A card in the left position indicates what has happened to affect your question in the past.

Meaning: This card implies that there is more going on under the surface than meets the eye. It is possible that your intuition and psychic abilities are being stirred into action. Therefore, listen closely to them and give them voice. The message of the page is to not go with the flow—only dead fish go with the fl ow. Listen, learn, and be receptive to the subtle message around you. This personality type is engaged in new beginnings that express imagination and spirituality.

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A card in the middle position indicates what is affecting your question at this time.

Meaning: The challenging nature of the Swords continues, and here we must ask whether the oppression one is feeling is the result of an action external to your own means or is your situation so confusing that you choose to bondage yourself rather than attempt to face a way out? In either case the secret to moving on from this card is to remove the blindfold, but only you can do that. Bad news, crisis, emotional breakdowns, stress, sickness, and accidents can all lead to the illusionary imprisonment of the eight. To an extent we place ourselves there or allow ourselves to become trapped. You may know the answer to your question or plight, but you lack the illumination to see it clearly and the knowledge to move on from it. Start by looking at the matter objectively; make lists, and do not be overwhelmed by your thoughts. You own them!

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A card in the right position indicates your questions future.

Meaning: We cannot candy-coat this card: there is heartbreak here, either caused by sudden loss, death, separation, or loss of status or security. The mind can make no sense of it, and often this card can herald a period of deep depression and anxiety, where the querent or an individual involved in the question is in the grip of great mental and emotional sufferance. Look closely at any Cauldron cards that may frame this card in a reading to gauge the nature of the issue. Alas, there is no way out, no pill one can take to make it all go away. The message of the Three of Swords is that you must endure and that in hindsight the meaning of this life event will make sense or find a home within you and transform you. If there has been a bereavement, you must weather the stop; the old truth comes back again to haunt us—the price of love is the pain of loss.

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