The Tarot of Eli, LLC: The Rider-Waite-Smith- Seven of Swords & The Thoth Tarot- 7 of Swords-Futility

western hermetic Qabalah, tantric, astrological, alchemical, and numerical Tarot Card Comparisons.

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rider-waite-smith-seven of swords

Again, the Rider- Waite-Smith card is more mundane in its philosophy. Waite illustrates a thief who must leave some of the swords behind for there are too many to carry. The attempt to carry all is futile, therefore, this card suggests that trying to over-think a thing is futile. Only examine one thought at a time, rather than every thought at once. You are just going to have to settle for less knowledge than makes you feel secure and like the thief on the Rider-Waite-Smith card, just use what you have and leave thoughts of more or security behind.

The Axiom, "Above all things, know thyself", is an old but well-established doctrine of the Gnosis (Ancient Knowledge), and Qabalah.

In the Gnostic Gospels of Didymos Judas Thomas, Jesus is quoted as saying, "If those who lead say to you, 'see, the kingdom is in the sky.' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, you will then become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons [suns] of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty, and it is you who is that poverty." (The Gnostic Gospel of Thomas---The Nag Hammadi Library--)

The word Suns in brackets is of my own insertion because the original word is interpretable as Sun/Son, both having similar meanings in Qabalah, the fact that many Monks who interpreted the Gospels from the original Greek, were misogynistic, required them to use the word "Son" or suffer the wrath of the Patriarch. Being that we are all androgynous, each of us are to advance our personality to Tiphareth (beauty), the Son/Sun of the Solar logos, which is number 6 on the Tree of Life. 6 is the number of the Sun and is the Christ/Buddha state of conscious energy; the highest state of mind that we can reach in a physical body. More research into the old papyri that was dug up in Nag Hammadi Egypt, will reveal even more Gnostic gems for the inquiring mind.

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In the process of "Remembering ourselves", the Seven/7 of Swords is no exception. The number 7, being not only the number of the "goddess", Venus, it is also the Sephiroth- Netzach (meaning Victory) on the Tree of Life. Netzach- Victory, in the suit of Swords is not as catastrophic as in the other suits, as Netzach is the Sephiroth attributed to Venus. This modifying influence is accentuated by the celestial fact of the Moon being in Aquarius, as the planetary rule of this card. To speak of this modifying influence simply, is that the intellectual wreckage of this card is not so vehement as is the Five of Swords-Defeat, as there is vacillation, and a certain tolerance brought on by the need to compromise. However, in certain circumstances, the need to compromise can bring even greater disaster than defeat, depending on the success of the policy of compromise. Plus, many small thoughts attacking the real thought you wish to accomplish, makes creation of a thing a futile endeavor. Risk it and begin before you think you know everything; you'll learn along the way.

The policy of appeasement that is suggested by this card is always in doubt, as there exists uncompromising- violent forces which prey on vacillation.

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thoth-7 of swords-futility

What the Thoth 7 of Swords represents, is the futility of using this doctrine of appeasement to approach Self Knowledge, i.e. The Higher Self. The operation of appeasement is futile as you must kneel and bow your head to weakness and/or fear induced thought, as your faux master so decrees, when your True Master is Yourself! This need to appease those who you think can hurt you, including "your god", is a violation of your Soul's "state of Mind", which is Oneness with the Creator Mind, and the sacred body. "If you wish to speak to me, you must stand, for I'll not kneel to your weakness" , is what I learned as a young initiate from my mentor. This example of "tough love" told me my mentor saw me as powerful as himself. Since we are Progeny of the One, we are also seen that way by our Spirit. It is also the Policy of "I Will be", that is Kether, the 1st Sephiroth on the Qabalistic Tree of Life and is the necessary mental perspective needed to "above all things, know thyself".

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It is futile to use the brain's cultural software, when seeking your memory as a previously "Invisible/Spiritual Self" you must use Declaration, I AM.....rather than "I wish". To Say, "I AM Spirit's Body." rather than " I seek Spirit's mercy and freedom from suffering", will get you out of your miserable state of mental slavery, a "divide and conquer "state of controlled definition/dogma imposed on the subjects of ruling masters.

The 7 of Swords-Futility, accentuates the axiom, "above all things, know thyself", by showing the Singular Sword of Self-awareness being chipped away by the contest of the "many feeble" thoughts against the Strong central "Will to be". The hilts of the 6, more feeble swords, display the crescent Moon, moonlight in its weaken state, suggesting illusion, and denial as the attacking "feeble thoughts". This causes the "appeasement" of self-doubt, a philosophy that will strive in vain. As we can see, "Above all things, know thyself", carries no such burden as self-doubt, rather it is the freedom of self-trust, for all of us are a trinity of Spirit, Mind and Body. What Spirit is, is the Space that Time is within. What our bodies are, is an atomic creation of 99.6% Space and .4% of Time. We are perceptive objects; hence, we are not objects. We are the Spirit/Mind observer. Therefore, none of us are thought of, as we perceive it and then objectify it as a "Body", so that we can measure it. Infinite Space has no measurement.

When the Seven/7 of Sword-Futility, is thrown during a reading, the querent:

  • Is or shall, experiencing 7 weeks or 7 months of futile effort because of the characteristics of, self-doubt, such as, being untrustworthy, due to vacillation.
  • Is experiencing unstable effort in all that is attempted. 
  • There is also the prospect of journeying overland, with mixed results. 
  • Partial success is suggested, because of yielding when victory is at hand. Such a yielding is brought on by the self-defeating thoughts of self-doubt which tend to "drain strength" because of internal conflict. 
  • There is an inclination to lose when on the point of gaining through not continuing effort.
  • There is also suggested: a love of abundance, a fascination with display (where the wrapping is more important than the gift), compliments given, ease of affronts and insolences with the need to detect and spy on others. 
  •  Inclinations to betray confidences, not always intentional, but subject to vacillation, causing unreliability. The strength of which all depends on the dignity of the accompanying cards.

If ill defined by surrounding cards (Thoth) or reversed (Rider-Waite-Smith), it implies:

  • Deceitfulness.
  • Intrigues. 
  • Insincerity.

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