Barbara Walker Tarot - Seven of Wands: Challenge

A princely juggler of seven flaming wands struggles to keep them under control, while he is menaced from above by a sharp moonsickle hanging from a single hair. Such is the precarious nature of public eminence, which must be maintained by constant vigilance and effort, and is always vulnerable to challenge. In the legend of Damocles, doom was suspended over the king’s head. The seven indicates powers and responsibilities similarly threatened; dynamic equilibrium preserved with effort, skill and risk. High ambition may take on too much.