Tarot card meanings › Swords
Three of Swords Tarot Card Meaning
The Three of Swords tarot card means heartbreak, grief and a painful truth. Heartache and hard truths.
Upright
- Heartbreak
- grief
- a painful truth
Reversed
- Healing
- forgiveness
- releasing pain
Yes or no
No
The Three of Swords is one of the 14 cards in the suit of Swords. Swords are the suit of air: thought, truth, words and conflict.
What the card shows
A red heart is pierced by three swords. Rain falls from grey clouds behind it. There are no people on the card.
This is the card as drawn by Pamela Colman Smith for the 1909 Rider-Waite-Smith deck, which is in the public domain.
Upright meaning
The Three of Swords is read as heartbreak. It points to hurtful words, a separation or a truth that is painful to hear. The pain is real, and naming it is the first step through it.
Three of Swords reversed
Reversed, it is read as starting to heal, forgiving, and letting old pain go.
Yes or no?
In a yes or no question, the Three of Swords is usually read as a no, often in the sense of not now or not this way. Readers differ on some cards, so treat this as one common reading. You can ask a yes or no question and draw a card for it.
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More Swords cards
Ace of SwordsTwo of SwordsFour of SwordsFive of SwordsSix of SwordsSeven of SwordsEight of SwordsNine of SwordsTen of SwordsPage of SwordsKnight of SwordsQueen of SwordsKing of Swords
‹ Two of SwordsAll 78 cardsFour of Swords ›
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