
Ok, so you went ahead and asked the tarot about your current relationship or the person you want to be in a relationship with and it replied…
III of Swords!
Do you ignore it and shuffle again? Well, yeah, I’ve done that on occasion!! But if you are up to facing the III of Swords head on, then here are my thoughts on it. I hope they help.
I used to fear this card almost as much as the DEATH card and maybe all you romantics out there know what I mean. Because we know heartache, heartbreak, lost love and unrequited love. It hurts so much you don’t think you will ever recover. So, if you have managed to find someone you love, you really don’t want to see the III of Swords appearing in a reading warning you of heartache to come.
So for the times that it does wave its blatantly obvious meaning in your shocked and horrified face, here is the meaning as I see it and as I have accepted it, because heartbreak happens – and the III of Swords describes the misery beautifully.
Firstly, the imagery. Well, it’s perfect. While all the other tarot cards are busy with combinations of people, colours, buildings, landscape and foliage, the III of Swords has only 3 features– the heart, the swords and the driving rain. That’s all it needs, because that is all there is when you are heartbroken. The piercing pains in your heart and tears, everything else made so dull and grey there is nothing else to see. Beautifully simple isn’t it?
So I see the III of Swords and I think yes, that is an honest depiction of what heartbreak feels like.
Now, notice the heart. It is a rich bright red, a complete and perfect heart shape and fills most of the card. It is alive. You would think that three long swords piercing it all the way through would have left it deflated, bleeding out, shrunken and rotting. No, this heart is a survivor, this heart is alive, this heart hasn’t forgotten any of its feelings or desires and it never will.
So, I see the III of Swords and I know that I felt real love, I didn’t imagine it, I will never forget it or feel I was mistaken because it ended.
Now, look at the swords. Did you ever wonder why a card that so obviously deals with the heart and emotions isn’t a cups card? I feel that this is such a painful card that it can’t belong with the cups as it would throw the whole suit off balance!! But it also has to do with all the mental anguish that accompanies heartbreak. You spend so long THINKING about it as well as feeling about it. Not to mention the extremely harsh words or truths that can be driven through your heart during ‘the breakup talk’. Those swords go all the way through your heart- this isn’t a slight ‘nick’ with the blades.
So, I see the III of Swords and I know the pain runs deep. This is total heartbreak.
Finally, the grey clouds lashing rain on your heart. This is the ONLY tarot card with rain in it! The kind of rain you can let your feelings out in, allowing tears to flow down your face because nobody will notice the difference between your tears and rain drops. The rain hides your sorrow and works to wash it away.
So, I see the III of Swords and I know it’s OK to cry and cry and cry some more. It’s better to let it out.
So what can you tell yourself when you draw the III of Swords in a love reading and it comes to pass in your life?
You can tell yourself:
I know that this is an honest depiction of what my heartbreak feels like.
I know that I felt real love, I didn’t imagine it, I will never forget it or feel I was mistaken because it ended.
I know the pain runs deep. This is total heartbreak.
I know it’s OK to cry and cry and cry some more. It’s better to let it out.
Finally, the III of Swords is confirmation of something meaningful; it may have been a Soul Mate (Anam Cara) or Twin Flame connection. If so, then even after you get over them (and you will to a degree despite how you feel now) you may have times in your life when you are reminded of this person and you find yourself revisiting this III of Swords energy, feeling stabs of pain like little after shocks. This is normal. For some, they may reconnect with this person again in their lifetime – if it was meant to be. However, this just does not happen in all cases, so ‘feel the feels’ as they say, because if you bottle it up, they will reappear later and be more difficult to deal with.
Please remember that whatever happened with the love you have lost, there are so many people that care about you. You are not alone. This has not just happened to you. The III of Swords has visited me and I have been convinced that I would never get over it. But I did. We all do. You will get to a point where you can think well of your love and wish them love and happiness, even if they have decided their happiness does not include you.
This too shall pass. Time is the magic healer.