Rider Waite - 7 of Wands - Interesting Observation

Just for you, MeeWah!

I hardly ever read about Tarot, but I love reading about the beliefs of different cultures and especially about different forms of mythology.

I am especially amazed when I find similar beliefs in cultures that had nothing whatsoever to do with each other. Symbology about shoes is one of these cases. There are three very differenct cultures who all have almost identical symbology about shoes. Ancient China, ancient Germanic and the Mayans of Mexico all used shoes as references to sexual organs. In particular, shoes representing female genitalia and boots representing the male (except the Maya, where men are always associated with the bare foot).

Actually, I think Butterfly was on a good track with her left brain/right brain approach....

Take another look at the 7 of Wands... one shoe, one boot. The "female" symbol on the right foot, which is associated with the left brain - the thinking brain, and the "male" symbol on the right foot, associated with the feeling brain. Interesting dichotomy, huh? MeeWah is right about the yin/yang, but in this case, it's refreshingly flip-flopped from what you would expect.

Of course, once you start thinking about associating shoes with genitalia, it really changes the whole feeling of the Cinderella story, huh? Especially when you consider that the story originated in China and was developed into the story we now know in German folklore.

I do not understand the connection between the basic meanings of the card, and symbolism for genitals.

I do understand the Masonic tie in. It makes more sense both in card interpretation and history.

There is a ritual in The Masonic orders that involves divesting yourself of ONE shoe, symbolic of giving/sacrificing your own shoe/self to/for another brother who is in need (of a shoe).

So you have this poor bloke defending himself against overwhelming odds. However he has secret, unseen allies…

…Wonder how many of them Golden Dawn boys were Masons?

Relative...

After checking the Rider deck he's wearing a shoe and a boot) and the meaning of the card I can't help but feel this man is simply showing his self confident in doing as he feels like. To quote what my book has to say about the card "demonstrating strong character" and "standing up for what you believe". In the timeperiod in which these pictures should be seen it wasn't exactly common to do something totally different then it is now. When I go out wearing shorts and 2 different socks some people may look strange but thats about it; most won't even notice or when they do won't even care. If I would like to be seen I need something more drastic in these days. But when looking back at the time these pictures reflect I can imagine it is a big issue and it should not be underestimated IMO.

After seeing this I also took out my favorite deck, the Mage deck, and looked this card up. Before I go on you should be aware that the mage deck uses different suits.. 'Primordial' aka Cups, 'Dynamism' aka Swords, 'Questioning' aka Wands and finally 'Pattern' aka Pentacles. The 5 of Questioning shows 5 persons walking around in a room, obviously looking for something. They all wear a "flashlight" on their helmet except for 1 person who seems to be in charge. He does have this light on his helmet but has simply switched it off.


I think both cards clearly show a mutual meaning but personally my Mage card is easier to understand in this aspect (do note that I'm a bit biased here since I've been using the Mage deck much longer then the Rider deck).

To get back to the original question; IMO it shows you know what you want and you don't let other people keep you from your goal. You like wearing 2 different shoes and simply don't care what other people say about it (in a time period where this is highly uncommon) or you're clearly having a leading role in which you simply stand "above" the others.

Mojo: Bless you! That is very interesting; also that the Cinderella story originated in China.
(In ancient China & up until my grandparents' time, the binding of the female foot was practiced from early childhood. There was reasoning & symbology behind it.)
Umbrae: S.L. Macgregor Mathers, William Wynn Wescott & Dr. W. Robert Woodman were the founding members & were Masons. I think Wescott was the moving force behind the formation of the Golden Dawn; apparently enlisted Mathers & Woodman as members. Wescott's background in masonic rituals influenced his contributions to the Golden Dawn teachings.

Masons and shoes

Well, I admit I could be wrong, but I always took the shoe/shoes to be a tie in (“Strength through hidden alies”).
Kind of like the 3 of Pentacles. Why is it such a fortuitous card? Different classes, and trades…the “upper crust” guys looking up at the ‘craftsman’…I always figured they were all Masonic brethren.
The Pillars behind the High Priestess...(Tie-In).
With the founders being Masons...How many more tie-ins are there?

Mojo said:

(and once you figure out the shoes, try explaining the birds on the court cards in Swords)

Click to expand...

The birds in the Sword court cards are communications and messages. In all my readings for some funny reason (which I can't rationalize) when I come to notice these birds there is a lot of communication around the querent - but I mean a lot, from emails to meetings, to many phone conversations over an issue or sometimes over many issues, but that depends on the rest of the reading.

Edited to add: that was too simplistic so……… birds to mean communication and different birds mean different types of communications in different cultures. In history it is known that birds carried messages in wars bla, bla, bla you get the message it think. Wow, I just succeeded to rationalize my statement - this would be the first for me.

The way I see it in the Seven of Pentacles the different color shoes signifies oneness. The person is living in the moment but also thinking about the future. The shoes signify the spirit and the body (the orange (spirit) and the brown the (body or matter).

I read somewhere that this guy has something to do with the art of Zen, but I can't see this in the card, so I didn't pay much attention to what I read in that article.

In the Seven of Wands the different shoes (which as opposed to the Seven of Pentacles these are different shoes not only colors), means being two minded about something.

To elaborate feet = security, he is not secure in what he is thinking, he is not sure if he is right on wrong about what he is doing. The card come to tell that he is right however, the shoes come to tell of this two mindedness about things. He is not sure he will win the battle, he is also not noticing that he has a good strategic point. Again the shoes come to tell what is in his mind, while the image as a whole come to tell what is his real situation (strategically placed at a higher point).

To give a real life example would be like someone knows that they are right about something however if the crowed will tell him for long enough that he is wrong, he will get brain washed eventually. The shoes come to tell that the crowed is getting to him he is already not sure whether he is right or in this stand point. But the advice in the cards is that he should keep to his opinion or whatever he is doing because victory will prevail as he is right and the rest are wrong. Will he be able to stand the outside pressure? That should be determined by the surrounding cards.

These were my two cents.

le diable boiteux

I tried to post about "le boiteur" before but I guess the devil didn't want me to uncover his hiding place!

The thought which immediately springs into my head here, is that with two different kinds of footwear -- it can be like one shoe on, one shoe off, it can make your gait unsteady, like limping.

In French literature (anywhere else?) a limp is the sign of the devil, who is sometimes portrayed as "le boiteur", or "le boiteux" -- this is also reflected in music about the devil - in Gounod's Faust for example, the devil's music is in dotted rhythms.

Le Sage wrote "Le diable boiteux" 1707 = "the Devil on Two Sticks"

So, is there any logical link with this card to the Devil???????

odd shoes

In her book Tarot Reversals, Mary Greer suggests that the odd footwear could indicate an uneven or unsure footing.