Three of Swords card

Utter failure.

Supporting / Blocking Tarot Card

support

The Three of Swords is one of the three most challenging and difficult cards in the Tarot deck. It represents failure that stems from the querent’s own behavior. This card symbolizes betrayal, whether the querent has betrayed themselves by not addressing or ignoring arising issues, or if they have been betrayed by someone in their environment. As a future card, it indicates that the querent is in a Two of Swords situation and should wake up and address the situation promptly.

Relationships

Career

Finances

Relationships

Career

Finances

The Meaning of The Card

Three of Swords represents the outcome of a person’s failure to confront the issues presented in the Two of Swords card. Despite the warning to deal with reality and potential failures, the individual remained blind to the situation, and now faces the painful and harsh consequences. Despite the pain and sense of failure, this is a lesson that must be learned on the path to spiritual growth. The opportunity to avoid pain and failure was available with the Two of Swords, but ignoring it has led to the lesson being taught through suffering.

Three of Swords card: The Meaning of The Symbols

Card Symbols	Symbol Meaning
Clouds	Clouds symbolize situations in life that obscure and confuse a person’s life, such as distractions, disappointments, and delays that limit one’s ability to make decisions. They represent power, transience, acting as a barrier, and renewal.
Rain	Rain symbolizes blessing in a card where the symbols are difficult. It’s important to remember that a difficult challenge also leads to spiritual growth, which is ultimately a blessing for the person. It represents fertility, vitality, cleansing, renewal, and growth.
Red Heart	The red heart symbolizes the emotional world of the person, a symbol of love, joy, and affection. It also represents truth, courage, and conscience. Physically, it is the center of existence as it pumps blood to the rest of the body, and symbolically, it is the center of emotion. The swords piercing the heart symbolize the pain the person feels due to failure.
Sword	The swords piercing the heart symbolize the pain felt due to failure. The sword is represented by the element of air, which symbolizes cold logic. The sword’s strike is quick, sharp, cold, and calculated, as are thoughts originating from the intellect. It symbolizes authority, justice, power, strength, and the separation of good from evil.
Gray Background	Compromise, contraction, detachment, protection.

Mythology

The revenge of Clytemnestra against Agamemnon is cold and meticulously planned. She spends ten years plotting her vengeance and even warns Agamemnon about what is to come. Despite the numerous warnings, Agamemnon returns home knowing what is about to happen, yet he ignores it. The card represents situations of expected failure. Due to ignoring the reality, the person experiences the consequences of failure. There is an element of self-destruction here, as there is no surprise factor, but rather a clear awareness that is disregarded.

Representation of the Card in a Reading

In a tarot reading, the Three of Swords represents the outcome that follows from confronting the disillusionment with the Ace and its sense of completeness. It reflects the understanding gained from facing reality and the absence of completeness within it. The Three cards indicate the results, whether good or bad, and represent the reward or consequences of one’s actions. The number three symbolizes the child born from the union of man and woman, embodying the fruit of struggle, learning, confrontation, and eventual reconciliation. In the Three of Swords, the failure and pain are the result of not confronting reality, and thus, the suffering and difficulties are not surprises but rather consequences of the lack of engagement with the situation.