Three of Swords
The Three of Swords symbolizes deep emotional pain and loss, often indicating heartbreak, betrayal, or tragedy. It suggests a significant and painful transition, impacting the individual's soul. Inverted, it implies a healing process where grief begins to lessen, but warns against becoming stuck in sorrow. This card emphasizes the need to acknowledge pain and begin a journey toward recovery and realignment.
Keywords
General Meaning
My first instinct when I see this card is to say I’m sorry. You can’t really soften this card. Something broke. Someone died. Someone was betrayed. There was loss, pain, tragedy, and heartache. This is a visceral card. The person who receives it will often know exactly what it’s referring to before you start speaking because the event cast a shadow over their life.
Significance of the Card
Just as the Three of Pentacles is a journey of the mind, the Three of Swords is a transition of the soul. I don’t feel that this card can be taken lightly. Every time I receive it in a reading, some kind of universal whammy is aiming at the client. Sometimes they’re lucky. Sometimes they have an elderly or ill relative who is ready to go. Sometimes, though, they don’t know to whom this card refers. It’s not always death. It’s divorce, cheating, devastation, car accidents, and calamities. The best thing to do when you see this in a reading is to tell your clients to take a deep breath and brace themselves for uncontrollable change.
Three of Swords Inverted
Grief can only stay with us for a while. We’re not meant to swim around in it until our fingers get all pruney. Just as the Three of Pentacles is a journey of the self, the Three of Swords inverted can be healing time or the point when the pain is lessening and we need to realign our purpose. Sometimes we get so used to functioning within grief that after it’s abated we still wander around broken. If we walk around with our head down for too long, though, we’ll start tripping over things and missing all of the beauty around us.
Dark mansion tarot
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