ninashita
The best way I have to describe the 3ofS is summed up in one simple quote:
"Truth will set you free, but it will first piss you off."
"Truth will set you free, but it will first piss you off."
defeating the Three of Swords
Sophie
The RWS and the Thoth 3 of Swords have been instrumental in some important breakthroughs in my life. So I would never want to defeat it - rather, I aim to work with it.
Swords are about mental work, thinking, separating, learning to discriminate, cutting through, facing and solving problems, reaching the truth. The Three of Swords helps us to that through the experience of sorrow, which stimulates our capacity to grow. The human being, an intelligent animal, rises to his greatest achiements through confronting both himself and his environment - and there are few things more difficult to confront than emotional pain. Yet it is by going through the pain, and using our minds to understand it and ourselves, rather than trying to defeat it, avoid it or blaming others for it, that we become better people - both more intelligent and more compassionate.
BTW - there is no degree of sorrow implied in the card - it can be a huge pain, or a petty irritation, depending on the reading.
Swords are about mental work, thinking, separating, learning to discriminate, cutting through, facing and solving problems, reaching the truth. The Three of Swords helps us to that through the experience of sorrow, which stimulates our capacity to grow. The human being, an intelligent animal, rises to his greatest achiements through confronting both himself and his environment - and there are few things more difficult to confront than emotional pain. Yet it is by going through the pain, and using our minds to understand it and ourselves, rather than trying to defeat it, avoid it or blaming others for it, that we become better people - both more intelligent and more compassionate.
BTW - there is no degree of sorrow implied in the card - it can be a huge pain, or a petty irritation, depending on the reading.
star-lover
my 2 cents
acceptance and realisation of how things truly are - facing facts - bottom line - letting go and moving on - being honest with yourself and therefore with others - courage and ability to overcome hurt - real healing
acceptance and realisation of how things truly are - facing facts - bottom line - letting go and moving on - being honest with yourself and therefore with others - courage and ability to overcome hurt - real healing
ana luisa
I personally hate this card. I´d rather have two Towers or even the 10 of swords than the 3 of Swords. To me, it´s about being hurt not once or twice but three times. If the heart bleeds in this card, then, you still need to let it dry. Plus, it tells me every time that you will have to do something about this problem be it physical or emotional. But, you´ll need to take the swords out first. And that hurts yet again and the bleeding may come back. 
I seriously have to learn how to accept it...
I seriously have to learn how to accept it...
le fey
To me, the 3 of Swords means 'the truth hurts'. Getting down the the very heart of something you don't want to think about and finally having to accept it as real, cutting away the denial and wishful thinking you've padded around yourself to avoid having to deal with it.
Because it's a swords card rather than a cups card, I think that the painful emotion is a side effect - the key to the card is in the truth that needs to be faced. So it's not just 'sadness' or 'pain' - it's pointing to the understandings, thoughts and beliefs that cause the pain.
And man, does that ever hurt - but it's the kind of hurt that allows healing and recovery to finally begin, because until we face the source of our pain, we can't begin to let it go or move beyond it.
ADDED: Oh... and I think it's counter productive to attempt to defeat it - that'd just be a return to denial with thsoe swords stuck in you and pretending they aren't there. By the time you reach the point of the 3 of Swords, all you can do is face it, process it, and move on from it.
Because it's a swords card rather than a cups card, I think that the painful emotion is a side effect - the key to the card is in the truth that needs to be faced. So it's not just 'sadness' or 'pain' - it's pointing to the understandings, thoughts and beliefs that cause the pain.
And man, does that ever hurt - but it's the kind of hurt that allows healing and recovery to finally begin, because until we face the source of our pain, we can't begin to let it go or move beyond it.
ADDED: Oh... and I think it's counter productive to attempt to defeat it - that'd just be a return to denial with thsoe swords stuck in you and pretending they aren't there. By the time you reach the point of the 3 of Swords, all you can do is face it, process it, and move on from it.
minotaur
three of swords
A few here have posted about letting go. This is similar to how I handle it...
The three of swords suggests forgiving someone who doesn't deserve it.
A few here have posted about letting go. This is similar to how I handle it...
The three of swords suggests forgiving someone who doesn't deserve it.
JonMAblaze
This is a good point. I didn't think of this important distinction until the card came up in that last reading in relation to an intellectual struggle, as indicated by the Knight of Swords. It's tempting to read the card as heartbreak, plain and simple, but it's more complicated than that. Look at the 5 of Cups. That is what heartbreak feels like. The fact that the 3 of Swords is abstract and representational is key, I think. It's about mental pain, and emotional pain is a side-effect, direct though it may be.le fey said:
coyoteblack
In my opinion defeating the 3 of swords is the wrong way to go. Acknowledging it and facing it down with some humility works well.
I view the 3's as synthesis / creativity and swords as communication and intellect.
with the image of the heart i think it stands for the illusion we create some time and breaking them and facing the truth hurts like a son of a gun.
like someone said "Truth will set you free, but it will first piss you off.".
in closing like others have said working, acknowledging , facing this head on is the way to go. " trying to defeat this is what will cause you more of them to appear.
I view the 3's as synthesis / creativity and swords as communication and intellect.
with the image of the heart i think it stands for the illusion we create some time and breaking them and facing the truth hurts like a son of a gun.
like someone said "Truth will set you free, but it will first piss you off.".
in closing like others have said working, acknowledging , facing this head on is the way to go. " trying to defeat this is what will cause you more of them to appear.
