8 of cups clarified by 3 of swords.

Adriana

When 8 of cups come out as the outcome to a relationship reading, clarified by 3 of swords. Does this combo reek break up?
Could it just be about leaving the past behind to be able to move forward with the relationship, and that this transition would not go totally easy?
 

Thirteen

Self-realizaton

When 8 of cups come out as the outcome to a relationship reading, clarified by 3 of swords. Does this combo reek break up? Could it just be about leaving the past behind to be able to move forward with the relationship, and that this transition would not go totally easy?
8/Cups, like the 3/Swords can indicate a realization about the relationship that makes it not what one or both participants thought it was. It's one of the ignored definitions of 8/Cups that it can imply a kind of "wake up" feel. You were drunk and went to bed with someone you thought was wonderful, and now you've woken up, look over and go, "what was I thinking?" ;) Likely, this means that the participants in the relationship realize that the relationship just isn't working for either of them and they split. However, it could mean that the relationship, as it is, isn't' working for them. I could as easily see this for a couple where one of the participants realizes that they're gay (or their partner realizes it) and it's not going to work, as I could for a pair of close friends who realize they have to go further or break up. That being just "friends" isn't enough.

Similarly with 3/Swords where you learn something that pierces your heart, but also bleeds out ill feelings have been building up. However unhappy you are that this thing (whatever it is) is not working out, you also feel like you can finally move on and find what you're really after. You realize that this thing was holding you back, keeping you from developing and finding real contentment.

Which is what I find most interesting about these cards. They're less about the failure of something (like a relationship) as a person's realization of who they are and what they need to do or be or become. There is a "living a lie" or in the case of 8/Cups, "living in a false paradise" feel. What you were doing wasn't right for you, much as you may have wanted it to be right. There is freedom and a chance to be more yourself in this realization.
 

CaballoDeCopas

oh, yes , move on, but I personally think this is a happy move on come the end, it isn't like the 5 of cups regret.
 

Adriana

Yeah, caballo, I see the 8 of cups (at least in the mystic dreamer deck) as a good card in some ways. Leaving something behind takes courage, but the woman in that deck has her head up high. Of course there could be elements of sorrow.


Thanks for the interpretation, Thirteen. I really enjoy your posts lol. And what you say makes a lot of sense about the cards.
 

PAMUYA

Eight of cups as an outcome for a relationship, clarifed by the 3 of Swords. I do see break up with this combo.

this is a possible outcome for this combo:

Eight of Cups, did this person leave a relationship to be in the one today? This person is regretting that decision of leaving the first person(3 of swords). The grass is not greener on the other side of the fence. Now they are stuck, the damage done.

I see the five of cups is when you are the one that was left for another, you suffered a loss. The eight of cups is when you leave (or your partner leaves someone to be with you), and now you/someone regrets it.
 

Adriana

Thanks PAMUYA. I haven't thought about that interpretation before. May I ask how you see it from that combo? Cos I understand that 3 of swords as a clarifier could as one of the meanings be about a 3d person, but I didn't think it would be a former relationship necessarily. But I have got the impression that 8 of cups has more about doing the leaving themselves as you say.
 

WalesWoman

I wouldn't see 8 Cups clarified by 3 Swords as regret for leaving the first person to go off to greener pastures. I think it hurts a lot to leave those cups behind, but it's the best thing for everyone involved.

I'm with Thirteen on this one, that due to disillusionment, disenchantment and disappointment, you realize that it is best to leave those cups behind even if you have no real clue what you are moving towards. To me it says that if there is a break up, that it will shock everyone because they "seemed like such a perfect couple"... due to the usual RWS image of a precisely stacked formation of cups being abandoned. So much of relationships is for show and no one knows what it's really like at home... the heartbreak and despair and hurts that build up over time... until it simply can't be done anymore and the only thing left is to leave it all behind and stop trying to fix it or make it right. Love can't be ordered and sorted neatly and isn't tidy.
 

Adriana

Btw, could this combo mean something so simple as one of them going on a trip?
 

WalesWoman

Btw, could this combo mean something so simple as one of them going on a trip?

Parting is such sweet sorrow, I miss you already?