Taken, Not Given

From the Nigel Jackson Tarot, the Seven of Swords; from the Wolf Pack, Lessons:

Have you learned the lessons only of those who admired you, and were tender with you, and stood aside for you? Have you not learned great lessons from those who braced themselves against you, and disputed passage with you? ―Walt Whitman

Various cultures have seen the fox as a guide or a trickster; those who raise chickens see them as a threat. Their ability to outsmart humans has earned them a reputation for cunning and resourcefulness. Jackson describes this card as 'evasive cunning,' suggesting that this fox is being hunted. He seems to be treading carefully, as if looking for traps. The Wolf pack card shows a pup learning how to hunt.. He's likely to make many mistakes before he actually captures any prey, but the older wolf will show him over and over again how to do it. In both cards, lessons are learned - the hard way in the first and an easier way in the second. Either way, the responsibility falls on the student. As Cesare Pavese wrote, "Lessons are not given, they are taken."