I’ve written interpretations for every card in the Wild Unknown Tarot. As the box of the deck states, there are no rights or wrongs. These are simply my perspectives on the tarot card meanings. I hope you find them useful!
Click here for a directory of all posts in my Wild Unknown series.
Creator’s keywords: illusion, deception
Carrie’s keywords: sensory overload, fanciful thinking
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Seven of Cups Tarot Card Meanings in the Wild Unknown
The Seven of Cups shows an enchanting, if perplexing experience. Seven cups are juxtaposed against a mountain. The cups seem to be floating, and the closer you look at the card it’s harder to tell which way is up and which way is down. The moon in the top half of the card and the sun in the bottom half suggest that you can’t always trust your initial assessments. Sometimes your perspective is only an illusion.
The center cup is upside down while the rest are right side up. Each of these cups offers a choice, and this card often suggests that you have plenty of choices. The challenge is figuring out which choice feels right. Too many options can actually lead you to sensory overload, lost in smoke and mirrors. You might find yourself awestruck at everything out there, yet unable to get a firm grasp on what to do next.
As cups are the suit of emotions, the Seven of Cups can be associated with fanciful thinking. You may enjoy the dreamy process of building castles in the sky, and this can certainly be a good thing! Your task is to know when being a dreamer is serving you and when it is preventing you from grasping onto something solid.
Seven of Cups Tarot Card Meanings in General
Pictured above is the deck I created, The Spacious Tarot. This imagery reminds me of Alice in Wonderland – cups askew, water pouring in strange directions. With the Seven of Cups, things are a little baffling.
In the iconic Waite-Smith tarot, this card shows a silhouetted figure entranced by seven cups. Each cup holds something strange: a snake, a castle, a dragon and other such curiosities. The fact that the person is shown in silhouette suggests that they are completely enthralled by these wonders, to the point that they are frozen in a sea of fancy.
This is a card that can have a positive message. It can ask you to embrace your inner dreamer, to open yourself up to all the wonders of the universe. However, this card can also come as a warning. It may be necessary to make sure you are not merely building castles in the sky, living in fantasy to the detriment of reality.
In a reading
This card can ask you to examine your tangled feelings. Where are you caught up in mesmerizing fantasies? Where are you tricking yourself into thinking you’re progressing when you’re really just going in circles? There may be a need to sort out what is just smoke and mirrors and what is productive.
Hi, I'm Carrie!
I'm a tarot reader and mentor. My purpose is to encourage your expansion. If you're new, start here.
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Hi Carrie! I’m wondering if you’d be willing to blog the 2nd edition version of the seven of cups? This card was completely reworked and I would love to hear your insights! http://littleredtarot.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/wild-unknown-tarot-new-edition-seven-of-cups.jpg
Hi Jay, thanks for asking! I’ve gotten this request several times lately, so I may cave and buy myself a second edition as I’ve been a bit tempted to do so for a while. If and when I do have the chance to bond with the 2nd edition I’ll make some update posts! Stay tuned…
Am doing a reading now, and the card I’m looking at is the 2nd edition 7 of cups, reversed. Holy crap! Have you ever looked at this upside down? The bright sun in the sky shines down on the one cup that’s right side up, and what was sky is now dark mountains. Wow!
That sounds awesome! I don’t have the second edition yet, but I’m getting closer to making the purchase.
Hi Carrie. I really like the way you emphasise the focus on choice-making within this card.
Hi Amo, thanks!
Could you post the reverse meaning as well? I got this card in reverse and was wondering what it meant
Here is a post I wrote about reading reversals: http://carriemallon.com/blog/how-to-read-reversed-tarot-cards/