Cult of Tarot Forum

Hi,

I like the RWS Tarot. But from all 78 cards the motif of the 3 of swords is the most incomprehensible for me.

You see a red heart that is brutally pierced through by 3 swords. In the gray background we see gloomy clouds while it’s raining.

In the RWS tradition air is associated with the mind/the intellect.
But whenever I look at this card I get the feeling of sadness, grief and sometimes even lovesickness (similiar when I look at the 5 of cups).

I wonder why P.C. Smith decided to choose such a kind of motif for this card.
This picture is extremely emotionally charged and I wonder if it’s possible to associate it with the airy realm at all.

Scanner wrote: ↑03 Dec 2020, 17:05 I wonder why P.C. Smith decided to choose such a kind of motif for this card.
This picture is extremely emotionally charged and I wonder if it’s possible to associate it with the airy realm at all.

This is my own personal take on this card.

I always see is as a warning about over-dramatising things. The image is almost kitschy and I find it hard to take seriously as actual grief or real sadness. Maybe it's the heart-shape that makes me feel that.

So in regard to the airy nature or intellectual nature of Swords, I feel like this card is about misuse or overuse of those qualities and the kind of trouble that can lead to. Like taking a bit of bad luck or misfortune and making it into a Shakespearean tragedy.

As far as advice goes, this card tells me to get more solution-focused. Just fix the problem and stop making a drama of it, stop making it worse with over-thinking, dwelling, gnashing the teeth while going on about the unfairness of life.

It's just a problem to be solved. That's all.

That's what this card always says to me.

EDIT: It also speaks to that human tendency to not sort our lives out. That feeling of being more comfortable in a bad situation instead of just fixing it. Although no one ever admits that.

I like Joan's take as a way of understanding the card. Historically, it arises from the Golden Dawn's particular system of astrological associations. In that system, the 3 of Swords falls in the second decan of Libra, ruled by Saturn. Saturn is exalted in Libra, so Saturn ruling within its exalted sign makes Saturn very powerful indeed. The darkeness and sorrow is an expression of Saturn's influence first and foremost.

It should be noted that the usual RWS interpretation is not among the most common in Marseille reading, but it can be arrived at without too much difficulty. Swords can represent strife and conflict and threes can represent growth and/or culmination. Put those two together and you've got something in that ball park.

I feel it’s worth pointing out that this is close to an exact copy of the Sola Busca three of swords:

From what I’ve read, PCS had significant leeway in drawing the minor illustrations, but Waite did urge her to attend a Sola Busca exhibit at the British museum as she was gathering inspiration for the illustrations. The Sola Busca obviously is not aligned with the Golden Dawn system because the Golden Dawn didn’t exist at the time of its creation. It is possible that PCS felt there was a strong connection to what the card would be associated with within the GD system and the SB image, but I feel like she was probably more personally impacted by the image and so recreated it without regard to how it would read as a card in a GD-style deck.

Joan Marie wrote: ↑03 Dec 2020, 18:03 This is my own personal take on this card.

I always see is as a warning about over-dramatising things. The image is almost kitschy and I find it hard to take seriously as actual grief or real sadness. Maybe it's the heart-shape that makes me feel that.

So in regard to the airy nature or intellectual nature of Swords, I feel like this card is about misuse or overuse of those qualities and the kind of trouble that can lead to. Like taking a bit of bad luck or misfortune and making it into a Shakespearean tragedy.

As far as advice goes, this card tells me to get more solution-focused. Just fix the problem and stop making a drama of it, stop making it worse with over-thinking, dwelling, gnashing the teeth while going on about the unfairness of life.

It's just a problem to be solved. That's all.

That's what this card always says to me.

EDIT: It also speaks to that human tendency to not sort our lives out. That feeling of being more comfortable in a bad situation instead of just fixing it. Although no one ever admits that.

I love this!!

Thank you all for your thoughts, but I still have the feeling that this picture is unsuitable in a particular way.

My interpretation of the first three RWS swords cards is (more or less) this:

Ace of swords: Idea
2 of swords: Doubt
3 of swords: The doubt’s consolidation

@Joan Marie

As far as advice goes, this card tells me to get more solution-focused. Just fix the problem and stop making a drama of it, stop making it worse with over-thinking, dwelling, gnashing the teeth while going on about the unfairness of life.

What makes you think this way?
So other cards, for example XIII-Death or 10 of swords include some positive elements, like a rising sun or a clear sky. For me it shows that the situation is not the end and you see light at the end of the tunnel.
But the 3 of swords quite missing such elements. So, there is nothing that could give the querent hope or change (of course, only when I go by the fact that I draw a single card - what shouldn't be the case in most readings).

Scanner wrote: ↑04 Dec 2020, 07:56
Ace of swords: Idea
2 of swords: Doubt
3 of swords: The doubt’s consolidation

I'm not sure what you mean exactly by "doubt's consolidation."
For me I read the cards each time in the context of the question and the spread. Fixed meanings are a place to start, but it 's too limited to apply them over and over the same way.

Think about for example a facial expression, like a raised eyebrow. Doesn't the meaning of that raised eyebrow depend on who is doing it and in what context? You can't just say "A raised eyebrow always means ..." We can all agree on what it usually means, but even that meaning is coloured by the context and the person doing it.

Scanner wrote: ↑04 Dec 2020, 07:56

As far as advice goes, this card tells me to get more solution-focused. Just fix the problem and stop making a drama of it, stop making it worse with over-thinking, dwelling, gnashing the teeth while going on about the unfairness of life.

What makes you think this way?

I think it's because, as you point out, it just seems so completely hopeless. It appears to me as it is just taking itself WAY too seriously. And as I said before part of that is because of the use of a heart-shaped heart. It comes across to me as kitsch. Like a bad actor over-emoting.

I could replace that 3 of swords with this meme:

Merrick wrote: ↑03 Dec 2020, 19:35 I feel it’s worth pointing out that this is close to an exact copy of the Sola Busca three of swords:

Merrick makes a good point here. That PCS most very likely did not originate the general style of the 3 of Swords but rather nicked it from the Sola Busca which was on display at the British Museum at the time. The Sola Busca image however is not so drab and sad and drippy as the RWS one.

Now, the Sola Busca famously has no official guidebookk to the meanings of its cards making it a total enigma. But the guide I have with mine (made by people who have studied the imagery and symbolism used wrote this meaning for the card:

Pierced heart on a garland. Facing sacrifices serenely. Altruism. Suffering for a noble cause. Voluntary expiation.

That is kind of in agreement with what I had written in the sense it's about pulling yourself together and getting on with it. Otherwise you end up looking like over-dramatic cat.

Other cards in the RWS deck speak more clearly and sensitively to real sadness, trouble and grief. The Fives of Cups and Pentacles for example. And obviously the 9 and 10 of Swords. Even the 4 of swords, where the person has 3 swords dangling overhead.

How does the 4 of Swords play in your sequence after "doubt's consolidation"?

Hi again!

@ Joan Marie:
Sorry for my misspelling!
I meant that the 3 of swords is just the result of the 2 of swords.
For me the blindfolded and sword holding person represents the doubts he/she has. And those doubts end in resignation/depression (3 of swords).

Amongst other things the 4 of swords represents recration and recovery. But the lying person on the card is forced to do that and it’s not his free will which brought him into this situation. (That makes the difference to XII – Hanged Man, who went into that position by his own volition.)

I understand what you mean by drama and kitsch.
But I’m not sure about the view the 3 of swords should indicate pretended drama?
For me it wouldn’t make sense that PCS draw this scene when she wanted to express something completely different.
Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that your interpretation is incorrect. It might even be possible, but I think the image of this card reflects a kind of seriousness that will not convince me opposite at the moment.

But again thanks for all your refreshing thoughts!

I suppose it depends a lot on when and where the card turns up.

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