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

Meaning: You are creative and inventive enough to bring your plans into fruition; be proud of that. Not only have you worked hard, but you have also employed your enterprising skills and your ability to see things through. This is a good card that suggests a new beginning is actually happening right now—you are in the throes of it. This is a powerful card, and because of its connection to creativity it may imply a new job, a new change of career, or also a new sexual relationship. There may even be a new child on the way. This is an excellent omen, particularly if you are on the verge of a new project or making a decision that is likely to last and affect your life for a great number of years, if not forever.

 Return to Top

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

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.

 Return to Top

A card in the right position indicates your questions future.

Meaning: The roses that tumble off the bed connect this card to love, and it may be that the question concerns itself with matters of love that bring anguish to the mind. This is one of the few cards in the entire deck that can allude to a physical death and the mental disarray of grief and bereavement. You have a deep sense that things have failed; solace is hard to find. This is the dark night of the soul. Others may have turned against you and defamed your character, but remember that what other people think of you is actually none of your business. Your sleep patterns are disturbed, and your mind, even when at rest, invokes nightmares that stir you from your sleep. In a world filled with wonder and joy, yours currently feels dark and dreadful. The world around you carries on, seemingly without a care, adding fuel to the thoughts that bind you. Depression may be a significant factor in this reading.

 Return to Top