LONELINESS
BETRAYAL
You open the door to find your partner in the arms of someone else. You overhear your best friend laughing at you behind your back. You find out your business partner has been cheating you for years.
All of a sudden your world is turned upside-down. You’re stunned, disbelieving and finally heartbroken.
The image on the 3 of Swords clearly describes this sudden pain. You feel as if someone has taken a sharp object and jabbed it through your heart. Even something as minor as a snippy remark can feel this way.
Notice how this contains just a heart and three swords. When your heart is breaking, you feel as if that is all you are – an open wound.
In readings, the Three of Swords often represents the nasty little curve balls that life can throw sometimes. Betrayal, abandonment, rejection, separation, a reversal of fortune. These hurts are painful because they hit you when you least expect them. If you have drawn this card, you may know what it refers to, but if not, the Three of Swords is a valuable warning. It is likely there is something amiss in your life that you are unaware of or unwilling to acknowledge. Curve balls hit us when we’re looking the other way. Examine your situation carefully. Talk to the people in your life. Don’t take anything for granted. Listen to your inner voice; it will help you locate the problem.
It is also possible that you are contemplating hurting someone else. With this card, it is important to remember that each of us is capable of cruelty. We’re all human, and we all make mistakes, sometimes serious ones. In the end, all we can do is trust in the goodness of life and try to live up to that ideal. When you slip, forgive yourself, and try to forgive others in turn, but, even better, head off trouble before it arrives.
feeling heartbreak
- causing heartbreak
- suffering emotional pain
- hurting inside
- being disappointed
- getting some unsettling news
- having your feelings hurt
- hurting someone’s feelings
- receiving little solace
feeling lonely
- being separated
- wandering far from home
- being spurned or rejected
- feeling isolated from those you love
- being deserted in time of need
- feeling lost
experiencing betrayal
- discovering a painful truth
- finding your trust misplaced
- being let down
- letting someone down
- getting stabbed in the back
- turning against someone
- breaking your word
- acting against
Some possibilities
- Lovers – intimacy, feeling love
- Three of Cups – companionship, trust
- Ten of Cups – joy, love, peace, togetherness
Some possibilities
- Five of Cups – separation, loss of love, heartache
- Nine of Swords – anguish, heartbreak
- Five of Pentacles – rejection, separation, lack of support
There are no separate explanations for reversed cards. The meaning of a reversed card depends on what the card would mean if upright. A reversed card shows that a card’s energy is present but at a lower level. For some reason, the energy cannot be expressed freely, normally, or completely. It may be:
- still in its early stages
- losing force and power
- blocked or restricted
- incomplete
- inappropriate
- being denied
- only present in appearance
See Lesson 17 for more information on reversed cards.