A man on high ground grips a single wand with both hands. Six more wands rise up at him from below; we never see who is holding them, only the tips. Look closely and his shoes do not match — usually read as a sign he rushed out to meet this. The Seven of Wands is about holding your position while pressure comes from several sides.
It tends to appear when you are being challenged. Objections pile up against your proposal, someone has their eye on the role you just took, or every relative has an opinion on your decision. On numbers alone, you are outmatched. But he is the one with the higher ground. Even if you came in underprepared, the card says that holding on is enough to keep what is yours.
Reversed, it points two ways. One is holding out alone for too long until the strength runs out. You lose ground bit by bit, until giving up the whole thing starts to sound reasonable. The other is defending what did not need defending. Rebut every remark and there is nothing left for the one thing that matters.
The question is what, here, you will not give up. Narrow it down to one thing and the rest can be conceded. Once that is settled, the six wands stop looking like they all weigh the same.
It is easy to read this card as 'everyone is against me'. But wands coming up at you also means you are standing somewhere worth climbing to. Look at your position before you look at the grievance.
With Strength, there is enough inner reserve to hold out a long while. Followed by the Nine of Wands, the fight has dragged on, and rest needs to go into the plan alongside defence.