This is the third installment of the Weekly Tarot Card in which we focus on the 3 of Swords Air and 3. You can read the first two installments in the following links:
The 3 of Swords Air and 3
Today’s post looks at the element and number which correspond to the card. Thus, the subject matter is the 3 of Swords Air and 3.
At the end of yesterday’s meditation, I touched a little bit on what the 3 of Swords means. I did this so that the ‘scariness’ of the card could be put aside. With cards that seem scary, or at least come across as an obviously difficult card, it is especially important to really crack into them and get to the core of it. We do this so that we can see how to interact with the card in a healthy manner.
By placing negative connotations on the cards, we put blocks up, which stops us from full hearing the message of the card. If we aren’t open to hearing these messages, then why are we reading the cards in the first place?
If you haven’t worked with the meditation or the suggested video from yesterday, I strongly suggest you do before moving on.
In this post, we’ll look at the element of the Swords and the number associated with the 3 of Swords. Hopefully by considering both of these aspects and putting them together at the end, you’ll gain a different way of looking at the card.
3 of Swords Air
The suit of Swords is the element of Air.
Air has to do with the intellect and communication. When we consider what Air does for us, it’s our breath, it’s how we leave. It’s expelled of the Earth through the trees, and thus, it is one way in which we bring our environment into us.
Air is related to Mercury, the messenger God. With his winged feet he traveled, and it is through his winged feet that he became associated with Air. As a result, Air is likewise associated with travel, and that which Mercury represented: messages.
Our own messages from within are carried from the inner self to the outer self through our breath. When we speak, we breath out, and thus, it is Air that carries our words. Because of this, Air is the element of communication.
Air also is the element of thought and the intellect. Our breath increases blood flow to the brain, which helps us to think better. But once our thoughts are collected, our ideas generated, then we allow them to be carried out through our breath.
There is a really good website that explains the element of Air really well. You can check it out at SoulBridging.Com.
3 of Swords: 3
The number 3 is the number of creation. While the number 2 and 1 have many different definitions that are all tied together, 3 is simply creativity/creation. It is the fist number with which a shape can be formed.
When we consider that 1 is a point, and two 1’s (2) create two points between which a line can be drawn, then three 1’s (3) then create a shape. This is the first shape created, and with it, building can commence.
With creation is expansion. 3 is the result of 1 and 2 added together, expanding beyond themselves. When there is one person, and another joins, they have the potential to create something together. That something is neither of them as it is separate of them, yet it is both of them, since it was created of them. Thus, the number 3 is an expansion.
3 of Swords Air and 3
Not all creation happens externally. When applying the numbers to Air, there is a lot of bring forth the internal into the external, just as there is with the Cups. To have the Ace of Swords is to have the spark of an idea. To have a 2 applied to Air is to have the idea reflected so that there is a duality of though. Where there is a pro, there is a con, and thus a decision to make. With the 3, the expansion brought to the element of Air is bring it into the exterior world.
In some representations of the 3 of Swords, one of the Swords points upwards while the other two point downward. This gives the impression of using higher thought during these times, but also shows there is a difference in the third Sword than of the first two—remembering that the first two are reflections of each other, and the third is bring a new aspect to the concept of the Swords. In yesterday’s meditation, I had you ask yourself a series of questions. I hope that you caught on that I was having you look at what was going on externally, bringing the focus internally, and then showing how the internal issue was being projected, or expanded into the outer world. With yesterday’s exercise coupled with today’s information, I hope you’ll take the time to examine the 3 of Swords in a new light, and consider what the 3 means to you in relation to the element of Air.
