Deviation Actions
Description
As the four elements move into the 3s, we see the results of the 2s meeting and interacting. There is a sense of consolidation of opposites and a sense of now being able to “get on with it” to come to grips with something new. The 3s are also aligned with the planet Saturn, the planet the ancients associated with time, with limitations, endings and the boundaries of the solar system. If you connect three points for the first tiem you have a figure where a boundary encloses a finite space, so the association is very appropriate.
For Air and the rational mind the card shows that this element does not do so well by being tripled up. The clash of two conflicting ideas has left us confused and we feel pain at having to overcome old and comfortable attitudes or having them destroyed for us. The card may also signify a betrayal that leaves us helpless and in pain. There may be a broken trust or a painful truth to face. We are asked to deal with loss of some kind and the sorrow that comes with it, and possibly with necessary sacrifices.
Traditional versions of the card show a heart pierced by three swords. I decided to adopt this iconic motif but change it by making it into a tattoo on the arm of an addict who is shooting up, the needle being another stand-in for the suit symbol, the sword. I wanted to show the danger of this difficult card: that we are often evading the pain of necessary grief by numbing ourselves and refusing to move through it and beyond it. We all face loss in our lives: losing a job, losing a treasured relationship, being rejected for who we are, being betrayed by those we trusted, losing family or friends to death. When we shy away from the pain we feel in those life crises, sort of like popping a pain-killer when we should treat the root causes of our pain, we can be permanently stuck there.
In a spread the card signifies that you have to deal constructively with the grief you feel because of an injury that has already happened to you or that is about to happen. The injury will most likely be due to a loss of some sort, whether it’s material, physical or emotional. However, as the saying goes: “It doesn’t matter what they take away from you, what matters is what you do with what is left”. The card may also indicate that you will have to cut yourself lose from something or someone yourself, even though it will hurt. There may be a sacrifice you will have to make in order to be able to go on. Don’t shy away from it, and don’t shy away from the pain either. It will ultimately allow you to grow, to move beyond it and to heal yourself.
For a relationship-related question the card may mean that you have recently been hurt very badly by someone you love and trust or that you are about to face a betrayal. Keep your eyes open and acknowledge the pain you feel or are about to feel. You have every right to grieve. Give yourself time, try to learn from your experience, forgive if you can and move beyond it. If the card position points to a business related issue you may incur some material or financial loss. It could be the loss of your job, a business-partner crossing you, the loss of an important investment or the need to terminate a cherished project that you have invested in but that does nothing to further your goals. In your personal life and development you are asked to deal with your grief and your losses constructively. Be patient with yourself, acknowledge that you’re hurting and try to think about how you can heal from the experience.
If the card is uncovered in an adverse or blockage position it could mean that you don’t handle your hurt well. Perhaps you are dwelling on it for longer than you have to and to the extent that you can’t even see how many good things are happening to you and all the amazing people and things that are left in your life. Don’t get bogged down in fruitless self-pity, try to glue something irrevocably broken back together again or numb yourself with pointless fantasies of revenge and getting even. The longer you allow yourself to remain stuck in grief, the more it will take over your life and dim all the light that’s left to you.