Three of Swords: Despair and the Spiral
Before I delve into this week’s theme, there’s something I just want to put out there. As much as I admire the great artistry of Pamela Colman Smith – who co-created the famous Waite-Smith Tarot – I think it’s important to acknowledge that many of her designs were influenced by much older Tarot decks. The iconic Three of Swords design, which we will work with today, first appeared in the Sola Busca Tarot, which was designed in 1491. Below you can see it next to the (Rider) Waite-Smith Tarot, which was created in 1909. Just sayin’.
Wherever the design first came from is not the most interesting thing here: this card is as powerful as it is painful. Here, the heart is punctured. Rain sometimes falls from gathering clouds and the clarity of the image speaks volumes. This is a Nature-Tarot blog, and this card seems pretty ominous in these times we are living in. Something is wrong with the quality of the air. Shaky foundations that have been laid can’t be undone. The creative energy of the number three is bursting to life, and there is no going back from it. The air is too warm, too polluted. Rain is falling where it shouldn’t, places are drying up that needn’t. Paying attention to it is heartbreaking, heart-stabbing, and yet we must pay attention to it. We can’t afford not to.
If the following Tarot spread speaks to you, I urge you to investigate the beautiful and revolutionary work of Joanna Macy and her ‘Work That Reconnects’. The below spread is a Tarot adaptation of her hope-inspiring approach to healing.
Left to right: the Old Fellow/Keishobou Tarot and the Sacred She Tarot.
Please prepare your cards the way you usually would, and select nine at ‘random’, face down. You can create a spiral shape with them if you life, starting from the centre with numbers one and two, and then working out as you get to number nine.
Here is what they represent:
Cards 1 and 2: Things I am grateful to the Earth for
Card 3: Something that pains me about the state of the Earth
Card 4: How I can honour my pain
Card 5: Represents my connection to All That Is
Card 6: How I can see Nature with new eyes?
Cards 7 and 8: Small, realistic ways that I can make a positive impact
Card 9: Hope will overcome
That’s all for now, friends. Thank you for being here – and please check out my Therapeutic Tarot Sessions and my courses embracing Tarot and Nature if you’d like us to work together. You can also sign up for the Tarot Blog newsletter (different to my main newsletter) below to receive occasional email updates (roughly monthly) with the latest posts.
Smiles from Scotland,
Stephen
