Seeing the Signs: Three of Swords
Element: Air - realm of intellect, communication, and logic.
Keywords: heartache, suffering, loss, pain, betrayal, unhealed wounds, sorrow
Traditional RWS Imagery: This is a fairly simple and seemingly obvious card, but there are a lot of layers here. It shows a red heart-shape (not an anatomical heart) floating against a gray sky, where thunder clouds and rain and rolling in the background. There are three swords piercing through the center of the heart. They are crossed at the center, having been driven in at the same point. The overall feeling of the card is dark and heavy.
The heart sits at our core, the very center of our being. It may be viewed as a place of vulnerability. To bypass our exterior armor of logic, reason, and rationality and to hit us right in the heart exemplifies a powerful force. The swords indicate pain inflicted from the outside. This often represents the words and actions of someone else, or a decision we have to make about an external situation.
The rain is a metaphor for tears, sadness, and sorrow. When rain comes, the thunderclouds (the mind) have reached their maximum capacity to hold any moisture (emotion), and the release results in a downpour. But rain is also cleansing. It washes away the dirt and nourishes new life and growth.
Possible Upright Interpretations:
Making a choice that results in pain or sadness
Feeling let down/experiencing set backs
Major change like the end of a relationship or job
Overthinking an inevitable situation
A conflict between logic and feelings
Pain from information gained, hurtful words
Re-opening of an old wound
FD Tarot Imagery: A cardinal spreads its wings to take flight, only to become pierced suddenly by three swords. In a flurry of scarlet feathers the bird is pinned, unable to fly. Dried branches lay crossed over one another, seemingly dead except for the small hints of green at the ends.
In my card, the cardinal visually mirrors the big red heart from the RWS deck. It is unable to move and must endure the pain until the swords are shaken loose or pulled from its wings. This emphasizes the message that there’s little we can do about the suffering in the Three of Swords, and usually must find a way to work through the experience until some form of relief comes. A prospect that we may have felt hopeful about is dashed, cut down. Or, this blow comes unexpectedly out of nowhere, pulling the veil of innocence or naivete abruptly away from our eyes.
This is a condensed version of this article. In the full version, I go into more depth about the specific symbols in the card, including the numerological meaning of the threes in tarot, the significance of the lack of people, reversed card meanings, and more. The full post can be found over on my Patreon page.
Cards in the collective image are from the following decks, starting at the top left:
The Hoodoo Tarot, The Forager’s Daughter Tarot, Tarot Mucha, The Pacific Northwest Tarot, The Rider Waite Smith Tarot, and the Anima Mundi Tarot.