Card of the Week: Seven of Cups

It is said that the greatest problem in communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished.  It is easy to talk.  It is much harder to listen, and harder still to truly understand.

The Seven of Cups evokes many layers of potential illusion, from dreams and visions to erroneous perception to outright and deliberate deception.  Magicians and artists rely on their audience’s willing suspension of disbelief to entertain.  Con artists use similar effects as tools to swindle.  Imagine and visualize inspiring paths to success, but try to see through false fronts and misleading schemes.

Inverted, this card urges resolve in maintaining clear vision and solid foundation underlying realistic goals.  Be wary of external forces trying to lead you astray for their own purposes.

In “And the Children Shall Lead”, the Enterprise responds to a distress call from a small science colony on the planet Triacus.  They arrive to find the last adult dying of self-inflicted poisoning, while the children of all the families laugh and play as if nothing were wrong.  After arriving on the Enterprise, the children mock their deceased adult family members.  In private, they perform a chant to summon an “angel” — an alien Gorgan who grants the children powers in return for their loyalty to him.  The children use their powers to deceive the bridge crew into making the Enterprise leave Triacus toward Marcos Twelve, where the Gorgan wants to acquire more followers and gain more power.  Kirk reveals the Gorgan’s true appearance to the children, who abandon their loyalty to him and for the first time realize the loss of their families.