3 of Swords as causing deliberate heartbreak....but for what motive?

[DesertRebel]

I posted this in the 3 of Swords interp. but thought it could use its own topic.

In all honesty,from what Ive seen in personal examples it was usally one of the following situations

first,its a card of itnellect and words as Swords are mental rather than emotions, however there is a piereced threw heart so its got to hurt somehow.

a) the person you are in a relationship with suddenly,and in a quite cruel,very blunt, cut-to-the-chase fashion tells you he is seeing someone besides you,such as,you send him a message that you want to see him that night and you get a reply '' sry cant,im with another girl of mine tonigh''. whichh comes as a shock to the first party since they didnt know there was another person

b ) There are persons, A,B and C. Person C says something to hurt person A out of jealousy or envy. The type of situation where a guy calls his girlfriend and another man answers the phone saying '' Well Im her boyfriend and who are you? ''


Its he card of '' you best know the painful truth than live in a lie''

Its no wonder its THE card of Betrayal,being caught of guard,trusting the other and getting backstabbed. Trust is lost by the revalation of a painful truth.


I had 3 of Swords being pulled as my boyfriends feelings for me,and I kind of feel embarassed by writting this so others can see it publicly since it is kind of humliating,but all for the good of learning. I wrote him a lovey dovey text message message one night and I got a reply,basically, the other girl took his cellphone and wrote the reply to my message pretending to be him,saying '' Im here with my girlfriend she saw your message and she says you wacked and you are''

Basically,she was not his girlfriend she was...a pass by,but either way,the damage threw words was very certanly done,and there was that horrid betrayal-like he back stabbed me because she wrote it in his presence and he allowed it.


Oh,and on a note,I find it coonfussing-when you get the 3 of Swords as signifying feelings of the partner,doesnt that mean that he is the one hurt by you,not the reverse? Or is it simply a matter of,who gets the card as their feelings,inflicts the pain? Coudl the 3 of Swords also be where one partner takes his past hurts out on his current partner? ( The lady in the Bohemian Gothic deck hurting the dove,taking out her own anger and hurt on creatures ) I find it void of any logic that she would just be responcible for the death of the dove just because-she must have been done wrong,or she percieves as being done wrong,hurt,betrayed herself and is inflicting that same hurt in the ''see what its like''?


could it be posiblle if we got the 3 of swords for a partners feelings that basically it means that the partner is the one that feels he is being betrayed,cheated on,and wants to inflict the same pain to the querent? Because,in the Bohemian Gothic she is basically,in a very phycotic way, ''taking it out'' on someone innocent-the dove that gave her his innocent trust. Its completely irrational to cause someone deliberate malice and ''conspire'' to kill the dove,just because,unless your insane,but insanity isnt logic and,swords are intellect,which again herald calous and surgeon type of inflicting pain,''devoid of heart''...but from what motive,your own hurt?

 

[JCSeawright]

i guess it always just depends on the cards placements and the question being asked

like if i were to ask my deck how does my boyfriend feel about me and the attitude position was 3oS then i would take that to indicate that i hurt his feelings, told him something that hurt him or i had (in some cases) cheated him in some way

sometimes this card can indicate a womanizer in my personal experiance someone who is a bit of a heart breaker also depending on if its next to lets say the knight of swords and or around or near the devil card

as far as your feelings about the situation it would cover you, be your crossing card, it could be in the past if it was the past situation that hurt you be in the influance or the attitude position all depending on really what you were feeling when and how and how the hurt mental, physical or other happened

also and i want to say this too that i have had 3oS indicate a physical heart attack 2x with out the realization that was what it was telling me when i was rather new to tarot and some times (being swords can indicate heart surgery) it all really depends on alot of factors it wont always be this, or always be that, the cards are complex and it will generally depend on what it is near and the situation that it happened for the individual person

that being said im sorry that your boyfriend did that to you and i do always hate it when my deck slaps me with cold hard reality but tis life and sometimes foresight is a good thing some times just as painful as hindsight

and i do agree this is more of a mental thing but sometimes mental pain can be even more damaging than...physical

 

[SunChariot]

could it be posiblle if we got the 3 of swords for a partners feelings that basically it means that the partner is the one that feels he is being betrayed,cheated on,and wants to inflict the same pain to the querent? Because,in the Bohemian Gothic she is basically,in a very phycotic way, ''taking it out'' on someone innocent-the dove that gave her his innocent trust. Its completely irrational to cause someone deliberate malice and ''conspire'' to kill the dove,just because,unless your insane,but insanity isnt logic and,swords are intellect,which again herald calous and surgeon type of inflicting pain,''devoid of heart''...but from what motive,your own hurt?

Anything is possible in Tarot. The cards are your tool to use as you see fit, and we all get to choose our own ways.

For me personally the 3 of Swords is about having caring, nurturing, protective thoughts about someone.3=The Empress, Swords= our thoughts. That is how i read, works well for me. But my point is stilll that anything is possible if that is how we choose to use and view a card.

Babs

 

[JCSeawright]

Anything is possible in Tarot. The cards are your tool to use as you see fit, and we all get to choose our own ways.

For me personally the 3 of Swords is about having caring, nurturing, protective thoughts about someone.3=The Empress, Swords= our thoughts. That is how i read, works well for me. But my point is stilll that anything is possible if that is how we choose to use and view a card.

Babs

I have never been able to find a positive spin on this card as much as ive ever read on this I could never figure out how it fit with her being mothering nurturing and protective. Thank you for that response to this person i finally get to see this card in a different way. That is a great spin on this card.

 

[caridwen]

I posted this in the 3 of Swords interp. but thought it could use its own topic.

In all honesty,from what Ive seen in personal examples it was usally one of the following situations

first,its a card of itnellect and words as Swords are mental rather than emotions, however there is a piereced threw heart so its got to hurt somehow.

a) the person you are in a relationship with suddenly,and in a quite cruel,very blunt, cut-to-the-chase fashion tells you he is seeing someone besides you,such as,you send him a message that you want to see him that night and you get a reply '' sry cant,im with another girl of mine tonigh''. whichh comes as a shock to the first party since they didnt know there was another person

b ) There are persons, A,B and C. Person C says something to hurt person A out of jealousy or envy. The type of situation where a guy calls his girlfriend and another man answers the phone saying '' Well Im her boyfriend and who are you? ''


Its he card of '' you best know the painful truth than live in a lie''

Its no wonder its THE card of Betrayal,being caught of guard,trusting the other and getting backstabbed. Trust is lost by the revalation of a painful truth.


I had 3 of Swords being pulled as my boyfriends feelings for me,and I kind of feel embarassed by writting this so others can see it publicly since it is kind of humliating,but all for the good of learning. I wrote him a lovey dovey text message message one night and I got a reply,basically, the other girl took his cellphone and wrote the reply to my message pretending to be him,saying '' Im here with my girlfriend she saw your message and she says you wacked and you are''

Basically,she was not his girlfriend she was...a pass by,but either way,the damage threw words was very certanly done,and there was that horrid betrayal-like he back stabbed me because she wrote it in his presence and he allowed it.


Oh,and on a note,I find it coonfussing-when you get the 3 of Swords as signifying feelings of the partner,doesnt that mean that he is the one hurt by you,not the reverse? Or is it simply a matter of,who gets the card as their feelings,inflicts the pain? Coudl the 3 of Swords also be where one partner takes his past hurts out on his current partner? ( The lady in the Bohemian Gothic deck hurting the dove,taking out her own anger and hurt on creatures ) I find it void of any logic that she would just be responcible for the death of the dove just because-she must have been done wrong,or she percieves as being done wrong,hurt,betrayed herself and is inflicting that same hurt in the ''see what its like''?


could it be posiblle if we got the 3 of swords for a partners feelings that basically it means that the partner is the one that feels he is being betrayed,cheated on,and wants to inflict the same pain to the querent? Because,in the Bohemian Gothic she is basically,in a very phycotic way, ''taking it out'' on someone innocent-the dove that gave her his innocent trust. Its completely irrational to cause someone deliberate malice and ''conspire'' to kill the dove,just because,unless your insane,but insanity isnt logic and,swords are intellect,which again herald calous and surgeon type of inflicting pain,''devoid of heart''...but from what motive,your own hurt?

In the case of your example (sorry to hear that by the way) I would be careful. Where did you get the idea that this girl who used your bf's phone was a "fly by"? Often in my readings and it has come up recently actually, it represents a love triangle and the pain and hurt that involves.

It has also come up to represent actual heart surgery as already mentioned.

The RWS: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/02/Swords03.jpg shows a heart pierced by three swords and a cloud burst. The heart dominates the picture because when we suffer heart break it seems as though that's all we can feel. The cloud may suggest repressed feelings that have finally burst, so the rain can represent tears.

The picture also has a feeling of swiftness as though this pain or hurt has come out of nowhere like a sudden summer shower. It isn't a life shattering revelation like the Tower however.

Maybe I've had a bad day (got up late, forgot my keys, spilled coffee on my shirt at lunchtime...) then as I'm boarding a bus I inadvertently bang someone with my bag and they turn on me. I might burst into tears because I'm tired, fed up and this is the last straw and I may find it hurtful.

Othertimes it could be the scenario you presented. A girl uses my boyfriend's phone to send me a nasty text message. I will expect to receive a nice loving text in response to mine but instead feel slapped round the face.

It isn't a card of betrayal (that's the 10 of Swords). It's not a card of regret or mental anxiety (that's the 9 of Swords) and nor is it a card of loss or mourning (the 5 of Cups). It's sudden heart ache or heart break, often tears and possibly a love triangle.

Since it is what your boyfriend felt, I'm wondering if it's the pain of a love triangle. Maybe the realisation hit him.

Recently it has come up in many readings I have done over a number of months on someone close to me. Their cards have changed from the emotional stasis of the 2 of Swords to the pain of the 3. I think this person has been supressing or denying their feelings and is now feeling them, possibly in bursts - which heart ache is wont to do.

This card follows the 2 of Swords which can sometimes represent denial and the 3 is the sudden realisation or raw emotion bursting through.

 

[PAMUYA]

After reading your post I was broken hearted. His feelings for you is not a deliberate heartbreak, but something he will cause you over and over. This one girl maybe a "passby", but there will probably be more. You put up with him, so his feelings for you is that he knows he will hurt you over and over, knowing this makes him sad.

 

[SunChariot]

I have never been able to find a positive spin on this card as much as ive ever read on this I could never figure out how it fit with her being mothering nurturing and protective. Thank you for that response to this person i finally get to see this card in a different way. That is a great spin on this card.

You're very welcome. Anytime.

Babs

 

[Thirteen]

Feeling that they want the truth to come out

Its he card of '' you best know the painful truth than live in a lie''

True! And that's the problem with your examples; they imply shock and surprise. But that's the Tower. Meaning that the person really, really, really had no idea that this person was seeing someone else and really, really, really thought they were faithful and monogamous. They were completely in the dark. An important aspect of the 3/Swords is that you KNOW something is wrong, but you won't see it or admit it. You maybe even suspect what it is that's wrong. Facing that truth, however, is gonna hurt and you'd rather hold all your suspicions, fears, truths inside than let them out and feel that hurt. So you know this guy (the one in your "A" example) is not as faithful and good as you want him to be, and when he says he's got another girl, well that confirms it. What you feel isn't shock, but all the hurt you've been trying not to avoid feeling.

Basically,she was not his girlfriend she was...a pass by,but either way,the damage threw words was very certanly done,and there was that horrid betrayal-like he back stabbed me because she wrote it in his presence and he allowed it.

The text message showed you what you probably suspected, but didn't want to admit--that this guy wasn't a nice guy. This guy wanted to break up with you and used this cowardly method to get that across to you. It's very 3/Swords. Not nice, but you have to understand the entire message that you got here....Staying with this guy is poison. He not only can't be faithful to you, doesn't respect you, and won't give you what you deserve, but he also can be cruel, careless and stupid. Painful truth? Yes, indeed. Beneficial. Absolutely. Are you really sorry you found out the truth about his ass or did you want to keep being laughed at, mocked and disrespected by him behind your back?

And here's the important question: would anything less have convinced you that he was this awful and that you couldn't trust him? Think about it this way. You have small chest pains, and though you suspect they're warning you of something bad, you ignore them because you don't want to now the truth. It isn't until you get a big, agonizing chest pain that you go to the doctor and your life is saved, one heart attack short of the problem killing you. That's what the 3/Swords is all about. You won't admit the painful truth even if you know it or suspect it. You would have excused that "fly by" and insisted your boyfriend was trustworthy. You needed a heart attack to make you say, "Okay, he's not trustworthy."

I'm not saying it's pleasant or nice or will leave you the same once it's over. 3/Swords can be horrible. But if we're going to stubbornly ignore what is poisoning us, then there really is no choice. If life doesn't give us a really painful, loud and unambiguous WAKE-UP! message, we'll continue to ignore this slow acting poison and we'll die.

And if you haven't yet, you should read what I wrote regarding what you wrote about the 3/Swords in the Bohemian Gothic deck. To whit: the 3/Swords isn't about people's motives. Why they do what they do, why they feel what they feel. When you ask what the other person feels and get 3/Swords the answer is that they're feeling that the situation is bad and the truth needs to come out. The reason why they feel that (IMHO) isn't in that card. So if you'd gotten the 3/Swords for that boyfriend who oversaw that terrible text message, all you'd know is that he wanted the truth to come out. Ask "Why did he want it to come out?" and maybe you'd get 4/Cups...telling you he was bored with your relationship, or the Devil which would say that he likes hurting people. The 3/Swords isn't about why people feel the situation is bad and the truth must come out...only that they feel that way.

Yes?

 

[Babalon Jones]

As has been mentioned, I see this card come up in love triangle, 3 way relationship situations a lot.

While it is painful, and no one enjoys pain, it is actually positive in the sense that it is the pain that leads to perception.

Rather like the Buddhist concept "the suffering that leads to the end of suffering".

Be glad that you see the truth. As to why it came up to as what he is feeling, he may feel pain too, as I'm sure he knows deep down that it was a cowardly way to break up with someone, and knowing that truth must hurt.

 

[starrystarrynight]

"3 of Swords as causing deliberate heartbreak...but for what motive?"

...When you ask what the other person feels and get 3/Swords the answer is that they're feeling that the situation is bad and the truth needs to come out. The reason why they feel that (IMHO) isn't in that card. So if you'd gotten the 3/Swords for that boyfriend who oversaw that terrible text message, all you'd know is that he wanted the truth to come out. Ask "Why did he want it to come out?" and maybe you'd get 4/Cups...telling you he was bored with your relationship, or the Devil which would say that he likes hurting people. The 3/Swords isn't about why people feel the situation is bad and the truth must come out...only that they feel that way...

I think this part of Thirteen's post bears repeating and highlighting for the way I feel about the Three of Swords, as well.

Quite often, a significant other will "allow" you to find out about his cheating by whatever means he can (lipstick on his collar, pantyhose in the glove compartment, text message from the other woman--as in your case, etc.) because he is too cowardly to bring it up himself face to face; yet, he knows it is something that needs to come out into the open and that the difficult and painful disscussion must happen. (And then you can move on to the "rest and recuperation" of the Four of Swords, as it were.)