Sheridan Douglas Three of Batons

Does anyone know what's up with the dolphin on the Three of Batons in the Sheridan-Douglas? It seems like an unusual choice for this suit. I have Douglas' book The Tarot,but it doesn't give an explanation.

Hi Abrac,

I was confused too when I saw this card.

There just seems to be too much water in there for a fire card.

I did a bit of hunting into the symbolism and meaning of the dolphin.

Apparently their appearance off the shores of Ireland urged the Celts to contemplate an unknown universe – the sea. I think that this fits quite well with the meaning of farsightedness and of looking at the bigger picture that I've often got from the Three of Wands.

Three is also a number of integration and the dolphin has learned to integrate life in the sea and also the breathing of air and breath control very well.

Three is also a very sociable number and I've interpeted the Three of Wands as meaning that I should take my ideas out into the world or the community before - this too, ties in with dolphins as they are famously sociable and friendly creatures.

Hope this helps a bit. If I have any more thoughts I'll be back.

Would you be interested in a Study Group for this deck? It's my only reading deck at the moment and I'm loving it.

Three of Batons

Here is my interpretation of the Sheridan three of batons.

First of all we see the three batons (or wands) represented by the three masts supporting the sails of the ship,the ship at sea is the launching of a great venture,the sighting of the dolphin is a great omen in this venture,as the dolphin does indeed symbolize great intelligence,communication,kindness,and co-operation.
Maybe the dolphin is offering help and guidence to the sailing ship?and will guide the ship to safety and success.?

So if we put this together we can see the divinatory meaning of great successful launching of plans and new ideas,also success with the help and guidence and co-operation of others (the Dolphin).

Well thats how i have always read this card.But we should all adopt our own meanings based on the feelings we get from this card,they will be all slightly different but correct for you.

Antonius said:

Here is my interpretation of the Sheridan three of batons.

First of all we see the three batons (or wands) represented by the three masts supporting the sails of the ship,the ship at sea is the launching of a great venture,the sighting of the dolphin is a great omen in this venture,as the dolphin does indeed symbolize great intelligence,communication,kindness,and co-operation.
Maybe the dolphin is offering help and guidence to the sailing ship?and will guide the ship to safety and success.?

So if we put this together we can see the divinatory meaning of great successful launching of plans and new ideas,also success with the help and guidence and co-operation of others (the Dolphin).

Well thats how i have always read this card.But we should all adopt our own meanings based on the feelings we get from this card,they will be all slightly different but correct for you.

Click to expand...

Antonius your take makes so much sense.

I hadn't even thought that the three Batons were the masts of the ship...

I just couldn't get past that dolphin.

Thank you

3 of batons sample by D Sheridan

Do you remember Alfred posted some old prototype designs by David Sheridan,they were of card designs that never made it to final deck,

Here take a look at this three of Batons,http://www.tarotforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=12300

Again the three batons this time one on each ship mast,and also the presence of dolphins again.

Lets hope Alfreds new book (im sure hes writing a new book is he?) will explain the pictured minor arcana in more detail,although most of the designs are self explanatory as they follow close to the Pamela Coleman designs.

As i have said many times before i love this deck and the feel of the strong colours and 70s feel.The trouble is i find it really hard to try to use any other deck for readings,as soon as i start to study with other cards i just keep seeing the Sheridan pictures.I would love to study the thoth more deeply and understand the meaning behind the very detailed thoth pictures but as soon as i start to turn over the thoth cards i again revert back to Sheridan images for memory of the meanings.....weird eh!.....i suppose this is what is known as building a rapport with your own personal deck.

Yes, I see it now. Three masts on the ship. You have to look closely as they are mostly covered by the sails.

Sulis, there may be others who want to start a Sheridan-Douglas study group and I might occassionaly participate, but I can't commit to it at this time. I have just gotten the book. I mainly got it for future reference. I intend to get around to it eventually, but right now I have too many other irons in the fire.

I would like to get the Sheridan-Douglas reprint too at some point. Still thinking about it.

Three of Batons

Yes, Antonius and Sulis, you have both caught our thinking about the meaning of this card. The three batons are the three masts of the ship (a bit subtle, I know) and the dolphin's habit of gambolling along beside sailing ships was considered a lucky omen by sailors of old, so in combination the message might be, "your ship is coming in".

The dolphin is known to be friendly and to have helped swimmers in distress, so an underlying message here might be that your efforts are about to pay off, and certain forces are protecting you and helping you on your way. A reassuring and uplifting card to get in a spread.

Perhaps with hindsight we might have made the ship a little more prominent and the dolphin not quite filling the foreground so much, but I must say I do like the image as it is.

Thanks Alfred. I see it all makes sense now.

Three batons (masts) in one (the ship) unified and moving toward the observer. The dolphin as harbinger.

Abrac said:

I would like to get the Sheridan-Douglas reprint too at some point. Still thinking about it.

Click to expand...

There's no time like the present! The quality is sterling,
in every regard...it's hard to say enough good about it!

Click on to View Sample Images.