does 'failure' mean failure?

.tangle. said:

I, personally, don't care for the one word descriptions on the cards. They definitely are a part of the card's description, but one single word cannot stand for the card's entire meaning. The meanings of Crowley's/Harris' cards are so complex, contradictory, and dependant upon the context in which they are pulled that the word seems to do a great discredit to the beauty of the art. I got so fed up with my readee's seeing the word on the card and making their own determination of the meaning of the card, that I whited them all out! (only from the minor arcana, of course) Especially failure. There are so many intricate and possible aspects to this card, but when a reader or readee sees the word "failure", there is no escape from that connotation.

I highly recomend the white out!! Without the words, you are free to interpret what you see and experience from the art on the day and context that you pick the card. That's where the meaning lies for me: the knowledge of the numbers (7), the insight of the suit (disks), and most importantly the power of Frida Harris' art. Those single words have no place in that equation.

The 7 of Disks looks to me like a big pile of dead leaves. Maybe that you have been too lazy to sweep away. But there could be life under those leaves that cannot reach sunlight. Maybe it's a time to sweep away the old ways, the old thoughts, or the old, unfinished projects so that your current new project can have the space and sunlight to grow. Or maybe it's saying that a project is old and dead and needs to be let go of in order to decay and free itself from your life.

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A fabulous first post, .tangle.! I loved every word of it! I agree that the the key-words on the Thoth are disruptive. I agree the 7 of disks looks like a big pile of dead leaves. I have gone so far as to say (in a reading) that the arrangement of coins suggests a teddy bear buried underneath the leaves.... I think here is a case of buried treasure. As you say, sweep away the old, make way for the new, clear the debris and the decay, and find the long lost treasure buried underneath it as well.

A lot of people, however, will not sweep away the dead leaves, will not learn from their mistakes, their failures, their laziness, poor planning or procrastination. They will keep on beating the same dead horse - and so the card remains dark and dank - a stagnant mess. Ravenest told us about a friend of his like that - who fails repeatedly, despite being ready to start again.

I used to hate the keywords in the Thoth. Now I love them, but I have learnt to take them as one element among many in the card. The Book of Thoth will illuminate us as to why Crowley chose these words - and go much deeper into them. But perhaps, we are so used to slogans we forget that words have worlds behind them. However, to Crowley they were important, and we need to find out why if we are to read with the Thoth.

I have drawn that card on a few occasions for a friend's marriage. She has tried, for the past two years, to beat that dead horse and stay in the marriage. Over and over, with a variety of attutides and means, through counselling and god knows what else, she has dragged herself from failure to failure. Two weeks ago, she threw in the towel and admitted that these two years of trying to save her marriage had failed. The marriage itself was a failure and would never be a success, her husband would not change and their dynamic was simply not working, whatever combination they tried. Perhaps she needed to go through these two years of repeated failures - I don't know. But I tend to think that we are sometimes so attached to our stagnancy and to the idea of winning that we don't know when to call it quits. So we stay, year after year, in a situation of rank failure, rather than admit defeat, learn from our mistakes, do a bit of soul-searching and clear the dead leaves.

And so the 7 of Disks comes to remind us: it doesn't matter what you do here - the basis is rotten, your work or planning is insufficient, you are not receiving the support you need, the environment is unhelpful.

And that brings me to another point with the 7 of Disks. It is a very atmospheric card, and I see the environment as all important in it. It is a stagnant and depressing environment. The best idea and most enthusiastic person in the world will fail in certain environments - and I think that is also a lesson, an insight, of the 7 of Disks. You can't make silk purses out of sow's ears.

The Golden Dawn meanings for 7 of Pentacles included "Success unfulfilled; little gain for much labor; unprofitable. Work for love, not for money. Speculation. Promise destroyed. No success in farming."

However, Etteilla and early Mathers (1888) were just the opposite: Money, wealth, finance, treasure, gain, profit. So, how did the negative interpretations come about, when you might think that Netzach, being Victory and Venus, would be an excellent location for this card? Crowley reminds us that Netzach is doubly unbalanced: off the middle pillar and low on the tree, exposing every weakness. "Labour itself is abandoned; everything is sunk in sloth."

The key is also in Saturn in Taurus, about which the GD says: "The gloom of Saturn on the heavy dull earth of Taurus gives no success in farming." Regarding it's placement in Netzach: "The outside fair, but the Supernal Force destroys the promise." There's an inability to feel satisfied (in part through perfectionism).

Also, the 3rd decanate of Taurus shows difficulties: Obstacles to enterprises; obligation to submit to others; troubles against which the subject must fight with all possible energy.

Crowley's keyword is only part of the story. Here's some of what he had to say about Saturn in Taurus: "In Taurus the heaviness of Saturn is accentuated by that of the sign, and so his obstinacy, pertinacity and dullness are accentuated. But as all this makes for steadiness, the moral character is firm and capable of overcoming obstacles by sheer determination; while on the other hand, those obstacles themselves are not apt to be particularly violent. So we shall expect to find natives with the capacity to push steadfastly forward, and to conquer." Crowley then gives examples of Shelley's weakness but the doggedness of Grant, Cecil Rhodes, Alexander the Great, Joan of Arc, etc. Then, "In mundane affairs Saturn in Taurus is not very good for financial matters; unless extremely well aspected money comes slowly or wastes away. The native, however, may somewhat counteract this danger, since the same influence that begrudges his financial success makes him careful and saving, sometimes indeed quite frugal. In all cases there is apt to be some selfishness." What could be the saving graces of Saturn in Taurus are countered by the slothfulness of Netzach. He talks about there being an atmosphere of blight and equated this with the worst of the geomantic figures, Rubeus.

I think the astrological text explains some of why Fudugazi's friend stayed in a failed marriage two years longer than *seemed* necessary. It was necessary for her to doggedly try to succeed. Crowley's pointing to "selfishness" suggests that she was getting something out of staying as long as she did.

Personally, I like Arrien's addition of "fear of," since we can examine how "fear of failure" works to create it in our lives.

Mary

Teheuti said:

Personally, I like Arrien's addition of "fear of," since we can examine how "fear of failure" works to create it in our lives.

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I can relate to that. Thanks, Mary. And whatever I was reading on then is failing - and guess what! Due to perfectionism or unrealistic expectations... It all makes perfect sense now.

I see this card also as fear of failure because of all of the energy that has been put in to succeed in the last card. The seeds of success have been planted but very little growth due to complacency but the process of fertilization which has not yet finished.

I myself read somewhere, for the life of me I can't remember, that the 7 Disks is a period of growth. Somewhat like fertilization. There seems to be little growth but the process is not yet completed.

archer1 said:

I myself read somewhere, for the life of me I can't remember, that the 7 Disks is a period of growth. Somewhat like fertilization. There seems to be little growth but the process is not yet completed.

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Isn't that more the RWS meaning of the card?

Out of Your Hands

I want to add that I view it as taking a step back to do an accounting, an assessment, to see how far you have come. But with the 7's unstable energy, it is really out of your hands to change things.

BrightEye said:

Isn't that more the RWS meaning of the card?

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mmmm You might be right....

I actually like the names of the cards. I don't if it limits me in any way. It must, since the names are suggestive, but then, why not? It is the Thoth, after all, the names are there for a reason. It limits me like the artwork does, to certain extent. In addition, who says that verbal suggestion, as opposed to visual suggestion in the case of the pictures, is less connective to intuition? Words can suggest things to you as well.