any thoughts on this one?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 16 Mar 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

The Hierophant	16 Mar 2005
Hi all---new member here and new to the tarot---just studying the cards and their meanings this past month. I am starting to see the parallels in the suits for instance three being the number of unity or synthesis. I understand this concept with the 3 of wands in terms of the meanings I have read in that this card may stand for integrity---the union of mind, body and spirit. I understand the concept of unity in relation to the 3 of disks if that stands for the unity of commitment, focus and action(works.) I'm a little foggier when it comes to the 3 of cups if that is to mean emotional abundance in which case SOMETHING has got to be lined up or at least there is the absence of conflict or any type of negativety. However I don't see the connection of 3 at all in relation to the 3 of swords. Perhaps I'm missing something or I'm taking the parallel thing to literally. Don't know if I'm on the right track here.

tarotbear	16 Mar 2005
Threes indicate group activities or situations involving more than one person. They can also indicate delay, but with the promise of future success

jmd	16 Mar 2005
For the three of Swords, two threads that come to mind are:[indent]Three of Swords - a good card?; and 3 Epées (Swords).[/indent] Generally, and in the first instance, I would personally recommend that the card image be looked at carefully. In the Marseille deck, for example, the depicted image is absolutely full of various connotations. Apart from anything else, it instantly brings in at least two opposites - whether it be cultures through the differing representation of the swords (curved and straight), or gender. These it then unifies, or makes whole. As a key-word for three, certainly one may call to mind 'synthesis' or 'communication' (the latter of which I at times include), related, then, to the tool in question. In this case, a tool which is essentially a weapon.

Thirteen	16 Mar 2005
The Hierophant wrote: However I don't see the connection of 3 at all in relation to the 3 of swords. JMD makes a great point--"synthesis" is my fave of those words for the 3's, and that works quite well for 3/swords. I always think about whispers, gossips, arguments, deciet going on, and then comes that third sword, synthesizing it all, as it were. Doesn't mean that the results are going to be happy, but there is a release of tension in that third sword. Might be painful, like lancing a boil or letting out poison, but that's the end of the build-up. Everything comes together (synthesis), and the querent (sic) knows what's been going on at last.

Kiama	16 Mar 2005
Thirteen wrote: JMD makes a great point--"synthesis" is my fave of those words for the 3's, and that works quite well for 3/swords. I always think about whispers, gossips, arguments, deciet going on, and then comes that third sword, synthesizing it all, as it were. Doesn't mean that the results are going to be happy, but there is a release of tension in that third sword. Might be painful, like lancing a boil or letting out poison, but that's the end of the build-up. Everything comes together (synthesis), and the querent (sic) knows what's been going on at last. Just to add to Thirteen's wonderful (as usual!) analysis... I see the third sword in the 3 of Swords as the proverbial 'last straw', which sends that last cut through your heart and galvanizes you into action at last (whether than action be a positive reaction to the deceit, or a complete breakdown!) Either way, that final sword clinches it, brings about that 'oh yeah, now I see what's been going on!' feeling, and as Thirteen pointed out in hurts. But part of the 3 of Swords I think also touches on grief, pain, and mourning - and how letting out these emotional responses to things like deceit and betrayal can heal us remarkably. Cool thread folks! Blessings, Kiama

psychic sue	16 Mar 2005
In addition to other meanings, threes can mean development and completion of a phase. I have seen three of cups appear where there is a love triangle also. Sue x

Fudugazi	16 Mar 2005
Three traditionally is expansion and creativity. The bringing together of 1 and 2, to create something new (some call it synthesis, I prefer more dynamic language for this dynamic number) - depending on the suit, it touches different parts of the human experience. It can translate as group activities (see Tarotbear above) though not necessarily, and that is not the starting point. It can also about getting yourself together (all your faculties working as a team, as it were) to expand and create. In the case of the three of swords, it might be about marshalling your mental faculties to step over a painful place - or an obstacle in your life, so you can once again expand mentally. I and others are discussing threes in a thread on creation in the Marseille part of the forum - http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=38826

graylensman	16 Mar 2005
I too saw the "synthesis" meaning when i worked on this card, but the message I got was the archetypal Three Musketeers - all for one, one for all. Whereas Three of Cups (to me) means new friends coming together for mutual pleasure and enjoyment, III Swords is comrades coming together in the face of adversity. Just my $.02; I've been studying for about as long as you, Hierophant!

Thirteen	16 Mar 2005
Helvetica wrote: some call it synthesis, I prefer more dynamic language for this dynamic number [/url] !! You don't think "synthesis" is dynamic? That's what chemistry is all about! Two chemicals dynamically and dramatically creating a third--egg and sperm dynamically forming the basis for an embryo, thesis and antithesis battling it out till finally, amazingly, you get, yes, synthesis! Stephen Hawking talks of how Quantum theorists wouldn't talk with Astronomers about the laws of the universe and vice versa, each stubbonly thinking the other on the wrong end of such laws (too big or too small)--but then HE used Quantum ideas on black holes, synthesizing the two, and suddenly opened a whole new arena as to how the universe works. Just my humble opinion here, but I can't imagine how synthesis could be seen as passive or even quiet. It's so dynamic is breaks open doors that have been shut, eyes that couldn't see, ideas trapped and lets them all free. Synthesis is the key that opens the gates of well, anything and everything. Can't get much more dynamic ;)

Fudugazi	16 Mar 2005
Thirteen, I didn't express myself very well. Synthesis itself is dynamic (as you have shown) - I don't find the word "synthesis" very dynamic to the ear :)

Arnnaria	16 Mar 2005
Helvetica wrote: Thirteen, I didn't express myself very well. Synthesis itself is dynamic (as you have shown) - I don't find the word "synthesis" very dynamic to the ear :) Thesaurus for Synthesis [under the intended definition of "fusion"] admixture, alloy, amalgam, amalgamation, blend, blending, coadunation, coalescence, coalition, commingling, commixture, compound, federation, heating, immixture, integration, intermixture, junction, liquefaction, liquification, melting, merger, merging, mixture, smelting, synthesis, unification, union, uniting, welding "Fusion" is a fun word... "Amalgamation" will get you some SAT points... "Coalition" works for the III of Disks and III of Cups... "Coalescence" is pretty... "Integration" seems very PC... "Juncation" reminds me of freeways... "Merger" is very business-like... "Smelting" is just an ugly word... "Welding" is a great word, but it reminds me of goblins* (* - if anyone gets that reference, I will marry you on the spot :-P)

The Hierophant	16 Mar 2005
Thanks for all the info. even though it has now become a discussion in and of itself among very experienced Taroists.A lot for an eenie weenie beginner like myself. The nine or ten books that I am cross referencing as to the meaning of the cards associate sorrow with the three of swords. After reading all the comments it has occured to me that there is absolutely unity in sorrow in that sorrow is the ultimate acceptance of loss. Mind, body and spirit have to accept loss in order to assimilate it and come through it. To regain balance. If one denies the experience(mind) you are stuck for instance. I was seeing unity as a positive although sorrow is not really a negative---just a passage through a situation. In sorrow there is hope etc. I see that whereas the cards hold meaning in and of themselves you have to breathe life into them through personal experience. I also realize that I should start to do simple readings and not wait untill I feel "whole" with each card since each card is so influenced by the others. As far as the card having a sexual meaning, my sex life is to boring right now to even go there. Got to keep things simple for now!

Dave's Angel	16 Mar 2005
Hello Hierophant, what I would recommend, although it's quite idiosyncratic (aren't we all) and deep, is a leaf through Aleister Crowley's book on his Thoth tarot deck. He goes into a lot of detail on each card and pays especial attention to Qabalistic stuff, which includes the connotations of number irrespective of the suit. In places he discusses the four cards of a particular number together at once, as opposed to separate cards. I found it very helpful only a couple of days ago when for the first time in my life all four Pages cropped up in a Celtic Cross (boy was I freaked out). Coming at it from a Qabalistic perspective (ignore paragraph if this just isn't your bag), three is the last number "above the abyss", before descent into the world of form. It's the last stop before things manifest. As such I see three as a place of gestation (somebody aptly used the egg / sperm / embryo symbol). It's stillness in one respect, but also of forcing something into the outside world - think of someone taking a few deep breaths before taking a headlong run at something they know will be strenuous. Regarding the Three of Swords... Swords are Air, an intellectual suit. At its worst, Air thinks, ponders, daydreams, runs round in circles, plans it all meticulously.... but needs a kick in the pants to actually DO something. Sometimes in our lives, that kick is grief, pain, trouble, loss. So the Three of Swords is that sorrow, placed at that point where thought has to manifest as action.

Thirteen	16 Mar 2005
The Hierophant wrote: it has occured to me that there is absolutely unity in sorrow in that sorrow is the ultimate acceptance of loss. Mind, body and spirit have to accept loss in order to assimilate it and come through it. To regain balance. Wow. VERY well put! You learn fast and then surpass :)

The Hierophant	17 Mar 2005
a BIG help. Thanks.

The Hierophant	17 Mar 2005
Thanks for the vote of confidence. The Hierophant is always searching for a path to what he already knows to be true and needs all the help he can get! This forum is turning out to be a GREAT tool for learning but then again I knew that already(HeHe.) Being a terminal Pisces case and growing up with only feeling and intuition(a dreadful state with lots of possibilities), I had to learn how to Think through the most intense Practice over years. So I have a natural aversion to Ideas not related to Practice. The Hierophant has to be careful to stay grounded, with this vast body of Tarot knowledge before him , and not "drown" in Ideas.

The any thoughts on this one? thread was originally posted on 16 Mar 2005 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.