Ah, the Three of Swords, the card everyone loves to be afraid of. We’re not fond of difficult feelings, are we? But still they come, and if we are wise we’ll spend some time with them this week when they do.
It feels like the thread linking these cards is evolution and rebirth. Judgement is described in ‘Notes from the Pagan Otherworlds’ – the book that accompanies this deck – as the place where “we fully meet ourselves. We come face to face with the mistakes of our journey and our limitations… Life has checked and then checked itself again since the beginning of time.”
Every so often we need to stop, to consider both how it is that we got here and what we went through to do so. Partly as a reminder of how far we’ve come, but partly as a learning exercise to understand what we can do differently in the future. That’s where the Three of Swords comes in, because inevitably along the way we’ve had to endure some tough stuff (oh hello there, global pandemic). We do ourselves a disservice if we fail to properly process the hard times and how they made us feel: a stiff upper lip has severe limitations as a survival tool.
Ultimately, it’s easier to find the way forward if we’re not weighed down with sadness, grief or suffering we’re carrying because we haven’t fully dealt with those feelings. This week, then, we are called to take a little time out if we need it, like the wandering moon beneath the Eight of Cups. If we use that time wisely and are gentle with ourselves, we can emerge renewed and ready to rejoin the path.
Have a good week and stay safe x
Louise Norgate 