1. Tarot
2. Card meanings
3. Three of Swords

Minor Arcana · Swords

Three of Swords

• removal
• absence
• delay
• division

Upright meaning

A heavy heart: Waite says the design speaks for itself, and gives absence and division. A card for acknowledging sorrow kindly.

Reversed meaning

Reversed, Waite gives distraction and confusion. A prompt to be gentle with a mind that is overloaded.

• distraction
• confusion

Symbolism

Three swords pierce a heart; clouds and rain behind.

Group

Minor Arcana · Swords

Element, astrology

Not given by Waite, so we give none

Source

Our own plain-English summary of A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (London: Rider, 1911), Part III §2 (The Lesser Arcana). The keywords are Waite’s own words. Waite’s fortune-telling lists also contain harsher terms; we keep to the reflective readings he gives and never state an event as certain.

Tarot is a tool for reflection, not a prediction of fixed outcomes. This is not medical, legal or financial advice.