This card simply looks sad, and for good reason. It’s the card of grief, loneliness, literally feeling that your heart has been pricked by swords. It’s also, however, the card of necessary cutting—such as a surgery or the removal of that which is no longer needed. It could mean that it’s time to clear out the old to make way for the new, and for authors it could be a sign that editing is needed to improve a work.

Feeling grumpy or whiny? This card could literally be advising you to “cut it out.” In any event, when you draw the Three of Swords, prepare to open yourself up to pain but also to improvement that such pain might bring, and know that you’ll be stronger for whatever you’re going through now.