7 of Jewels

2038-01-19T03:14:07Z

Description: A person of unclear gender faces out of the card. Their body is covered in furs, and their eyes are cut off by the top of the card; only the bottom half of their face is visible. The focus of the card is the jewelry hanging from the person's ear. The jewelry is an ornate earring, from which an incomplete, apparently human, skull dangles. The jewelry is obviously valuable, and its grim visage clearly demonstrates its high price.
Interpretation: None of the 7s is incredibly encouraging. 7 in the tarot is considered an unstable number and therefore represents instability in the life of the querent. I wonder, now, looking at the card if the skull is really a skull. I know that's what Toppi drew, but my question is really if this skull is rather a vision, an interpretation of what the person in the card is actually wearing. The card itself inhabits an untenable reality; any person dangling a skull, or even a partial skull, from its ear would be pulled down and likely deformed by it. On top of that, I feel that the idea of "savages" decorating themselves with skulls is outlandish and stereotypical. That said, this card speaks to me of the price of vanity, I suppose. How far will I go in order to look good or different? What is the cost of the things that I'm proud of?
Application: Examining what I'm proud of...what I'm proud of lately has been dead a long time. That's pretty telling. I think this card may go along with the process of letting go first acknowledged in XIII Death last week, and continued in the 7 of Soul yesterday. The things that I'm carrying around with me and showing off aren't things that can change, they're not living. I'm carrying a torch, or a skull, for a time that's long past. It's something that I'm surely capable of continuing to carry and display, but what will the cost be, and what will the reactions of the people around me be?
Traditional Meanings: Aeclectic Tarot; ATA Tarot

Ms. Midwest Midnight Check-out Queen

7 of Jewels