Deviant Moon Tarot--Three of Swords

afrosaxon

I always like to tackle the 3 of Swords in any deck...mainly because I am in the (relative) minority camp that this card does NOT automatically mean heartbreak, sorrow, loss.

This card is more in line with the interpretation found in the World Spirit deck.

The woman has three swords piercing through her chest, and they protrude thorugh a red heart that looks to be painted onto her dress. She is fingering the tip of the topmost sword, and there is blood on the tip of her finger. Her face is partially turned away from the window (there's lightning outside, in the distance), like she doesn't want to see what's going on out there. Note that there is some sort of light shining from outside, because it casts a shadow behind her.

The symbolism in this card is interesting.

The woman is turning away from the window, but it is her left side that is most dominant and in the light. Left side=intuition. The right side, the logical side, is in shadow. Also, her eye is wide open...she sees but doesn't want to see. Turning away doesn't make the storm outside go away, even if it is farther off.

Her shadow: bigger than she is, which is usual for our fears. And she's turning toward that big shadow.

Her dress: gray and drab, except for the heart. Also, the dress is closed by 11 gold buttons going up the right side. In numerology, 11 is a master number, signifying mastery of a task. Combined with the grays and blacks of the dress, this tells me that this woman has mastered the art of gloom and doom...she's a bit of a drama queen. She may have also mastered her logical side (the buttons are on the right), and needs to further develop her intuition. She may even be afraid to do so (as some of are when we come into our psychic gifts).

The swords: they are piercing her from the back, like she didn't see them coming. Also at her back is the big shadow...it's almost like the shadow (her fears) is stabbing her with the swords; the hilts face the wall. And she's feeling the tip of the topmost sword with her finger, bloodying herself in the process, like adding insult to injury. This reminds me of when as a kid, and your tooth was loose, you would wiggle the tooth despite the pain it caused...there was an odd comfort in the pain. Again, this goes back to the drama queen aspect; she LIKES the pain, on some level, or else she'd be making moves to get the swords out of her instead of standing there (especially if the storm is coming; lightning and metal don't mix!). It's more comforting (and familiar) to keep the pain coming, rather than stop it.

Standing in front of a window during a lightning storm isnt' the smartest move, either. :D

Her tripod feet: lend a sense of stability. So despite the piercings to her breastbone, heart, etc, she's still standing and stable. She isn't laid out on the ground, writhing in pain. She's upright.

I keep coming back to the heart and the fact that it looks to be painted on (although, on further glance, the piercings could be causing a heart-shaped stain of blood). Again...is this woman really bleeding, in pain? Is it truly a pain from the outside, as it first appears? Or is it of her own making (the piercings coming from the direction of HER shadow, not someone else's). She seems afraid of the storm; storms are disruptive and herald change, but they also clear away stuff that doesn't need to be there. They also nourish (via rain). Note the crescent moon that heralds the onset of the new moon, which is associated with beginnings. This can be exhaustive and lends necessity for the 4 of Swords (rest and recuperation).

T.
 

bumble bee

deviant moon 3 of swords

Excellent observations! I had to get a magnifying glass out to really see the storm out there. I sort of get a sense that she can't believe what has happened that shes been stabbed in the back and shes touching the swords to see if its really real. Also she cant believe she has survived the 3 swords
going thru her heart and yet she has(no doubt still standing with the help from the handy dandy tri pod leg for extra stability.) She has survived and she is stronger than she thought she was. Really sort of inspirational.
 

Cenz

I couldn't see the eleventh button, i thought there's only 10?
 

HoneyBea

I think this is an interesting card and from what I can see the suit of swords is still associated with thoughts, communication etc.
These three swords have pierce her from the back showing perhaps that the hurt was unexpected, harsh and cutting words directed to wound bringing pain straight to the heart. He says in the book
She touches the tip of one of the swords, trying to determine if the pain she feels is real or imagined
this sort of fits in with being wounded by the words or actions of another but really asking yourself whether you have taken it to heart when perhaps you shouldn't have.
The shadow behind her is larger than life, showing again how pain can over shadow all else. She lifts her hand to her head perhaps also indicating here that she is consumed by negative thoughts and the storm in the distance may well be a sign that the worst is yet to come.

The dress as was mentioned above is grey, a colour made up of black and white could well show here that she has the ability to integrate opposites, those opposing feelings and emotions she is encountering and in doing so achieve a wisdom and balance that she may well gain out of the whole experience, that she didn't have before.

The crescent moon shows us whether it is new quarter or last quarter that either a new cycle is about to begin or an old cycle is coming to an end, either way the opportunity exists to work through the trauma she may be feeling.

This is a new deck for me and I am still slowly working my way through it, and enjoying every moment. :)

~HoneyBea~
 

zephyr_heart

Her third feet might imply that her situation is so grim that she might need some additional support (from others) or she has to strengthen herself at the face of this heart-aching situation.

Any thoughts on this?
 

callistoluna

possibly reserves she didn't know she had?
 

zephyr_heart

callistoluna said:
possibly reserves she didn't know she had?
Then does that means she didn't know of her own endurance?
 

callistoluna

zephyr_heart said:
Then does that means she didn't know of her own endurance?

I think that sometimes we are pushed to what we think are beyond our limits and we wonder how we can go on, yet we find the strength somewhere and can surprise ourselves - certainly, I'd be surprised at having a third leg that I didn't know I had to support me as I fell- she looks like she's in a swoon, and falling back.
 

Umbrae

afrosaxon said:
The woman is turning away from the window, but it is her left side that is most dominant and in the light. Left side=intuition. The right side, the logical side, is in shadow. Also, her eye is wide open...she sees but doesn't want to see. Turning away doesn't make the storm outside go away, even if it is farther off.

...Her tripod feet: lend a sense of stability. So despite the piercings to her breastbone, heart, etc, she's still standing and stable. She isn't laid out on the ground, writhing in pain. She's upright.
I like that she turns from her logical stormy mind (left-brain) and looks to the right for answers...not realizing that what is experienced by the right and left sides of the body are processed in the opposite hemespheres of the brain.

Logic (thinking without feeling) got her into the mess, and she's looking for it to get her out of her stormyness...

Perhaps her third leg symbolizes her 'leg to stand on'. Ego propping itself up for the sake of propping itself up.
 

seeker1969

My take on this is not a "deep" as everyone else....I see it as the "drama queen" card. I see gossipy stuff and "stabbing in the back" by the friends of this person. ( Perhaps it's because I have a teenage daughter and everything is maximum drama.) Things are usually not as bad as we think they are- our foundation (three legs) is more stable than we realize when we are caught up in the moment of our problems.