The Wild Unknown Tarot - III Swords

Pixna

Rose Lalonde said:
I find the hope in the fact that the darkness, which could have covered the entire card, is kept close to the swords, with white all around. It makes me think of how, when something hurts or frightens me, I can focus only on that at first, and everything seems dark because of it. But there's still a brighter world I'm not capable of seeing at the moment. Time will give me a way to calm down enough to have a more balanced perspective again.
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Excellent observation, Rose! I hadn't noticed that. It certainly puts a slightly different spin on the card for me. Thank you!
 

Pixna

Nemia said:
The four black corners narrow and cut down on the space on the card. you see the motif is if you were looking through something - a frame, a window, a hole in the wall. These four black triangles change the rectangular shape of the card.

When children around age four paint and draw, they often make little dots in the four corners of the paper they draw an, as though to acknowledge the borders of the format - in the first scribbling stages, they draw freely over the borders, but now they understand what a format is and how to keep inside the boundaries. Some children fill the corners with color or paint a frame. Sometimes, the frame nearly takes over the picture.

In this card, I feel the black corners are more than a sign of boundaries - the frame seems to move towards the swords, to put on additional pressure from all sides. The two swords at the side point into the corners, and from there, the black corners seem to press on them.

To me, it looks as though the swords were struggling to get free and while struggling, cutting their own life cord and losing blood. they have so little free space around them - they won't be able to free themselves.

It is a very difficult and strong image. Very expressive. The swords are definitely anthropomorphic.

What a wonderful and strong deck. Oh I love it. I had some of my most poignant readings ever with the Wild Unknown.
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Thank you for your insights about the corners, Nemia. That certainly makes sense to me in the context of this particular card. I haven't been able to figure out the connection between the other cards that have these corners -- it seems random to me right now.

Isn't it interesting how the swords are anthropomorphic? Great observation! They do seem alive and in pain, struggling. This card is much more evocative to me than the standard motif with a heart. It hurts my own heart to look at it, which I find to be an interesting response to it.
 

Marirowana

I pulled this card when I asked how my dog would do on an event - he had to come with me to a bbq.

So the 3 of swords came up. I didn't really know what to do with it in this situation so I was just going to see what would happen, and reflect on it later.

On the party, I tied my dog on a very long cord, so he had some space for movement, but without being able to reach the table with food.

Well... What happened next looked literally like the III swords :D he walked around peoples legs, binding people together. He walked around chairs, tables and trees, and when I was checking in on him he was completely entangled in his (red!) leash, struggling to get free. Poor thing, but I had to giggle because I had to think of this card :) I would never have thought of this meaning myself.
 

Pixna

I love it when that happens, Marirowana. I've found similar experiences (with this card and others in The Wild Unknown Tarot) that somewhat defy the traditional/conventional meanings. (For example, The Tower ended up being a power outage for me.) That's what makes this deck so much fun and such a treasure!
 

Sulis

I love it when this sort of thing happens too.. It's the sort of interpretation that I only ever see with hindsight and it looks as if that's what happened to you too Marirowana :).
I pulled the 8 Wands in this deck and my washing machine blew up last year.. I thought the image on the card described what happened really well..
 

Marirowana

Sulis said:
I love it when this sort of thing happens too.. It's the sort of interpretation that I only ever see with hindsight and it looks as if that's what happened to you too Marirowana :).
I pulled the 8 Wands in this deck and my washing machine blew up last year.. I thought the image on the card described what happened really well..
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Indeed, you'll hardly ever be able to know what the cards mean in advance with those literal meanings, I guess :D Good experiences to hear from you and Pixna, thanks.
 

Pauline Kilar

Marirowana said:
Well... What happened next looked literally like the III swords :D he walked around peoples legs, binding people together. He walked around chairs, tables and trees, and when I was checking in on him he was completely entangled in his (red!) leash, struggling to get free. Poor thing, but I had to giggle because I had to think of this card :) I would never have thought of this meaning myself.
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I love it when the cards speak straightforwardly like this. The Tarot definitely has a sense of humor sometimes!
 
The Wild Unknown Tarot - VI Cups The Wild Unknown Tarot - VIII Swords