Seven of Swords

What the card means

Upright

Going around rather than through. A man carries off five swords and leaves two, looks back and smiles. Sometimes that is deftness and sometimes theft, and the card does not distinguish: what it distinguishes is what happens when it is noticed.

Reversed

The cleverness is seen; better to say it plainly. Sometimes what was taken is given back, or the confession comes first, which is cheaper than it looks.

Love and relationships

Upright

Something is being done quietly. Not necessarily an affair - possibly just the thing that was decided not to mention.

Reversed

It came out. Or was told without waiting for it to.

Work and business

Upright

A way round that might work. Or a colleague doing their own thing without telling anyone.

Reversed

It has surfaced. Or a scheme was dropped that would have been awkward to explain.

Money

Upright

Saving at somebody's expense, a grey arrangement, an omission in the terms. Count the risk and not only the gain.

Reversed

Returning it or redoing it honestly.

The card's advice

Ask yourself whether you could explain this to the person you are going around. If not, do not; if so, there is no need to.

As the card of the day

A day on which cutting the corner appeals. Good for tactics. Poor for anything you will later have to justify.

What is depicted

A man tiptoes away with five swords in his arms, two left stuck in the ground. A camp with tents behind him. He is looking back and smiling - and carrying them awkwardly, points towards himself.

Zodiac sign and correspondences

Moon in Aquarius - a calculation keeping out of sight.

With other cards

• Seven of Swords + Justice — cleverness with the consequences arriving behind it.
• Seven of Swords + The Moon — concealment and vagueness at once; check everything.
• Seven of Swords + Five of Swords — won it dishonestly and are now carrying that.