4/14 Community #3card Spread
I twitter. I twitter a lot. A lovely staff member from Weiser Books started pulling a tarot card a day. Many of us offered interpretations. This was begun as an effort to share about Tarot as we all learned together. Our beloved Ankhie 1.0 also instituted a Twitter book club as well as a night card. We now have an Ankhie 2.0 who is a busy lady so the daily Tarot has grown and transformed in lovely ways.
One of those ways is from @TeoBishop who has begun challenging the Twitter Tarot community by doing three card readings a few times a week. I plan to participate as my schedule allows.
One thing I find daunting is to read with no positions. What are these three cards drawn for? What is the reason for pulling them? Is it just three cards for the day? Three cards for the community? I find myself having to take a step back. I need a purpose for drawing cards. Even if it is a daily draw for myself, I do not just pick a card. I focus myself. I become centered. I ask the Universe to guide me in my day with this card I will draw.
So what are these three cards? Are they just drawn for no purpose? I know they are to expand upon what #1card (now also #amtarot and #pmtarot) are, but what are the positions? Is it the energy for the day? I suppose that I will have to focus myself on that. These three cards are the energy for the day.
But for who? For what? I may have to bow out of this particular reading exercise if I can’t wrap my mind around it. It makes me feel stressful. I am not sure where my direction should be. I need some boundaries.
And I have learned a bit about how I approach the Tarot. I am going to offer up meanings based on the cards and the cards alone. It rubs my fur the wrong way to not have positions for the cards. I suppose I could assign positions, but I did not draw the cards. How extraordinarily interesting to find that I need positions. I’ve always been a spread designer, I guess. I rearranged the Celtic Cross to suit myself. I have designed spreads when the CC wasn’t the right frame for the answer. Now I am faced with the sheer cliff face of this exercise.
It really can’t be that difficult. Three cards. Three meanings. And yet, for me, without positions, the meanings are, in fact, meaningless. Not the exercise. No, the exercise is a very good one. I keep wanting to assign meanings yet I can not. This isn’t my drawing. HA! Am I such a control freak that I have to have that boundary of position?
I fear that I may be. Still, I will dive into this and give you the three cards and the three meanings. With no positions. Just floating in the collective unconsciousness. Alone. Adrift. Ahhhhh
Today’s three cards are: Four of Swords, Five of Swords, Knight of Staffs. I will be using the World Spirit Tarot. I do not have the Fifth Tarot scanned in yet. With 92 cards that is going to take some time.
| Four of Swords: Take time out. Illness comes as a reminder to slow down. Meditation is a good thing. May be a good idea to withdraw for a bit. Get inside your head and sort things out. |
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| Five of Swords: Struggles become greater when you enter them. Disengage from the strife. Battles escalate the more who join in so you need to leave that field.Fighting hurts you so why do it? |
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| Knight of Staffs: Your direction is focused and forward. Try not to burn anyone up in your need for speed. Drive carefully please. Passionate person may shake up your day. |
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Read more interpretations at Teo’s blog, The Epiphanic Oath.
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Hi Arwen,
You make some very valid points about the idea behind the 3 cards. I have found some similar challenges in that there appears to be no-one that we are reading for or any spread or structure in place.
Perhaps, the cards relate to TeoBishop as he has drawn them or maybe they relate to all of us in some way. Even if a question is not fully expressed, maybe it is “What do I or we need to know today?” (I ask that quite a lot)
Over the last few weeks, I have found the practice of drawing seemingly random cards each day to be hugely constructive. Somehow the cards seem to have related each day to our situation and our life.
I love your cards, by the way.
With abundant blessings.
Amanda Goldston
Well, Arwen, I can tell you that the three cards that you drew sort of fit me to a tee. The four of swords is telling me to slow down, which is right on the money. The five of swords is telling me to disengage from strife; that also fits because I am being torn of joining a coven (which is a friends coven) or not and forsake one (one that I am already with and love). I will chosse the latter. The knight of staffs is telling me my speed is focus & forward. That is with the latter coven. For me the cards talks of personal conflects that need to be taken care of, so the cards don’t have to have a position.
Step back and look at what is, is.
Blessings,
Aloni
well…. I usually read 3 cards without position meanings. I started that after listening to a Robert Place talk about his method of doing 3 card readings. I then adapted to fit me and am now a happier camper than when feeling stuck with positions.
So, in your reading, the 4 main action in the first card is rest. The person is facing you, the reader. In the 5 of Swords, the principal person is turned right, facing you, while the Knight (and I do love this Knight in this deck)n is headed in the opposite direction on the horse, but turned to face the 4 and 5 of Swords. Seeing that, I’d think the 4 is the situation now… she faces me and all human figures face her in one way or another. Then with the suits, I’d say there needs to be action next– now it’s all in her head and she could be over thinking the situation. Sometimes it’s necessary to get moving… It’s good to step back, recoup and rejuvenate, but don’t gnaw on the problem. Do the best with what you have now and right wrong or indifferent move.
That’s a very quick and dirty take on this reading without positions. Hope it makes a little sense. As with most things tarot it must be modified to fit your head and if it never feels comfortable, then that’s okay too
ceal