july 2025: seven of pentacles // creative prompts

hello, friends. throughout the month we've been looking at the seven of pentacles, from an essay i shared at the beginning to the new tarot spread i offered midway through. now, here at the end of the month, i have a final offering around this card: creative prompts that you can use for whatever you like.

but first, a quick new thing: i'm teaming up with my wife, astrologer jeanna kadlec, to share a brand new lecture on major arcana astrological correspondences. if you'd love to learn more about how to use astrology and tarot together, and/or if you've struggled to really get into the standardized associations popularized by the order of the golden dawn, then stars & cards: a fresh take on tarot & astrology correspondences is for you.

ICYMI:
🌙 a free recorded chat with maeg keane on divination (broken links have been fixed, thanks for your patience!)
🃏 new CALL YOUR COVEN chat with laetitia barbier
🍂 the grove's autumn/winter cohort is now open!
🕯️ 3am.tarot mentorships are now available — let's work together

as i've said in a few different interviews and conversations this month, tarot spreads can also be used as prompts and questions, in addition to structured blueprints for your tarot readings. and prompts like these, and like the pieces that we find within spreads, can activate all kinds of things: ideas, inspiration, characters, worlds, plots, questions, trains of thought, journeys of discovery, visions, sounds, songs, poetry, flavors, smells, movements, and so much more. you could even, if you wanted to, put a few of these questions together to create your own seven of pentacles tarot spread.

remember that the seven of pentacles invites us to dig into our why: why are we building what we're building? why are we invested in the things we're invested in? why do our current commitments feel important? with this card, we sit in a moment of the story where we pay attention — and where we question why things are the way they are, why we are making the choices we are making, and why we are taking these intentional steps.

in a world full of terribly hard things, a world in which palestinians are being intentionally starved in front of our eyes, a world in which we are mocked for having compassion for other people, this might be easy to dismiss as small, silly work. yet the seven of pentacles is a call to claim our sense of earthly purpose, to pay attention to the values and desires that get our blood pumping and our hands itching to take action. the seven of pentacles wants you to claim your wants just as fiercely as your needs — and also wants to remind you that it's okay to need justice for all, food for our neighbors, protection for marginalized communities, and resistance against fascist ideologies and institutions. you're allowed to want and need things not only for yourself, but for everyone.

the following prompts are for you to do with as you will. think on them, chat on them, write on them, dream on them. play around and see what emerges when you don't put expectations on them and instead just sit with them. grab your tarot cards, or a journal, or a voice recorder, or a camera, or a friend, or literally whatever you want and see what these prompts might invite in.

what does the seven of pentacles represent for you? which keywords come up first, and which emerge more slowly? what do you personally associate with this card, and how do you feel in your body and your spirit when you look at it? does this card offer comfort, challenge, clarity, or something else?

what kinds of questions does the seven of pentacles invite you to sit with, or potentially to answer? how do you engage with this card in your personal life, especially when it comes up in readings? what does this card have to offer you, and where might it take you if you're willing to follow?

how does this card feel in an embodied way? what does it look like to embrace or inhabit this energy fully? if this card was a character or a person, how would they speak, ask questions, make choices? how would they move through the world? what might they sound like, and how might they listen? what would they be wrestling with, and how might that be applicable to you in this moment?

how does this card feel in an environmental way? what would it mean to literally step into this card, to wander through it, to explore a landscape built upon and within the seven of pentacles? what time of day might it be? what is the weather like? are there other people or creatures here, or do you find yourself alone?

how might this card push you to assess or analyze or interrogate yourself in a deeper, more intensive way? which questions does this card push or lead you towards? how could the seven of pentacles challenge you to consider your roots, your resources, your needs, and your nourishments? what does it look like to be honest with yourself about what you want and need? how do you distinguish between the two sensations? how does it feel to move a particular resource or desire from the "want" list to the "need" list?

this card may often feel highly individualized, since we're looking inward. but how might the wants and needs that you're identifying with this work ripple out into your friend groups, your communities, your neighborhoods? how does recognizing your own wants and needs expand your capacity for compassion, even for those you might not know personally? who else might share your wants and needs, and what might it look like to acknowledge that some wants and needs are truly universal? how might that shift or expand your own ability to fully acknowledge those wants and needs, instead of judging them?

finally, what medicine might this card have to offer you in this particular moment? how could working with this card offer you some support, some generosity, some much-needed compassion?

i'll be back soon with our next essay on the eight of pentacles — july has really flown by! in the meantime i'm wishing you clarity, compassion, and the courage to keep fighting, keep speaking up, keep going. stay safe and stay strong out there.

and if you've been enjoying my second book tarot spreads, remember that reviews on sites like amazon and goodreads are wildly helpful 🖤