Angel Paths for August 21 - Three of Swords
msesheta
The Three of Swords
I doubt that anybody feels comfortable when they pull
this card in a reading. The Lord of Sorrow almost always
indicates some sort of disruption which will cause pain
and uncertainty. Such disruption leads to loss of
balance and disharmony.
At worst, the 3 of Swords will indicate loss or
separation. In order to determine how serious this is
liable to be, you need to consider the cards surrounding
this one. With Death, or the Tower, the loss is liable
to be of a serious and deeply distressing nature.
With cards like the 7 of Disks, you'd expect to find
unexpected changes in the working situation - redundancy
for instance. With Cups, the impact will probably be
felt in the emotional area. Wands could indicate loss or
damage to your inner nature - a big blow to the
self-esteem, as one example.
However, sometimes, particularly when the Lord of Sorrow
is not badly aspected by the cards around it, there's
another more complex reason for its appearance. This
card will always come up during a period of unhappiness,
confusion or disturbance. There will be doubt
(especially of the self), inability to make decisions,
sometimes ill-health which wears you down and makes you
feel that you cannot cope.
And often during times like this, there are choices and
decisions to be made, which you feel too uncertain to
tackle. Yet the fact that you are unable to make your
decisions perhaps prolongs a difficult or unsatisfactory
situation, adding to your anxiety and worry.
To identify this as a meaning for the card, look for
cards indicating weariness and apathy - 7 of Swords, 5
of Disks, the Moon etc - and the absence of other 'bad'
cards. If you feel that the 3 of Swords is indicating
that you are too untrusting and insecure to make
important decisions, first and foremost, agree to give
yourself a break!
Let things develop on their own for a while. Rest and
allow yourself time to build up your energies. Then you
will stop feeling quite so inadequate, and will be able
to make the choices which will shape the next phase of
your life.
And if the Lord of Sorrow brings grief and sadness into
your life, try hard to look forward in the reading to
the start of the recovery period, in order to give
yourself something positive to hold onto. Sometimes this
card will appear to mark a shocking unexpected event
which, whilst painful, is not as awful as it might first
appear. It helps a little to know when the tide is going
to begin to turn in your favour.
Working with the Three of Swords
The Lord of Sorrow sometimes bring sadness in with him
when he appears - and he also highlights areas of life
where decisions are needed, and where we feel unable to
make important choices. This indecision leads to sadness
and frustration.
So on a day when he rules, we need to be exploring our
more unhappy feelings, and wondering if there are issues
that we are feeling unable to deal with, which are
causing us pain or confusion. However, it's important
not to expect ourselves to deal with conflicts or
problems until we feel stronger.
So, having identified our difficulties, we need to file
them in the 'to do....' box and then treat ourselves
very gently for the rest of the day. In regaining our
strength we shall be much better equipped to deal with
things (you might notice the connection here with the
Aeon - all decisions have their moment)
If the 3 of Swords rules on a day when you have no
particular difficulties that need dealing with, you
might like to spend a little time considering the whole
concept of sorrow. We have become very afraid of
experiencing pain - we will often go to great lengths to
fail to enter into our own pain with a generous, gentle
heart.
Yet having the ability to face your own pain makes it
into a more tolerable event when, sadly, it happens in
your life. Look at the ways in which you have dealt with
past pain. Try to decide if you feel you have done the
best you could for yourself - and if not, work out why
not.
When we get hurt, we often make our suffering much worse
by barbing the pain with guilt, self-accusation and
bitterness directed to both ourselves and others. Often
we do this as a way of trying to avoid feeling our pain
- we distract ourselves with things that are basically
irrelevant, but which eventually end up fouling the pure
experience of hurting.
Each one of us has a right to experience our sadness
without judgement, nor recriminations, nor guilt. If,
rather than avoiding hurt, we engage it, sometimes it
can provide a clear energy for transformation,
creativity and development.
I don't advocate suffering as an efficient spiritual
tool, but there are times when, since you hurt anyhow,
you can direct the deep emotional experience into new
insight. And in so doing, you might well find your way
through your pain with fewer after-effects and dark
memories.
Affirmation: I trust myself to feel my own pain
http://www.angelpaths.com/swords/swords32.html
