For many years of my childhood, I lived in an apartment complex that had three swimming pools. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the pools were open, and from day to day, one big question was which one we would be swimming in each day. None of the pools were heated, and on some days, they were especially frigid.
One of my most visceral memories of growing up is standing on the edge of the deep end and taking my sweet-ass time before diving in. I knew what a shock to the system it would be to hit the water. And, at the same time, I knew that I had to. Swimming was like breathing to me at that time in my life; it was what every kid should be doing in the summer. Inching my way in to the water was ultimately so much more painful and would cut down on my overall swimming time. And I would feel like a coward, which was the worst thing of all.
In a lot of ways, the Three of Wands reminds me of those times, standing on the edge, toes curling over the tile, waiting for that moment of decision. Knowing the pain of daring, and the pain of not daring.
Image: (from left to right): Three of Wands from the Genius Garden tarot, the Modern Witch Tarot, and the Aquarian Tarot.
In many versions of the Three of Wands, you see a figure overlooking a panoramic vista. They can see far ahead in space and metaphorically, in time. They can survey all that’s around them. It’s a card about planning ahead, about refining your vision, committing, and gathering your nerve. It’s also about dreaming, getting specific so that you can still see, hear, and taste what it is you truly want when the going gets hard or, God forbid, tedious.
On the surface, not much is really happening in the Three of Wands. There is just one person in the card. They’re looking off into the distance. But really, everything is happening here.
This is the precipice. This is place where you talk yourself into or out of something. If you pick your way down in to the valley below, there will be other people, there will be wildlife, there will be dense forests. Right now, you can see the beauty of the big picture, and it is both daunting and sublime. Once you descend into the reality of the thing, once you have to engage with it, to participate, to experience friction and struggle against the mundane aspects of it, then it will never be quite as wonderful and terrible as you’re imagining it now. Or maybe it will be, in ways you can’t even dream.
As I have gotten more fluent with the Two and Three of Wands, the more I realize they can represent different aspects of the Call of Adventure that we encounter in so many classic stories and myths. The Two of Wands is often about feeling like life is telling you to ask for something more or different than what you’ve been given; it’s when your comfort zone begins to feel itchy and constrictive. The Three of Wands is about committing to what it is you really want. When you let fear or perfectionism override passion, then you refuse the call.
What separates the figure in the Three of Wands from the Fool is that they can see much better what’s in front of them and they are actually paying attention. The Fool is blissfully ignorant, and so they have already won half the battle. With the Three of Wands, one potential pitfall is a lack of courage or faith in their own ability to handle life outside of their comfort zone, or to plan well. There can be the tendency to circumscribe life because of a need to have every small thing figured out in advance, which is impossible.
In my teens and twenties, there were so many times I refused my own calls to adventure because I felt like I would do whatever it was wrong, that I would suck or make a fool out of myself. I constantly felt that I would be unequal to the task of my life. There was a lot that I didn’t allow myself to experience as a result.
My thirties and forties have been a slowly growing understanding that it is actually okay to imagine things going well, or turning out in a way where I am rewarded, however modestly, for bravery. This reward might be in the form of friendship, knowledge, opportunities, or even just the sense that life is more generous and expansive than I allowed it to be before. When you step up to the edge and jump, life will surprise you.
When I first started reading tarot, this card was one I overlooked since it seemed so similar to several other cards, but at this point, I believe that it is one of the most important cards.
A Spread for the Three of Wands:
Here are some questions you can work with related to the Three of Wands. Take your Three of Wands card out of your deck, and shuffle thoroughly. Then pull these cards:
What do my dreams need from me?
What role does bravery play in terms of my dreams?
What role does planning and foresight play into my dreams?
What role does doubt play into my plans for the future?
How can I support myself through difficulties, setbacks, or boredom?
If you decide to do this reading, let me know how it goes for you! Thank you for reading!
Reading: The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley
Listening: Strawberry Fields Forever: La Santa Cecilia
XOXOX
Layla
Yet another shining example of what an insightful writer you are, Layla!