Seven of Swords

A large sword bearing the sign of the Sun is opposed by six smaller swords, each marked with a planet, all pointing at it.

Netzach, Victory, in Yetzirah, the world of formation. Victory, the sphere of Venus: feeling, desire, art, the bliss and the instability of the emotions. Below Tiphareth the Tree is no longer balanced, and Netzach shows force without form. The Sevens are Netzach in the four worlds and tend to show the element degenerating.

Netzach in the world of Air: mind below the balance point, force without form. The Moon in the last decan of Aquarius is instability in the sign of fixed ideas.

The Moon in the third decan of Aquarius (20°–30°, about Feb 9–18). The Moon is reflection, tides, the fluctuating soul, memory and instinct. On the Tree it is Yesod, the Foundation; among the trumps it is the Priestess, who veils the light rather than shining it.

Aquarius is fixed Air: the water-bearer who pours out the stars, the collective mind, the ideal. Saturn rules it traditionally (Uranus in modern practice). It is the kerubic sign of Air, and its trump is the Star. The trump of Aquarius is The Star.

This decan is ruled by the Knight of Cups, whose arc runs from 21° Aquarius to 20° Pisces. The two Shem angels of the decan are Damabiah and Manakel.

Bliss: feeling, desire, the pleasure and the instability of the emotions. Netzach, Victory. The Sevens tend to show the element degenerating; the Chariot is trump VII.

Thinking scattered by feeling; the mind pulled six ways at once. The Swords are usually read as the thinking function in Jung's typology, an interpretive convention rather than a text of Jung's.

Rider-Waite calls the suit Swords. Its small cards carry scenes; the Thoth small cards carry the suit emblems arranged geometrically, with the keyword printed at the bottom and the colours of their Sephirah and decan. The Golden Dawn title (Lord of Unstable Effort) is shared by both traditions.

The Moon at its best gives nurturing, empathy, intuition, emotional intelligence, belonging. At its worst: moodiness, clinging to the past, emotional reactivity, dependency, smothering.

Aquarius (“I know”) brings originality, idealism, friendship, independence, objectivity, reform. Its shadow is detachment, contrarianism, cold intellectualism, stubborn ideology, aloofness.

Together: Moon has no essential dignity or debility in Aquarius. Dignity explains part of the title and the Sephirah explains the rest: a planet at home in its sign can still sit in a hard sphere, and a weak planet can be carried by a strong one.

The Sun crosses this decan around Feb 9–18, so it is the decan card of anyone born then; their court card is the Knight of Cups. Find a birthday.