Sweet Twilight -- 3 of wands

frac_ture

I've always seen the visual reference to the Houses of the Holy album cover in this card, too, although if there's a deeper parallel meant to be drawn between the card and that album's actual content, I don't think I get what that parallel is. Maybe the deck's creators are just big Zeppelin fans, and also thought the image did a great job expressing their concept of what this card should mean...?

I think of the Sweet Twilight as being RWS-based, but some of the cards do seem to vary from strict RWS meanings. I feel like this one isn't a carbon copy, and they differ in some specifics, but there are also some general similarities...

The RWS 3 of Wands shows a man waiting for ships in the distance to come in to shore (I suppose he could be watching them depart, but I don't think I've ever heard the card's meaning described that way). As I understand the accepted interpretation, the card speaks of the querent having devoted some work and energy to something, and the querent is now witnessing the first signs that the fruits of that devotion are drawing near (as symbolized by the approaching ships). There's also a possible note of caution, in that the ships haven't yet reached the shore, however, and the querent maybe shouldn't be too quick to assume successful docking.

In the Sweet Twilight version of the 3 of Wands, there's a generally similar feel of the card's subjects awaiting an imminent event -- in this case, instead of a ship making landfall, it's the rising of the sun that they're anticipating (or, as with my question regarding whether the ships are arriving or departing, it could be that the sun is actually setting, although the LWB even speaks of the dawn, so...). The event here is more certain: the RWS ships will probably get to shore as expected, but there's at least the mathematical possibility they'll be hit by pirates, or they could run aground on a sandbar, or any number of other calamities could hit. The sunrise, though, would seem to be much more of a lock to happen (barring nova-type events...). I feel like "Patience!" is some good advice coming from both versions of the card, but with the Sweet Twilight 3 of Wands having maybe not quite as much of a "Don't count your chickens until they've hatched" cautionary vibe as the RWS version.

A significant difference between the two cards, though, that I believe could play a big part in reading them as being somewhat distinct, is the fact that in the RWS version, the man is waiting very passively...however long it takes for the ships to come in and unload whatever goods, people, or news he's waiting for, that's how long it will take. In the Sweet Twilight version, though, the young women in the image are more active, taking it upon themselves to move toward the rising sun, and higher ground -- in effect, they seem to be trying to shorten the amount of time it might take for the sun's new rays to reach them. They can't make the earth spin faster, but they're doing what they can to try to enable the outcome they want (i.e., seeing and feeling the rising sun) to happen more quickly. I feel there's a message of the querent being told that it might help their cause to try to determine ways in which they might actively help bring about whatever result it is that they're waiting for, and that a passive approach may not be their best bet. So far, this is the point where I feel the two versions of the card most differ, and it's one I'd bring up if using this deck to read for someone, and this card were to appear. Other than this point, though, I think much of my analysis of the Sweet Twilight's 3 of Wands would then be fairly in line with the way I see the RWS version...
 

ana luisa

Reviving this thread a bit, I was fascinated by SP's discovery of the similarities between Led's album and this card. To me, it is not a positive one as in many RW decks. It shows a disease starting to come out. As if the girls were viruses popping out of a pore and moving to different parts of the body... I know, psychedelic to an extreme but, in fact, it is one of the few cards in the deck that actually make me feel nauseous...