Celestial Tarot - Seven of Wands (Lyra)

Seven of Wands ~ Lyra ~

Astrological harmonic/mode - Septile
Constellation - Lyra
Decanate - 1st Sagittarius
Ruler of decan - Jupiter

Lyra - the lyre itself was invented by Hermes. While just an infant, the trickster god stole some cattle from Apollo. He then strung some cow's guts across the shell of a turtle and found it made a wondrous sound which enchanted Apollo. which in turn secured his forgiveness. Apollo carried the instrument as a favoured symbol of the music he inspires. Orpheus was given the lyre by Apollo. Orpheus met and fell in love with the maiden Eurydice. Just after he married her, she was fatally bitten by a snake as she picked flowers. Orpheus went to the underworld to try to win her back, charming the spirits by playing his lyre and singing. Persephone pleaded with her husband, Hades, to permit Eurydice to return to the land of the living. Hades relented, allowing Eurydice to follow Orpheus back to earth on the condition that Orpheus not turn back to see her before they arrived. The musician failed the test longing for his bride, he looked back prematurely, only to see her fade back to Hades again. In grief, at his loss, Orpheus returned to earth and played the most mournful music ever heard, causing the rocks to weep.

Celestial Tarot Book: Seven of Wands notes

...the card depicts Terpsichore, the muse of choral dance and lyric poetry, guiding the lyre, which is strung with the twelve strings of the zodiacal round...lyric poetry conveys ideas and images too complex to be articulated literally....originally it (lyre) had seven strings...the ancient understanding of seven as a mystical number is embedded in the Seven of Wands card....the story of the first lyre recounts the transmutation of feelings of envy ad conflict into the experience of equality and brotherhood...(but) when the Seven of Wands appears, there is also a possibility of smoldering envy and competition, therefore mythic storylines seem appropriate.

Since rcb30872 has been kind enough to post from the LWB, I thought I'd go through the softcover book and add a few notes if appropriate to the thread for those who don't have the book yet....the deck makes more sense to me if I take a card at a time and read the description from the book by Brian Clark.

Hope this is helpful.

Cerulean

There's a book? I must see if I can get a hold of it

Oh dear, all these companion books for all these decks, and I have none, I hope I can find them somewhere, I don't like buying these things over the internet, stupid I know