7 of Cups: Pies-in-the-sky
Offering for the Full Moon occurring on 13 April 2025 (AEST)
A figure stands before a dark grey, cumulus cloud bearing seven golden Cups - each cup holds a different thing and symbol. From the top left: a blue head, a figure draped in a veil and emanating red, a yellow snake, a tall castle on rocks, a pile of jewels and gold, a green wreath, and a blue dragon. The figure is seen from behind as an outline and in shadow. The background is a blue sky.
To hear me read this offering out loud, click the audio link below
a lipstick marked 7 of Cups from the Rider Waite Smith tarot
I both appreciate and am irritated when a card that I haven't really spent much time with- i.e. avoid - shows up for this full moon offering. The 7 of cups is one of those cards - the ‘urgh’ was audible! On the occasion that it does come out in my self-study, if there are other cards about, it’s enough to divert me away and pretend it’s not there.
I should know better - avoidance and resistance are good clues; tending to it could reveal something about a situation or problem, or aspect of self that’s hard to face.
So now here it is, no distractions - the psychological work is to face the thing!
What are you personally, and how are we as a society distracting ourselves from doing “the work”?
Cups are symbolic of our emotional and relational life, including love, pleasure and desire. And the 7 of Cups is often described as the card of projected fantasies and illusions, which fits as it has a dream-like vibe that suggests some sort of disconnect from everyday reality.
What are the fantasies you have about your life? your future? How do your desires manifest in daydreams?
This card also points to making a choice. I see the figure standing and scanning their options in a posture that suggests either a “whoa” of overwhelm, or being mesmerised by all in front of them that glitters and is strange and enticing.
Of these options, what do you want? which do you choose?
But it's a trick … or perhaps a test.
The 7 symbols have sometimes been likened to the 7 deadly sins (pride, greed, gluttony, sloth, envy, wrath, lust). But I’ve found it's not so easy to neatly map the sins to the symbols. I’ll leave that up to you to play with if you wish, but I understand the broad warning. Beware of becoming enslaved to your emotions or, as Benebel Wen says, the “titillations” appealing to your base desires.
How are you being mesmerised and titillated?
In the mystical text “The Cloud of Unknowing”, the anonymous author describes “sin” as simply any act or thought that takes you further from God. Or if you prefer, anything that distracts you from the spiritual path. So the test is that if you choose any option, it won’t get you what you want or take you where you want to go.
The way the scene is set up in the 7 of Cups speaks to this. It’s like the cloud itself becomes an entity that obscures the path, in an enticing “don’t look there toward that looong road, look at these lovely charms” sort of way.
However, the things offered hold a false promise of being the answer to your problems or the key to happiness. They are a distraction, even a trap, and offer nothing of substance. How annoying - quick and easy would be good, right!?
What might you be avoiding by tending to these pie-in-the-sky offerings?
It might be hard to face that we can be so enamoured with these false promises and easy solutions. Fooled by them. I can see how this might be linked to a natural tendency to try and reset, and find ground and focus after any discombobulation and disorientation, like I explored in last month’s full moon tarot with the Hanged Man RX.
I think honesty and humility is helpful here. As is being kind. The work then becomes in part to practice rational discernment, recognise the manipulation, but also the activation of a primal emotion, and explore beneath that.
What is this deeper desire beneath the foil? What is it pointing to then? What value, need, vision that’s connected to something meaningful?
Move beyond the fluff and illusion - it's all but a foil, held by water droplets suspended in air. And take time to examine the deeper, richer dream that is anchored to your reality. The path will emerge as you walk it.
Mendy xx
This month, I am experimenting with a special tarot offering - 90-minute Tarology + Celtic Cross sessions. As a playful exploration of the more traditional approach to tarot fused with dialogue and psychospiritual inquiry. You can book here.
Johnston, William, ed. and trans. The Cloud of Unknowing. New York: Image Books, 2005.Wen, Benebell. Holistic Tarot: An Integrative Approach to Using Tarot for Personal Growth. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2015.