The Archetype and The Tarot: The Rebel and Seven of Cups
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The Rebel
The Rebel is one of those archetypes that most of us recognize immediately. Rebellion is accepted as a normal part of adolescence as we come into our own empowerment. One of the gifts of the Rebel is the ability to be okay—to maintain an inner confidence—in the midst of chaos or disruption. With tremendous power of innovation, they can buck conformity and, for better or worse, introduce something new into a system.
In the light, the Rebel has forged their own path to empowerment, but doesn’t stop there. Because they have the ability to see when systems have become outdated or oppressive, the Rebel in the light breaks the pattern (and sometimes the rules) to bring about something better. They consider what is best for others in their desire to change these systems. This is one of the most profoundly significant archetypal patterns. The light side of the Rebel is present every time a system of oppression comes to end or a expansion of perspective is made.
The shadow Rebel, on the other hand, holds only their own interests in mind. Not wanting even a reasonable amount of authority held over them, they might have a general attitude of “don’t boss me.” Often they rebel out of a sense of thrill-seeking, causing chaos and disrupting safety nets for their own amusement. But before we judge too quickly, it’s important to remember that we all have at least a little shadow Rebel in us. When we feel that pull to rebel, we’re being asked to pause and shine a light on our deepest motivation underlying the desire.
Because the Rebel came up this week, I believe we’re being shown that there's something in our life that needs to be disrupted, something that we need to rebel against and approach with innovation.
Some questions to consider this week:
In your life, what has been feeling oppressive lately? It might be an external system, but could also be a thought or emotion pattern.
Who are your favorite Rebels in the light?
In what ways has the shadow Rebel appeared in your behavior?
How do you tend to react when you see others rebelling?
Seven of Cups
Here we see a silhouetted figure standing before seven cups in the clouds. Each cup is filled with something interesting. Because this is the suit of cups (and I believe that cups are related to the emotional realm), this card is asking us to get clear on how we want to feel. What cup would we choose? What’s our priority as far as emotions go? What feelings do we most want to generate?
Starting from top right (the snake) and working our way clockwise, the symbols in the first six cups could represent feelings such as: transformative, strong, victorious, wealthy, safe, and intelligent.
Maybe you’re working your way around these cups and starting to lean towards one as the way you most want to feel, but then you get to that top center cup—the one with the glowing Casper-like symbol—and realize…ooh there’s a twist! Whatever is underneath that radiant veil is actually how I most want to feel. The other feelings were like shiny, attractive things, but when we remove their dazzle, we get down to what it is our SOUL wants to feel.
This is all about getting clear on what our souls are calling us to. Does the feeling we originally chose have as much value as we’d first believed? When we clean off the dazzle, what is left underneath?
How does this pair work together?
Remember the soul value, or feeling, we were called to uncover in the Seven of Cups? What I see here is that the Rebel can show us what system(s) in our lives are blocking us from experiencing that.
Can we open to the wisdom of the Rebel to see what is standing in our way of experiencing connection, or kindness, or courage, or integration, or joy, or [insert your soul value here]? Then, can we allow the Rebel to disrupt it and lead the way to a new system?
For some reason, I actually feel pretty excited about this week’s guidance. I’m looking forward to getting in touch with my inner Rebel and bucking some systems around here. I can’t wait to hear how you all feel about it. Let’s discuss in the comments!
Love your discussion of the Rebel, Jenna - I'm also thinking of another aspect, which is the willingness to fail - definitely the other side of "risk" and countering energy. Sometimes it can be incredibly difficult to go against the grain; that way is never as clearly marked as the usual and expected. :)
What a perfect reading for the start of Aquarius season 🩵