I designed the Eilat Tarot deck in April of last year. The dimensions of Soul, Time, and World described in the Sefer Yetzirah helped me understand the three arcana, traditionally called the Court, Minors, and Majors. I've written extensively about the Soul and Time Cards, but I've been waiting to write about the World Cards. Because I have no idea what they are.
This post is the beginning of my attempt to understand and interpret them.
The World Cards represent forces or structures through which creation unfolds. Each is a letter of the Hebrew alef-bet and is associated with a planet, a zodiac sign, or an element. Here is an image of the Mem card:
Early tarot interpreted this card as punishment and disgrace. Readers of the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot think of it as spiritual transformation or gaining a new perspective and Aleister Crowley connected it with sacrifice. In my list of keywords, I interpreted it as follows
Upright: Acceptance, surrender, patience, endurance, a shift in perspective, spiritual pause, sacrifice, a pivotal moment in which the future hangs in the balance
Reversed: Stagnation, self-sabotage, martyrdom, self-aggrandizement, inflated ego, lack of impact, limbo
AE Waite wrote:
It should be noted (1) that the tree of sacrifice is living wood, with leaves thereon; (2) that the face expresses deep entrancement, not suffering; (3) that the figure, as a whole, suggests life in suspension, but life and not death… I will say very simply on my own part that it expresses the relation, in one of its aspects, between the Divine and the Universe… He who can understand that the story of his higher nature is imbedded in this symbolism will receive intimations concerning a great awakening that is possible, and will know that after the sacred Mystery of Death there is a glorious Mystery of Resurrection.
Since in the Eilat Tarot, this is a World Card, it does not describe a personality or event, but a structure, condition, or force shaping experience.
So what "thing" does it represent? What is the element of water? What is concealment? What is the path between Neẓaḥ and Hod, Reverence and Persistence? What causes suspension, helplessness, or reversal? What helps us get a new perspective?
In the deck's little white book I simply wrote: "Mem - The Hanged Man (Element of Water) Hidden depth. What obscures."
I arrived at that brief definition by combining the elemental attribution with the keyword. Mem is associated with the element of Water and the keyword Concealment. On the Tree of Life, it is assigned the path between Reverence (הוד) and Persistence (נצח).
Chapter 3, verse 8 of the Sefer Yetzirah says:
He made Mem king over water
And He bound a crown to it
And He combined one with another
And with them He formed
Earth in the Universe
Cold in the Year
And the belly in the Soul:
The male with שאמ
And the female with משא
I will consider the meanings applied to the letter Mem in Jewish and Kabbalistic thought. Then I'm going to go through all the various definitions for this card in my favorite decks and books.
Mem according to Lawrence Kushner:
Mem according to Chabad:
Mem according to Orna Ben-Shoshan's two cards:
The element of Water according to Cait Johnson:
Hanged Man according to Norma Cowie:
The Hanged Man according to Aeclectic Tarot:
A new and different perspective. Seeing things completely differently. A worldview is completely changing.
The Fool settles beneath a tree, intent on finding his spiritual self. There he stays for nine days, without eating, barely moving. People pass by him, animals, clouds, the wind, the rain, the stars, sun and moon. On the ninth day, with no conscious thought of why, he climbs the tree and dangles from a branch upside down like a child. For a moment, he surrenders all that he is, wants, knows or cares about. Coins fall from his pockets and as he gazes down on them - seeing them not as money but only as round bits of metal.
The Hanged Man according to Stav Appel:
The Hanged Man according to Rachel Pollack and Robert M. Place:
The Hanged Man according to Betzalel Arieli:
Over the last few days, I pulled cards to reflect the progression of this week. Their message now seems surprisingly literal.
I have been feeling physically unwell for some time: headaches, abdominal pain, intermittent fever, exhaustion, and a persistent sense that something is wrong. Last night I finally stopped trying to ignore it. Today I went to the doctor. Blood tests, a CT scan, and a gastroenterology appointment are now scheduled.
Seen in the context of a medical issue, the cards describe vulnerability, discernment, and movement toward care.
Ace of Pentacles - The Gift of Earthly Presence
Divine Will - כֶּתֶר
A gift of physical life. The seed of embodied blessing.
The sequence begins with embodiment itself. The body is not incidental to spiritual life. Physical existence itself has become the focus of my attention.
Nine of Swords - Night of the Mind
Connection - יְסוֹד
Rest denied from within. Troubling thoughts brought honestly to prayer.
This card reflects the fear that arrives before answers do. Fear of what the tests may reveal. Fear amplified by fatigue and uncertainty.
Son of Swords - Rider of the Clouds
Creation - בְּרִיאָה
Probing and questioning. Quick thought without full discernment.
This is the impulse to diagnose before diagnosis exists. Speculation. Interpretation. This is the impulse to diagnose before a diagnosis exists: speculation, interpretation, the mind rushing ahead of reality.
Six of Swords - The Quiet Crossing
Compassion - תִּפְאֶרֶת
Careful passage toward safety, even when the journey remains incomplete.
This card changes the emotional direction of the reading. It does not promise immediate resolution, but it does suggest movement toward care. Seeing a doctor. Beginning the crossing rather than remaining stranded in uncertainty.
Seven of Cups - The Illusion of Choice
Persistence - נֶצַח
Proliferating desires and imagined outcomes. The need for discernment.
There are many possible explanations for feeling unwell. My imagination can generate futures faster than reality reveals them. This card cautions against treating every imagined outcome as certainty.
Samekh - The Chariot
Sagittarius - Sleep
The Path Between Reverence and Compassion
Carried in the unseen. Movement that continues.
The final card advises reverence for the body and compassion toward vulnerability. The most important thing I can do right now may be to rest and allow the process and healing to unfold.
One reason I created the Eilat Tarot was to explore tarot not as prediction, but as a symbolic language capable of clarifying lived experience. Sometimes the cards do not remove uncertainty. Instead, they reveal the structure within it.
Seven ⭑ Persistence (Neẓaḥ) ⭑ Element of Water ⭑
Month of Ḥeshvan ⭑ Scorpio ⭑ Tribe of Menasheh ⭑
Sigd
Essence
The number seven introduces a test of perception. Not every path that appears before us leads to truth.
Neẓaḥ represents persistence, but persistence can falter when desire becomes confused or scattered. The challenge is not effort but direction.
The suit of Cups corresponds to the element of Water and the realms of emotion, imagination, longing, and spiritual vision. Water can inspire devotion, but it can also dissolve clarity.
This card falls corresponds to the sign of Scorpio and the Hebrew month of Ḥeshvan. Scorpio deepens the emotional intensity of this card. Desire here is rarely superficial; what is imagined often conceals deeper needs, fears, or longings.
The tribe linked with this card is Menasheh, the firstborn son of Josef and Asenath. The tribe’s story reflects displacement and adaptation. In this context Menasheh evokes the emotional complexity of navigating multiple possible identities and futures.
Imagery
Pamela Colman Smith’s image shows a dark silhouette facing a cloud containing seven chalices filled with symbolic forms: a castle, jewels, a laurel wreath, a dragon, a snake, and a human face. From the central chalice rises a glowing human figure still wrapped in a burial shroud. One hand of the silhouetted figure remains visible, open before the vision.
Integration
This card is titled The Illusion of Choice because Pamela Colman Smith’s image shows a figure gazing at seven cups filled with symbolic visions. Each cup offers something different: power, beauty, mystery, danger, wealth, transformation.
In the Seven of Cups, Neẓaḥ appears as the challenge of maintaining direction in the presence of many possible futures. Desire multiplies possibilities faster than wisdom can evaluate them.
Water in this card becomes imagination, longing, vision, and projection. Some possibilities are genuine callings. Others are distractions, fantasies, or forms of avoidance. The challenge is not to reject imagination, but to discern which visions can truly sustain a life.
The figure remains still and has not chosen. The danger lies not only in choosing poorly, but in becoming lost among imagined alternatives and never acting at all.
Yet this card can also reflect the beginning of genuine vision. Many realities first exist as longing, prayer, or imagination before they can take form in the world. Discernment means learning to distinguish between what merely dazzles and what can truly be lived.
Persistence here means remaining faithful to what can truly be lived, even when many other paths appear possible.
Interpretative Possibilities for Divination
Upright:
-
Multiple possibilities without clear direction
- Desire or imagination exceeding discernment
- Difficulty choosing among competing visions or futures
- Longing shaped more by fantasy than reality
- Attraction to possibilities that cannot truly sustain a life
- Hesitation or passivity in the face of many options
- Vision, hope, or imagination seeking grounded expression
- Awareness that not every path is meant to be followed
- Sustaining a vision whose fulfillment is not yet visible
Reversed:
-
Seeing through illusion or emotional projection
- Letting go of fantasies that prevent movement
- Choosing a direction after prolonged uncertainty
- Grounding desire in reality
- Regaining clarity after emotional confusion
- Committing to what can genuinely be lived
- Distinguishing true longing from distraction
Reflections
This card often appears when imagination outpaces action. You may be considering many futures without knowing which can truly be lived.
Not every vision is false. Some possibilities begin as longing before they become reality. But discernment is required. A life cannot be built from fantasy alone.
Sigd reflects this tension between vision and reality. For generations, the Beta Israel community of Ethiopia preserved the hope of return to the Land of Israel before that return became possible. The holiday continues to be observed not because the longing failed, but because redemption remains incomplete.
The Seven of Cups asks which visions deepen your life and which only distract from it.
Hebrew Calendar - Sigd
Sigd is observed fifty days after Yom Kippur. The holiday expresses commitment to covenant, return, and spiritual renewal. It reflects the persistence of a vision carried across generations before fulfillment became possible.
Even after returning to the Land, Ethiopian Jews continue to observe Sigd because redemption is understood as incomplete.
Traditionally, the community gathers in prayer and fasting on a mountain or high place. Passages from the Torah and from Joshua, Judges, and Ruth are read aloud. The ascent reflects both physical and spiritual orientation toward Jerusalem and toward a restored world.
Arlan and I often spent this day hiking in the hills around Eilat, honoring the Ethiopian Jewish community’s invitation that all Israeli Jews observe the holiday alongside them.
Journaling Prompts-
What emotional need is shaping the future I imagine?
- What am I trying to move toward, and what am I trying to escape?
- What would this dream require from me in lived practice, not only in imagination?
- Am I imagining a new life, or relief from my current one?
- Which visions would remain meaningful even after disappointment or delay?
- What would it mean to pursue one path fully instead of remaining among many imagined alternatives?
Closing Thoughts
Some visions sustain life. Others keep us from living it. The challenge is not to abandon longing, but to remain present long enough to discern what is real.
