Three of Swords
heartbreak · a painful truth · sorrow · separation
Card art: Pamela Colman Smith, 1909, for A. E. Waite. Public domain.
The suit of Swords
In a few words
- heartbreak
- a painful truth
- sorrow
- separation
A heart pierced by three swords under rain. Sorrow, a painful truth, a separation that hurts.
Upright
- Everything
- A heart pierced by three swords under rain. Sorrow, a painful truth, a separation that hurts.
- Love
- Heartbreak, a betrayal, a parting. The pain is real; it is also passing through.
- Work
- A hurtful outcome: a rejection, a falling-out, a loss you did not deserve.
- Money
- A loss that stings, often through someone else's action. Do not chase it in anger.
- Myself
- Grief is the price of having cared. Let it rain; it clears.
Removal, absence, delay, division, rupture, dispersion, and all that the design signifies naturally, being too simple and obvious to call for specific enumeration.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 248
Reversed
- Everything
- The swords coming out. Forgiveness, recovery of spirit, the worst of the pain behind you.
- Love
- Healing of the heart after a break. Or an old hurt you keep reopening; stop.
- Work
- Recovering from a setback. The lesson stays, the sting goes.
- Money
- Getting past a loss. Rebuilding with more care.
- Myself
- Releasing the pain. You are allowed to feel better.
Mental alienation, error, loss, distraction, disorder, confusion.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 248
The card, as Waite described it
Three swords piercing a heart; cloud and rain behind.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 248
The plain-word meanings on this page were written for ShreeJyoti and are still under review.