Feathered Light

Seven of Water ~ Book of Shadows Tarot : As Above

I'm really enjoying my As Above deck. My daily draws have been remarkably relevant or perhaps the images are accessible to me in a way that allows me to really journey with them. Today's draw is Seven of Water. I love this image, the muted colors, the quality of light and dark, the sobriety that is balanced by the levity of the water elementals around the scales, and those all-encompassing wings.

I spent some time just sinking into the symbols and imagery here. The pyramid in the background, the soft orb of light, the scales, the feather, the wings and the clothing told me this was Ma'at. I'm so used to seeing her as a depiction of the Justice card that to see her here in what is traditionally the Seven of Cups was a surprise but an enlivening one.

The LWB describes her as representing the rules of order that keep the universe moving and not falling into chaos. The italicized phrase feels key here particularly in relation to the stagnancy that I sometimes associate with the Seven of Cups, all that emotional investment in pie-in-the-sky visions but none of them earthed. The LWB goes on to get to the heart of the matter...She is a symbol for what we believe is the ideal heart, the one that lives most closely aligned with our beliefs of what is right.



For me this card speaks to a time of accounting. Am I living according to my ideals and visions? Am I embodying the person I would like to in any given moment? Do my actions reflect that ideal? The answer is, sometimes yes. Sometimes I do feel my body alive with my visions and ideals. And other times I feel the disparity between the ideal and the actual. And here the quality of disparity feels like something to work with, a doorway, which is what Ma'at's wings form. What texture does the disparity have, where do I feel it in my body. These things tell me something about my authentic, unlived desires. The scales feel important, too, asking me to be aware of areas where I feel out of balance and this week that's been a bit of a theme.

So this card comes to me today with the gift of perspective allowing me to step back and take stock in a way that feels neutral and non-judgemental. And seeing it on my COTD altar allows me to nourish that inquiry in a way that feels spacious. I'm also aware of the element of water at work here on the body with the number seven relating to the chakras. Yesterday I had a strong desire to go to the ocean and soak up some of that elemental energy. Today this card reminds me of that impulse, a quickening that I haven't felt in a long while. So I'm planning a little trip to the ocean this weekend to make offerings, walk in the cold sand, taste the salt and see how the Goddess wants to flow in me. I'm also feeling moved to focus my elemental altar on water. And lastly on a purely practical level, I shall make a point to drink more water. Perhaps seven cups worth!