7 of Cups - it's not 'pipe dreams'

Tarot of the Spirit by Pamela Eakins 

Today's card is from Tarot of the Spirit by Pamela Eakins (US Games 1992, 2011). This deck is highly Thoth influenced, but that's all I really know about it at the moment as it just arrived on Saturday. :)

My card of the day drawn from Tarot of the Spirit is Seven of Water, aka 7 of Cups. Crowley calls this card 'Debauch'. If you look in the lower corners, you can see symbols, Venus on left, Scorpio on right. This card is Venus in Scorpio. As it happens, this card is also ruled by -- guess who? Knight of Wands. Yes, he's back.

Let's start from scratch. DuQuette offers this formula for dealing with minors:

ns + pz = sc

This stands for 'number of suit plus planet in zodiac equals small cards'. So in this card we have: 

7 of Cups + Venus in Scorpio

7 is associated with Netzach on the Tree of Life (Victory). Its elemental affinity is Fire, thus this card is Fire of Water.  It is considered an unstable number (as are most of the odd numbers). Venus in Scorpio seems key to the Thoth interpretation, so I've gathered some thoughts about it from various sources:

"Common types with Venus in Scorpio dissipate relentlessly and are frequently degenerates or drunks." -- Astrologer Joan Quigley, qtd in DuQuette, Understanding Crowley's Thoth Tarot

"Venus in detriment in Scorpio betrays its weakest qualities. Scorpionic passions plus the goddess of love equals 'I can resist everything but temptation' Oscar Wilde" -- www.mindfire.ca

"Venus in Scorpio worries about finding some much-needed stability in the emotional turmoil, so it pursues the deepest, most primal emotional connections it can find. It wants to cut through illusions and connect at a soul level, because when we connect at this deep level, we find peace and stability.' -- therealastrology.com

This understanding of Venus in Scorpio helps to explain why many tarot readers interpret 7 of Cups as being overindulgence, addiction, substance abuse, or as Crowley calls it 'Debauchery'. 

So while the 7 of Cups sits on Netzach (Victory), its planetary zodiac attribution makes it very unstable and the type of Victory seen is not that enjoyable. 

I have a sneaking suspicion what behaviour this card points to for me. My waist size and the topography of my thighs can attest to it. Whether I care about appearance or not, health is a factor that must be considered. What is the way out of 7 of Cups debauchery? Well, this card sits on Netzach on the Tree of Life. The way out of 7 Netzach toward 6 Tiphareth, the sphere of Perfect Equilibrium, is tarot major (or Key) 13 Death. It's printed right there on the Tree of Life Diagram: 

The route from Victory to Beauty is 13. Death. That's a pretty clear message, too. I can press my luck and further ask, What needs to die in order for me to move from debauchery to balance? Funnily enough, I drew Brother of Fire, Knight of Wands. I think it's telling me, stop with the questions get on with the action. 

The LWB says: 'Be careful, do not be too impulsive at this time of great revelation and change. Attune to the eternal nature of things, and your actions will endure.' 

Which being translated could be: 'Be careful, don't stuff your face with cookies and cake all day when you're just starting to get your head around the fact that you're lumpy and it's all your fault. Remember that calories in must be less than calories out, that's the eternal nature of things. If you remember that, you will hesitate long enough to keep your hand from going straight to your face with that biscuit.' 

Or something like that.