Seven of Cups At A Glance
Keywords: Choices, fantasy, illusion, struggling to see reality, analysis paralysis, procrastination, decision fatigue, needing purpose
Season: Winter
Element: Water (emotions)
Seven of Cups Tarot Card Description
The Seven of Cups is a card filled with possibility and opportunities. It is the seventh card within the minor arcana suit of Cups within tarot. The artwork of the original card shows a person with their back to us facing seven cups presented before them on floating clouds. Their hands are pointing as if weighing up a decision because each of the cups represent a choice the person (and therefore the reader could potentially make.)
The clouds symbolize that choices have been given to the person by divine methods and that they are each priceless gifts. There is a cup that contains snakes, another shows gold coins, there is one holding a love heart and others showing many more possibilities.
Collectively they show how vivid our imagination can be and that our imagination is our only limit.
Seven of Cups Upright Meaning
The Seven cups within this card represent different choices we could make but the card’s art doesn’t show what picking this cup over that cup may do for us and our future. Therefore the person within the card is lost in the decision making process of trying to pick the best option for them.
It is wonderfully exciting to have so many options and this card asks us to quietly and slowly consider each before we come to a decision. We should make decisions from a collect mix of our heart, head, past experiences and the desires we hold for the future. We must make sure we are in the right mind frame to make a decision and give ourselves enough time to consider this properly.
“If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.” - Milton Berle
Seven of Cups Reversed Meaning
The Seven of Cups card discusses themes of choices and fantasy, this can feel very exciting and wonderful to imagine all the possibilities we have but we can also become struck with analysis paralysis if we have very big decisions to make.
We can try in vain to calculate the best choice for us and achieve nothing except wasting our time. That is what the reversed aspect of this card is warning us about.
Reversed this card reminds us that there is no perfect option. There are no choices in life which only contain pros and no cons. We shouldn’t waste time seeking perfection and risk the opportunity and choices passing us by, never acting. Take time to make decisions but do not obsess over the ‘perfect’ choice.
In our imagination we may have failed to see the less than perfect results of our choices but we must accept they will be there and that discovering them is not a failure on our part, it is normal and part of life. We must accept the consequences of our choices whether they were foreseen or unseen and forgive ourselves.
“Thinking too much leads to paralysis by analysis. It's important to think things through, but many use thinking as a means of avoiding action.” - Robert Herjavec
Seven of Cups: Yes or No
The Seven of Cups is a strong yes card. But it says we may have more than one choice, more than just a yes or no for one question but actually we may have multiple choices waiting for us and to see the question as simply yes or no may limit our options and we should reframe our question.
If reversed then this is a no card because it says we are currently too confused and need clarity both internally and about the decision before we can answer properly.
Let’s Break Down the Seven of Cups In Our Lives
What the Seven of Cups card means more specifically in different areas of our lives.
Seven of Cups In Love
A choice of potential lovers awaits the singletons of us out there. Choices abound within a relationship too as we decide as a pair what our next steps in life will be. This can look like viewing houses or deciding where to move or the choice to have children or not. The important part whether single or in a relationship is that we must be honest about what we want and communicate openly.
Reversed it says we seek clarity in our love life but are unable to grasp it. We may feel like we have deviated from our plan and that we are lost and in a chaotic phase of our life because of this. This card says trust that the chaos is still part of the plan and aiding us even if we didn’t expect it.
We will understand why this happened once it is over. In the meantime we should trust and surrender to the new path laid out before us.
Seven of Cups With Money
The 7 of Cups in regards to money suggests we are about to have our eyes and minds opened to many more possible ways to earn cash than we thought existed. We must resist the temptation to choose one of these too quickly and instead break each choice down. It may sound boring but this situation calls for a good ol’ pros/cons list.
Reversed we are being asked to specialize instead of diversify. For a while we have been invested in multiple ways of earning/a few income streams but now it’s time to focus more heavily on just a few or even just one. This card asks us to explore what we really want? Once we know, we square our shoulders and seek it.
Seven of Cups At Work
We might find ourselves with several choices laid before us. We initially feel excited about just one but this card is asking us to consider the pros and cons of every single one of our choices before we agree to anything. This likely won’t be a choice we can take back so we must be thorough and 100% sure of our decision.
Reversed this card is saying a few of our career options are being taken away from us. This might feel like a punishment at first but it is actually just clearing away the options we didn’t want. What we wanted all along is still in reach for us and now without the other options crowding our view we can clearly see our way and begin to aim for it.
Seven of Cups With Others
When this card shows itself to us in a social placement it could mean we have spread ourselves too thinly socially. Or that we have received multiple invites for the same timeframe. We cannot please everyone and there is no way to tick all. We must bite the bullet and prioritize the outcome which serves us best.
Reversed this card is asking us to prioritize our own happiness over others. It can suggest we have been a people pleaser and now we are in a situation where we have lots of choices but none of them appeal to us. We must remember we can invent our own choice. Saying no to all is a valid choice and one we might want to consider in this situation.
Seven of Cups With Self
Choices, choices everywhere and none of them for me. When this card shows itself to us in regards to our internal self it is reminding us we can make our own opportunities if we are unhappy with the ones we see. In short the 7 of Cups wants us to do our own manifestation work.
Reversed we have been agonizing over a decision for a long time and we have gone down every path and eventuality that we can see. We feel like we have peaked at the matrix just to try and decide. Though we still feel unable to decide or like we are missing information.
In short we have decision fatigue. I might be tempting to try and outthink this but what we actually need to do feels counterintuitive: we need to let this decision rest unmade in the back of our minds. Let our subconscious weigh in and hear it’s view by quietening our conscious mind.
Seven of Cups As Feelings
The Seven of Cups feels like dizzying excitement with the possibility that life can offer us. We feel invincible as if we can do anything we imagine. We can manifest anything we conjure up. It is an incredibly powerful feeling of self-assurance and confidence.
