Empress and the rest of the Three.

Question to all. I know I should be careful with clarifying a card but since it focused on the same number I thought there was a clear message that I just can’t understand. I did a reading for myself and of an interest of mine. I pulled for the “how he sees me position” the three of wands. I wanted additional information for the card (I know, probably not a good idea because now look) and got the three of swords. Then in the “what does he want with me position” I pulled the Empress. So because 3 of swords came up, I got so confused because I thought that it contradicted the point of him viewing me in a way that he wanted to do something with me. But since they were 2 threes in the position of "how he sees me", maybe this meant more than I can understand. And then the Empress I took also as positive, new growth, new beginnings. Any help?
Thanks in advance

For me the first 3 help you to let behind the second one and so become The Empress.
Perhaps you've been rejected in the past and now all is open, reaching a first state of achievement, glad with a new opportunity to feel yourself valuable and creative, surpassing the old pain.
Your interest one want and hope you can do it.
Or maybe as well he is who need your help.
Also having you as a "third person" with which experience the passion The Empress means, and forget sorrows with somebody else, even conscious of how many pain can cause.

Just my view.

Threes are a number of imagination, of expansion - and of synthesis (of 1 & 2) - therefore a powerfully creative number. As well as its traditional meaning of "heartbreak" (very limiting, I always thought), the 3 of Swords also shows the mind's capacity to imagine - pain & how to overcome it, or pleasure & how to mess it up!

Together with the other 3s (Wands & Empress) I would say it means - letting the mind expand the possibilities of the wands - lust, energy, plans - and serve the creative Empress. Love & sex often start in the mind, and then move into the heart & body. But it could also mean - the mind as an obstacle, imagining trouble (possibly because of past experience) - but I would say those hot planning wands and that sexy clever Empress more than make up for such a possibility.

Edited to add: the 3 of Wands can also mean "keeping one's options open", which the 3 of Swords (the mind here messing things up) might be pushing for. It's not necessarily negative, but definitely worth not acting too heavy around such a person.

First, I'm very wary of using tarot as a way to divine another person's feelings about oneself. A lot of distortion creeps in. It is very hard not to let the ego get in the way of the reading, as, of course, we resist objectivity in dealings which have to do with others' impressions of us. Especially when we want something of or from them!

And in the end, any actions we take based on these readings are likely to fail, as we're coming at the situation from a very biased perspective. We haven't asked what the next step should be. The fact someone likes or doesn't like us at the moment might not be as important as the flow of future interactions. So I would suggest that maybe the question itself isn't the best approach. I personally would try to choose a question more along the lines of, "What is the potential of this relationship?" and "What can I do to help make this happen?"

That said, I can also offer some thoughts on 3s. One of my keywords for 3s is "foundation." If you think geometrically, three is the smallest number of points you can connect to make an enclosed space (of course, this does not include the possibility of connecting points with curved lines, which actually reflect the connection of an infinite number of points). One is the spark, the initiation, the seed. Two introduces the first tension, duality, first meeting. Three is when things start to become more solid.

Given that you've got three different cards with the value of three, we can ignore the suits and specific traits of each card, and think about this. This may suggest that this person has just begun to form a picture of you in his mind. Or perhaps he's just now beginning to form an opinion of you. Which would suggest that how you are around him over the next bit may be critical. It might also suggest a certain solidity of connection between you. Or an obstacle/block formed by pre-existing conditions or new opinions. With the Empress, I'd tend to read these threes in a more positive light, but I think you need to ask more and different questions to clarify.

Thank you to all. I have felt rejected in the past I felt by him, although he probably wouldn’t think so. He might think that I am standoffish to him, but it’s because of his actions. We are both dating casually and I hope that it leads to something soon. So yes, Helvetica, I can see it in terms of him viewing me as keeping his options open. And yes, I do feel like I can’t show too much with this person, I have to take it slow. I do feel like there is some sort of block that he is going through that I just don’t know what is going in that head of his. He’s so private. Yes Noby, this spread probably doesn’t tell me too much so I will do another spread like you have suggested. Thank you