The 3 of swords is a card of agony, of a heart being torn apart. It’s one of the most painful cards in tarot, with there seeming to be no relief.
I suggest, while looking at this card description, you have your tarot deck in front of you and decide for yourself if you agree with the feelings on this page or if the card represents something entirely different to you.
*The image at the top of the page does not depict all of the feelings represented by a specific tarot deck! You can find other tarot card meanings here!
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A few words to describe the card:
Pain, sorrow, loss
3 of Swords
The 3 of swords tarot card is a card of pain. Of anguish. When you find this card in a tarot reading, it may represent that you are going through a loss or something may be coming.
This card can also represent a pain you’ve been through before but are still feeling. The swords are still in your heart, keeping you bleeding and in pain.
There is a way to get through this pain, and it is possible to release from it. Not to forget about what caused this pain, but to not be trapped and consumed by this suffering.
The swords series is the darkest minor arcana series, showing pain and suffering that we all go through at some point in life, whether its made by us or external forces.
We can remove the swords in this heart, one by one, to release us from some of the agony. The scars will remain, but we will no longer be jabbed in the heart by grief all the time.
Maybe look to other cards nearby to see if there’s a solution. If a card is guiding you on how to move forward, what steps you can take to be released from this anguish. Or if you’re confused by seeing this card in your reading, what is causing this card to appear. What are you holding on to that’s causing this grief and anguish?
Card Imagery
The typical imagery on this tarot card (as in the Rider Tarot Deck) is a red heart being stabbed through with three swords. This is representative of pain that has been placed in your heart. This may not be an emotional toil that caused this, it could be anything. The heart pops out of the rest of the imagery, as it’s a gray day surrounding the heart, showing the mourning and the attention being focused on this pain.
Still Confused?
Still confused about the meanings of the cards? A few tools that have been really helpful for me have been: practice, taking the time to look at each card, read books like Tarot: Learn How to Read and Interpret the Cards by Kim Arnold. Or try out tarot spreads! Try doing a simple reading every day. The Labyrinthos app is really helpful too. Or try some that I’ve created by looking here: Tarot Spreads.
Want other comparisons of tarot cards? Find those here! It might help you better understand how tarot decks are different.
