Minor Arcana Midrash: The Seven of Wands—Jacob faces an adversary

This week’s Torah reading is the story of Jacob wrestling with an “איש” which is the Hebrew word for man. So first off, if you remember this story as Jacob wrestling with an angel, go back and read the text. Indeed, this man is mysterious since he is never identified; when Jacob asks for his name, the stranger refuses to tell him. But the stranger does give him a blessing that changes Jacob’s name, telling him, “Not Jacob shall your name be hence he said, but Israel, for you have striven with Divine beings and men, and have won out.” (Gen 32:28-30)

So let’s turn to the image on 7 of Wands for a moment. Here we see a man ready to contend with…who? We don’t know. While the man is in a fighting stance, we cannot see who is holding the six staves that are arrayed before him. This leads to the question, is there anyone there at all? Could these adversaries simply be a mental projection by the man we can see?

In the last century, many commentators have psychologized the story of Jacob wrestling, noting that this is Jacob wrestling with himself—facing his shadow, his inner demons.

In Jewish folklore there is a tradition that there are spirits and demons who can only go out at night, or who lose their power in the light of day. This is not restricted to Jewish folklore obviously, since such figures exist in many traditions. Jacob’s wrestling match takes place at night, with no winner, until the mysterious adversary said to him, “Let me go, for dawn is breaking.” The stranger hasn’t won, and Jacob hasn’t lost. It’s a draw in which Jacob is both wounded and renamed. So to emphasize, this isn’t an angel—and it isn’t God either.  By the adversary’s own account, he could be a divine being, because it he the word אלהים (Elohim) which is a plural noun that is translated several ways in the Torah, depending on the context. Sometimes it refers to God (singular) and sometimes the gods (plural) of other nations, and at other times, as I’m looking at here, and as it is written in many English translations of the Torah, as divine beings (which can include angels, though the adversary is not identified as such).

There is a tradition that identifies the mysterious adversary as Esau’s guardian angel, and in the context of the story this is certainly one way you can read the text, though, like much midrash, it takes what’s missing from the text and supplies what isn’t there.

It’s true that Jacob has spent much of his life in contention with others. Even from his time in the womb, he is wrestling with his brother Esau. He lies to his father when asked who he is, stealing his brother’s name and thus his blessing. And he contends with Laban, his kinsman.

Now, however, at this part of the story, he’s returning to the scene of his original crime of stealing the blessing, where he denied his true name and took his brother’s name. And this is when he’s asked by the adversary, “What is your name?” Now, it’s not because the adversary doesn’t know who he’s wrestling with. This is just as much a test as the wrestling itself—is Jacob willing to say who he really is? By owning his name, Jacob (which the translator Robert Alter notes can be read as “he who acts crookedly” and Jacob certainly has), and holding on to his opponent without letting go, Jacob is, in effect, holding on to all of himself, admitting his crookedness to his shadow side, and thus making himself whole. In so doing, he both wounds himself, with his hip socket being wrenched in the wrestling, leaving him with a limp, and also heals himself, by being renamed.

Israel, one who strives with divine beings and human beings, is a name that could describe anyone reading these words right now. Earlier this year I studied with a renowned teacher of Kabbalah who said something I already believed but hadn’t heard anyone, much less an Israeli say before—that Kabbalah is for anyone willing to engage in this inner psycho-spiritual struggle, and that’s what defines the people Israel.

Looking back at the 7 of Wands I want to note that this card corresponds to the Sephira of Netzach, which is connected to Perseverance. Netzach is often translated as Victory, which I’m sure would give heart to the man in the image on the card. Psycho-spiritually, Netzach is the Ego, the smaller definition of the self. Jacob, in facing himself, begins the process of integrating the shadow, thus stepping into his Self (in the Jungian sense of the word). In standing up for himself, by admitting his name is Jacob, he starts the process of straightening out his crooked nature and opening to his Self.

This is very much part of the Jewish wisdom tradition. In the Pirke Avot, Ben Zoma says: “Who is brave? The one who subdues his negative inclination.” And I would rephrase that as, who is brave? The one who can face his shadow.

From a Jungian POV though, it’s still an adversarial relationship—Jacob hasn’t befriended his shadow. But he has come to an uneasy peace. And this is reflected in the peace he makes with his brother Esau when they finally meet and reconcile a few verses later. It’s an emotional scene. But when they separate, Jacob promised to meet up with his brother again in Seir, and immediately breaks that promise, but heading in another direction.

He wanted to change. He has started to change. But he hasn’t changed yet. Still, he received a blessing from the adversary, because in fact the shadow holds many gifts for each of us.

This is a good time of year for shadow work. We’re headed towards the darkest time of the year. So perhaps, in working with the story of Jacob and looking at the 7 of Swords, it’s time to ask for ourselves, who do we see holding those six staves arrayed against us? What shadow adversary are we projecting out into the world, and how can we befriend it?