THE THREE OF SWORDS and WABI-SABI

The Three of Swords in the Witches Tarot

After proofreading the daily post to my dreams and poetry blog today it hit me that what I was saying about the Japanese term “wabi-sabi,” is another way to view the Three of Swords (3S) in The Tarot.

Here’s what I quoted in that post (from Wikipedia): “...if an object or expression can bring about, within us, a sense of serene melancholy and a spiritual longing, then that object could be said to be wabi-sabi. [Wabi-sabi] nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect." [emphasis mine]

This to me captures an aspect of the 3S I had not seen before, at least not so clearly. I looked at a lot of different versions of this card to find one that might lend itself more to this interpretation than the traditional heart pierced by three swords. I chose the one from the Witches Tarot posted above.

For comparison, here's a more traditional 3S (from the Rider/Waite/Smith Tarot):


And, as always with The Tarot, this new connection to wabi-sabi is very timely. I’d been wondering more and more about my increasing tendency to sadness -- as distinct from depression. I’ve been struggling with personal issues, but have also been becoming more and more aware of and even beginning at times to embrace those “three simple realities.” Or in terms of the image at the top of this post, more willing to walk on accepting that everything is impermanent, incomplete, and imperfect.

If you'd like to see my earlier explorations of the 3S, click here and here.

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‘til next time, keep enjoying The Tarot,

[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; Roswila’s Taiga Tarot for taiga (illustrated tanka); and Yahoo DREAMJIN: Group for Dreamku – Haiku-Like Dream Poems.****

THE THREE OF SWORDS REDUX

The Three of Swords in the Rider/Waite/Smith Tarot

I’ve been thinking a lot about the Three of Swords recently as in its best aspect it can be about singing. However, given the turmoil with which my determination to reclaim singing is rife, it really is a more fully negative Three of Swords experience – at first blush, that is. If you haven’t read my previous post, I have joined a chorus here in my new retirement community home in California. I haven’t tried singing in decades and even when I was, I was always terrified – not stage fright, mind you, stage terror – of singing in front of others, even close friends or family.

What I think tends to get lost in all the negative takes on the Three of Swords – you needn’t have studied Tarot to get what they are from just looking at the above version - is that the sorrow and pain it references goes some place. The storm ends, the sun breaks through. For me, the sun has come out brighter each time after I have hung in and weathered whatever the singing storm rained down upon me. I..e, I did not give up, or try to blame myself or others but went straight on through that storm, keeping as focused as possible on what I knew to be my love of singing. (By the way, these storms are internal, mostly stirred up by old family history that I’m still working through. The folk around me are wonderfully supportive and encouraging, though they know little to nothing of my “storms” or their terrible intensity.)

So what does this all say about the Three of Swords? Yes, there is pain and deep sorrow in life. But if we can go with it all and not give ourselves further grief by fighting the process or playing the blaming game or assuming further dire circumstances will come as a result, it all does most definitely tend to change. I’ll even go further and say that the nature of existence is to change. As one meaning for the Two of Disks (Pentacles) in The Thoth deck says: the only stability is change.

Boil this all down? Riding out the storms in our lives with a “wait and see” attitude. Though I must admit that for me in my reclaiming of singing it’s like riding a bucking bronco. I do hope I’ll become a more skilled rider with an at least somewhat tamer mount as I go along. :-) To see my previous post about The Three of Swords, with additional meanings, click here.

For comparison, here’s two more Three of Swords cards:

The Three of Swords in The Thoth Tarot

The Three of Swords in The Karma Tarot

And lastly, here’s a link to a You Tube video with the artist of the Mountain Dream Tarot about the Three of Swords card:

Video of Bea Nettles, creator of Mountain Dream Tarot

If you’re not familiar with the Mountain Dream Tarot, here’s a link to some cards from it:

Mountain Dream Tarot on Aeclectic.net

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‘til next time, keep knowing that all things change, and enjoying The Tarot,

[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; Roswila’s Taiga Tarot for taiga (illustrated tanka); and Yahoo DREAMJIN: Group for Dreamku – Haiku-Like Dream Poems.****

THE THREE OF SWORDS

TODAY'S CARD IS The Three of Swords. This version is from The Goddess Tarot:



For comparison, here's the Three of Swords from the Rider/Waite/Smith deck:



THE THREE OF SWORDS: I woke up the other morning singing the below lyrics:

If you could read my mind love
What a tale my thoughts could tell
Just like an old time movie
bout a ghost from a wishin well
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
With chains upon my feet
You know that ghost is me
And I will never be set free....

("If You Could Read My Mind," by Gordon Lightfoot) My first thought -- even before wondering what it meant as a dream -- was "What a Three of Swords song!" There's no getting around it. This card carries a lot of sad and heavy feeling. But I've also seen it point to acknowledging and working with that pain so that it leads to healing and growth. I'd even go so far as to say that much of what this card speaks to is how we cause much of our own pain out of fear and resistance to change. So, back to the song above as a musical dream version of the Three of Swords: it was telling me I have the option of embracing the changes fully upon me now -- to "cut short" the slide into fear and pain -- and trust in Spirit.

[BTW, I'm still participating in the International Association for the Study of Dreams PsiberDreaming Conference (and having an amazing time), so my posts will continue to be less frequent until at least October 8th.]

DIFFERENT OR LESS COMMON, EVEN QUIRKY MEANINGS FOR THE THREE OF SWORDS (i.e. the below is not intended to be an exhaustive exploration of this card; a quick google will produce a wider variety of takes should you not be familiar with this card):

This is an old habitual way of thinking that is no longer applicable; it is not a true sorrow or regret. Let it go.

May indicate an old, deep wounding is being somehow echoed in the current situation. You have an opportunity to heal yourself and possibly also the situation if you can identify and acknowledge the source(s) of the wound(s).

Your pain now is the measure of your yearning toward wholeness. Keep reaching and reclaim another part of yourself.

Your plans may very well not work out. You can risk it, or re-think things.

It's how you are thinking about this that is the problem. Draw another card or two to see if you can get a new perspective on the issue.

There is no real or satisfying answer to that question right now, sorry! (Sort of like getting a busy signal on a telephone call.)

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Resource: The Tarot of Creativity; covers the Major Arcana: "...this early picture book is meant to evoke associations, images, stories. Let them evoke your own interpretations, variations, imaginations."

Please see the top of the sidebar for my background with the Tarot and a recommendation to beginners.

‘til next time, keep embracing change and enjoying The Tarot,

Roswila
[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm for some articles about Tarot.****