour of the background, almost as if they are becoming one with it. The most hollow choices of all.

On this note, I also find it interesting that she decided to included fears in this selection at all! Sometimes it is our projected anxieties and worries that are the most distracting of all.

We are also up in the clouds here, thus this card can represent fantasy, illusion, and wishful thinking— come back down to reality, don’t get lost in your dreams.

In the Thoth Tarot deck, this card is called Debauch which I just love because I can really envision the tale of Victorian or Tudor-era aristocracy indulging and revelling in all their opulent luxury, foregoing the things that truly matter.

The cups here are dripping and overflowing with putrid-looking green goo or slime, like poison sludge. It reminds me of how you feel after eating too much sickly sweet cake, it was great in the beginning when your hunger and appetite allowed your ravenous eyes to be binger than your stomach, but now in the aftermath you just feel nauseous.

This card can be a wakeup call or a reminder to think through the consequences of your lifestyle and how you are living, are you choosing in alignment with your values?

Numerology of the Seven of Cups

Numerologically as a 7 it refers relates to spiritual questions and developments. The number seven relates to not only the 7 Deadly Sins but also the seven Chakras, seven days of the week, the seven Classical visible Planets, the seven colours of the rainbow etc.

This also connects it to the Major Arcana cards The Chariot, a reminder that we can persevere through our choices to achieve the best outcome. If this card feels confusing or nebulous, the Chariot is a reminder to keep going and that clarity will come as long as we endure.

Astrology of the Seven of Cups

Astrologically this is a Venus in Scorpio card. Venus in Scorpio is considered in its detriment because it is opposite to the Sign that it rules, Taurus. As the Planet of love, connection, values, social niceties, pleasantries, luxury, indulgence, money, and taste, Venus can struggle in the depths and darkness of Scorpio.

Venus in Scorpio can become obsessive, possessive or manipulative in the pursuits of its desires. It is also deep, penetrating, and fiercely loyal and protective— are you guarding the right things?

Seven of Cups Upright Meanings

Generally, the Seven of Cups upright meaning can indicate distraction, temptation, fantasy, comparison, delusion, imagination, fantasy, wishful thinking, un-groundedness, overindulgence to the detriment of physical or spiritual health.

Reversed Seven of Cups Meaning

The Seven of Cups reversed can be a message of not facing reality, of burying your head in the sand, of opulent indulgence and extravagance, overdoing the good times and losing yourself in the process. It can be a strong invitation to sit with your values and listen to what your heart truly wants, outside of external distractions, and to make choice standing by your values.

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Seven of Cups in a Relationship Reading

As with any Tarot card, the actual significations of the Seven of Cups in love Tarot readings will of course depend on the situation at hand, the question asked, the position in the spread it has fallen in, the cards surrounding it, and your own intuition.

Overall, the Seven of Cups here can be a message to decide what you really want out of a partner and relationship, not what others or society tells you— what really matters to you. Get clear on what you actually need. This card can also look like flirting or playing hot and cold due to not knowing what you actually desire or getting distracted by others. Either way it is a time to make a choice (one based in reality, not fantasy or wishful thinking).

Seven of Cups in a Career Reading

Again, the nature of the Seven of Cups in a career Tarot card reading will depend on the context, but in general it can represent getting distracted by lots of ideas and projects, trying to take it all on and be all the things. It can also represent the comparison that comes from desiring to be too like others or competitors. Perhaps it is a call to not let fame or wealth become your biggest goals and is a reminder to come back to why you started in the first place.

Either way, it is a message to get really clear and focussed on your values and desires, and to choose one thing your heart tells you and focus on that. Come back to the essential.

So those are some Seven of Cups Tarot card meanings, I hope they’re insightful for you! Let me know in the comments section below if you have anything else to add or any questions.

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