AUTHOR’S NOTE: When upright, the 7 of Wands represents “Valour” or extraordinary courage in the face of daunting odds. This is clearly reflected in the Waite-Smith version, which shows a harried warrior being set upon by six adversaries who have crowded him into a corner. At that moment in time he has yet to give an inch even though his prospects appear to be dim.

But all is not lost. He is holding the “moral high ground” as well as the tactical advantage (as any reading of US Civil War history will confirm), although the Golden Dawn interpreted this card as “possible victory” that is not assured. On balance, though, I like his chances to knock a few heads, and he can always invoke the 8 of Wands and high-tail it out of there in a pinch. (See my previous essay on the Seven, Eight and Nine of Wands as a tale of expedient retreat within the larger context of “confrontation, disengagement and redeployment”).

However, its reversal could be read as the valiant but woefully over-matched man-at-arms taking a tumble if his foes manage to sweep his feet out from under him, and the best that can be expected is that he will take some of the enemy down with him as he falls. If he’s brought low, he can always try to “kneecap” them and thereby reduce them to his level, after which the battle can resume as an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation. In that sense, what we see in the reversed Seven is not necessarily impending demise but rather an opportunity for a strategic maneuver that levels the playing field (the military term for it is “feint” aimed at exposing the opponent’s flank).

The Thoth definition, which ignores the finer points of orientation, doesn’t offer even this small measure of optimism. It talks about the army being “thrown into disorder” by an attack coming from “all directions without systematic purpose.” The card carries the robust imprint of fiery Mars in solar Leo, but when married to Crowley’s vision of the “weak, earthy, feminine” Seven (the number of Venus in the Qabalistic pecking-order), the flame is fitful and Mars by itself isn’t potent enough to carry the day; it suggests grabbing “the first weapon to hand” which is “evidently unsatisfactory” in fending off the forces arrayed against the seeker. (The besieged combatant’s mismatched footwear in the RWS card implies that he donned his armor in haste.)

When the 7 of Wands appears reversed in a reading I like to reaffirm the ethical virtues of the seeker’s cause that can serve as a “rallying cry” should hope begin to falter. Even if it amounts to escaping the jaws of defeat in an unapologetic “discretion is the better part of valor” and “live to fight another day” frenzy of self-justification, at least up to that point there is still the nobility of “fighting the good fight.” We may be stripped of everything up to and including our pride, but knowing we’re in the right can take some of the sting out of running away.