The Seven of Wands as Intentions: To Hold Their Position, Against You If Necessary

Written by Chaya the Medium.

The Seven of Wands as intentions is a plan to hold the hill. Here is what I would read in it, upright and reversed, and why the defence is the message.

If you want the short answer, I would read the Seven of Wands as intentions that are defensive. In an intentions position the card suggests the person means to hold a position: a boundary, a decision, a distance, a stance about you or about the relationship, and to keep holding it under pressure. The intention is firm. It is not an attack. It is a wall held up with effort, and the effort is the clue.

This is the figure on the hilltop with six wands coming up at him. They intend to stay standing. They intend you to stay below, for now.

The Seven of Wands upright as intentions

Tina Gong's the Seven of Wands guide at Labyrinthos associates the upright card with perseverance, defending a position, challenge and standing your ground. When the card lands in a position that asks what someone intends toward you, I read those meanings as the shape of their plan rather than as a promise about what they will do. Feelings and intentions are different questions; the Seven of Wands as feelings covers the first, and this page covers the second. The general card meanings at Biddy Tarot are a useful second reference.

Upright, I read the Seven of Wands as a person who intends to protect something from you: themselves, their decision, their independence, their version of events. They are not planning to approach. They are planning not to be moved, and if you have been pushing, this card is how it has landed.

What I would not read into it is hostility. The figure is not attacking. He is holding. There may be attraction behind the defence or a boundary they are right to keep, and the card does not say which.

What the card does not tell you

The card does not confirm the defence hides affection, that it will lower, or that what the person is protecting is something you have a right to reach. No card lets a reader see another person's plans. What a card can do is describe the kind of intention that fits the person's behaviour, and give you something to check against what they actually do.

The Seven of Wands reversed as intentions

Reversed, the Seven of Wands as intentions describes the guard dropping: a person who intends to stop defending against you, which can let you in or let them walk away, or one exhausted by holding the position and ready to give it up one way or the other.

In your own question, ask whether the person has recently become softer and more open, or whether they seem worn down in a way that looks like leaving rather than relenting. A reversed card as intentions is a prompt to compare what is said with what is done, not a diagnosis of bad faith.

The Seven of Wands as an ex's intentions

Asked about an ex, the Seven of Wands as intentions can suggest they intend to keep defending against you: against the pull, against being hurt again, against the conversation. That is often a sign the pull exists. It is also a decision to hold the hill, and pushing makes the stance firmer. My guide to asking a psychic whether an ex will come back explains what a reading can and cannot say about that question.

The Seven of Wands as a new person's intentions

For someone new, this card describes someone who feels something and intends to keep their guard up. Respecting the ground they hold usually does more than challenging it. The hill is theirs; the question is whether they invite you up.

What their intentions look like in action

Look for firmness and distance: limits set, pushback when you get close, a sense of being managed rather than met. A Seven of Wands intention looks like a defended line. Whether there is warmth behind it is visible only when the line is respected.

What to record before drawing again

Keep three short notes: the question you asked, what the person seems to be defending against, and whether any of it is something you have been doing. The third note is uncomfortable and useful.

For comparison, the Five of Wands as intentions and the Nine of Wands as intentions describe different intentions. The the Seven of Wands card meaning page covers the card in full, and the Seven of Wands as timing and the Seven of Wands as a yes or no cover the other questions people most often ask of it. For a personal interpretation, my guide to a love psychic reading online explains how I work, and the three-card tarot listing and customer reviews are worth reading before deciding whether to order.