Seven of Wands

 

Meaning: The inner struggle to defend your position.

Depiction: Ahab, sitting in a chair on the deck, stomps on his quadrant with foot and ivory leg. The seven harpoons of the suit rest near him.

Text: Chapter 118 - The Quadrant
Then gazing at his quadrant, and handling, one after the other, its numerous cabalistical contrivances, he pondered again, and muttered: “Foolish toy! babies’ plaything of haughty Admirals, and Commodores, and Captains; the world brags of thee, of thy cunning and might; but what after all canst thou do, but tell the poor, pitiful point, where thou thyself happenest to be on this wide planet, and the hand that holds thee: no! not one jot more! Thou canst not tell where one drop of water or one grain of sand will be to-morrow noon; and yet with thy impotence thou insultest the sun! Science! Curse thee, thou vain toy; and cursed be all the things that cast man’s eyes aloft to that heaven, whose live vividness but scorches him, as these old eyes are even now scorched with thy light, O sun! Level by nature to this earth’s horizon are the glances of man’s eyes; not shot from the crown of his head, as if God had meant him to gaze on his firmament. Curse thee, thou quadrant!” dashing it to the deck, “no longer will I guide my earthly way by thee; the level ship’s compass, and the level dead-reckoning, by log and by line; these shall conduct me, and show me my place on the sea. Aye,” lighting from the boat to the deck, “thus I trample on thee, thou paltry thing that feebly pointest on high; thus I split and destroy thee!”

Moby Dick, or, the card game/King Post (2013)

Comments:  I needed a little more elaboration on meaning for this card, so I turned to this site, where the author points out that in the RWS version the subject is wearing two different shoes, which suggests he lacks a stable footing in life. Well, we all know who lacks a stable footing on the Pequod, both mentally and physically. This card is meant for Ahab. He is struggling between reason (quadrant) and intuition (ship's compass and dead reckoning by log and line).  Using the quadrant to navigate is reasonable, but to find Moby Dick he chooses to rely on instinct instead.