Seven of Cups: Spoon Theory of Tarot
Tarot Chats
As I write this, I am still having to ration my energy due to this blasted flu! I have been sick for so many days. I mask for a myriad of reasons, but a big one is that I have a very poor immune system, and what takes most people 4-5 days to recover from often takes me 10-14 days. So, here I am having to decide on what I have energy for: sleeping, eating, walking down and up the stairs, bathroom breaks, journaling, or Substack.
I pulled the Seven of Cups while I had a fever, and I realized in a moment of fever clarity that this is a card of disability advocacy and awareness. This card is about choosing, rationing, and prioritizing where to spend your precious and finite energy.
If you are new to tarot, the Seven of Cups is the card of choosing your path. It’s like asking a kid what they want to be when they grow up. There are important decisions to be made, and each has an end point: reward or disaster.
If you are new to the idea of spoon theory, let’s unpack that quickly and give credit where credit is due. Christine Miserandino coined Spoon Theory in 2003. It is this metaphoric image that helps explain the energy (or lack there of) that disabled and chronically ill folks need to ration each day. While some people get to play with a full spoon service for 8 to 12, often disabled and chronically ill folks are playing with a quarter of that, maybe a third.
So, what does this all have to do with the Seven of Cups and the flu?
I pulled that card as I was drifting off to sleep hating the idea that I could choose to journal and tarot or eat, but that I couldn’t do both. I couldn’t eat because it required me somehow getting down and up the stairs safely, grabbing or making food, and then having the energy to eat, put away the ingredients, get back up the stairs, and in bed.
See how much energy is given there?
It made me realize how much energy I already ration compared to my neurotypical peers and pain free colleagues. It also made me realize how little energy I am able to put towards my goals sometimes because I am just too tired, too exhausted from lugging around this meat sack and malfunctioning ADHD brain.
I think this card, can be seen as a disability/chronic illness/pain advocacy card. It’s a self advocacy card. What are your goals? What choices will you have to make to get to your goals? What has to drop away in order to make those appointments or friends dates, to invest time into your art business, to cook food that fit dietary restrictions?
When this card comes up, it can be a call to self advocacy: where am I putting in more effort and energy than I need? What boundaries do I need to set up in order to be successful? Who or what is siphoning my energy?
If you are not not disabled or chronically ill, and this card comes up, consider it a call to support your friends in relationship readings. How can you advocate on their behalf? More breaks at work? The work place actually honoring accommodations? Live events having break/sensory spaces, spaces for physical rest, easy access exit routes? Etc. As always, I recommend reading The Future Is Disabled for amazing advocacy work. You can read my takeaways from the book here.
I think that as spiritual workers, tarot readers, it’s important to open ourselves up to multiple lenses. Being sick, having these fevers, has opened my eyes to my own reality: you are limited in your energy, more so than your peers, investigate it. Also, don’t forget to stand up and fight with/for the people who need their voices heard the most.
I am writing this through the haze and fog of illness. Let me know if I’m talking nonsense, or if this resonates. Is this a view point you’ll be adding to your personal readings? Maybe your professional readings?
Wishing you well this week! May your life offer what you need in this moment.
With love,
Aventurine ✨
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Thank u for sharing your perspective on this card! It makes so much sense to apply it to disabilities and our own limitations. I always thought of it as a “discernment” card, and making good choices, this adds an extra thoughtful layer. I also struggle with chronic pain and illness so I understand how frustrating it can be at times. I’m a teacher and I often feel bad because I just don’t have the same energy as my peers, there’s this guilt that I’m just not staying late enough, not volunteering enough, but also I burn out so much easier and I need to have strong boundaries just so I can do the day to day. It’s always hard to explain to others too, they aren’t always understanding because I “look young”. I also keep my mask on a lot and that also bothers some people 😑 but anyway, here’s to doing what’s best for yourself, it’s so important to protect your energy and health!