February 14-16, 2012: 3 of Swords

[Al-Shariyf]

SORROW
Three of Swords

Meditation Pattern: Place Atu XXI, The Universe, and Atu VIII, Adjustment, side-by-side, with the 3 of Swords above them.

Traditional Description: Three swords, upright, as though the central sword had struck apart the two others (which were crossed in the Two of Swords). The central sword cuts asunder a rose of five petals, which, in the Two of Swords, grew at the swords’ junction. Its petals are falling; no white rays issue from it. Above and below the central sword, the symbols of Saturn and of Libra.

Binah of Air: Unhappiness, sorrow, disappointment, melancholy, tears, division.

Saturn/Libra: Disruption, interruption, separation, discontent, quarreling; sowing of discord and strife, mischief-making, sorrow and tears; secrecy, perversion. An intense lurking passion to create, but monstrous or deformed in result; yet mirth in Platonic pleasures. Faithful in promises, conscientious, dutiful; honesty in money transactions; selfish and dissipated, yet sometimes generous; deceitful in words and repetitions.

Binah/Saturn + Saturn: (Reinforces all Saturn traits.)

http://pturing.firehead.org/occult/thelema/libri/The Book of Thoth/thoth/swords03.jpg

[Jim Eshelman]

[attachment=0:1k99tnxu]<!-- ia0 -->Swords 3.jpg<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:1k99tnxu]

[Macsen Melinydd]

I find it sometimes beneficial to meditate upon the sword cards as if they were replaced with feathers.

If we wanted to come up with a symbol for perfect use of the powers of air, why would we choose something that can't even fly? Drop a sword out of a plane, and it simply plummets, with fierce hunger for the ground. But feathers know time is their friend, and decide to float leisurely where the winds take them.
As Ma'at is Adjustment, the balanced duality of mind, and the Feather is her sigil, it may be especially warranted here.

The three of swords is obviously Sorrow. They know they can only fall, and they know how hard the ground is. Hell, they might even get stuck from all the sheer force in hitting it!
But the three of feathers floats above the current, enjoying the freedom of Understanding, and savors the gradual decent into a soft landing below the abyss.

Just a thought.

[Al-Shariyf]

Every beginning has its end. Which then becomes a new beginning. It's only a matter of time before something that is started is brought to its completion. The degree of sorrow experienced is proportionate to how attached we are to what's happening. The severance of a connection with someone or something we care about can be disturbing and painful but however things turn out is perfect. Balance is either restored or seeking restoration and is in the process of returning to zero.

[Jim Eshelman]

I want to add something that is too complicated for me to have added in the book.

The 3s all show how we relate to the Binah idea. This especially means the archetype of the mother. A large body of psychological studies have shown that the primal experience of being joined to, or severed from, the mother has profound, lifelong consequences for a person's psychological health and balance.

To summarize just one of these studies (representative of the rest), adult men and women responded (through various biometrics) to the phrase "Mommy and I are one" scored higher on various assements of overall psychological health, contentment, creativity, productivity, etc. (I'm going from memory. The general idea is right, if not the fine points.) These results were in contrast to people who did not biometrically distinguish themselves in response to the phrase, and also in contrast to other phrases like "Daddy and I ware one" (which produced no identifiable effect).

A friend created a whole new modality of therapy centered on reintegrating the sense of connection to mother. The effects were astounding - the stabilization of reactive, hurt, out of control behavior was really astounding! What we discovered in examining her work was that this wasn't "cumulative-developmental." That is, it didn't just build from the early "one vs. not one" decision, with other life decisions chaining after that to result in the adult behavior. Rather, all of the subsequent experiences seem to be built in a different layer floating on top of that primal decision. It was as if the decision as to whether one was one with, or severed from, Mommy provided the conditions of the ocean surface on which the whole of the Ruach floats. Calm the stormy sea with a new fundamental experience, and it alters much about how things are experienced "on the ship."

Anyway... with that setup... it later occured to me: Cups are joining, Swords are severing. The 3 of Cups displays the conditions that dominate the psyche when one fundamentally experiences that "Mommy and I are one." The 3 of Swords displays the conditions that dominate the psyche when one fundamentally experiences that "Mommy and I are severed, separate, not-one." It's stayed that simple for me ever since!

[Macsen Melinydd]

@Jim Eshelman said

"Anyway... with that setup... it later occured to me: Cups are joining, Swords are severing. The 3 of Cups displays the conditions that dominate the psyche when one fundamentally experiences that "Mommy and I are one." The 3 of Swords displays the conditions that dominate the psyche when one fundamentally experiences that "Mommy and I are severed, separate, not-one." It's stayed that simple for me ever since!"

Thanks. Cups/joining, Swords/severing will my meditation for the day.

[Al-Shariyf]

" The 3 of Swords displays the conditions that dominate the psyche when one fundamentally experiences that "Mommy and I are severed, separate, not-one"

Jim this is astounding.

In the days leading up to this card, I reconnected with an old flame and we hung out this weekend. I like her, she likes me but due to whatever circumstances she's dealing with she can't reciprocate the affection I give to her and want from her. And I've been so bummed about it all week. It totally reminded me of an incident that happened when I was young involving my mom and I realized that I was reacting to the old flame the same way I reacted when I was kid. I felt hurt, rejected and ashamed.

Reading what you posted really freed something up for me. Thanks so much.

[Macsen Melinydd]

@Al-Shariyf said

"
Reading what you posted really freed something up for me. Thanks so much."

Here, here!

I have had the exact same old-flame-ignited deal going on all week.
My heart's been beating a little faster than it should, and it's going nowhere.
It's always hard knowing that Understanding is dust without the Wisdom to use it.
It means we have to leave the womb and work.
Otherwise we will never know true rest, wherein the passivity of the womb is known to be but a temporary and incomplete poison in the face of Nephthys.