What do the Three of Wands, Three of Cups, Three of Swords and Three of Coins mean? And how are they connected to the Empress?
We’ll look at their meanings individually and also check how you can figure out the meaning of any tarot card just by its number and element.
The Threes and the Queen
This week is all about the Tarot Threes and the Empress, who is called the Queen in the Creative Tarot. You can already read and listen to her Chapter of the Fool’s Tale here – today we’ll just focus on the meaning and interpretation of the cards.
As you might know, I’m a big fan of interpreting the tarot cards in context; not only in the context of their element, but also in the context of the progression of the numbers. So let’s just quickly recapitulate the Twos that came before. Here are the names and keywords of the Twos in the Creative Tarot:
Two of Clubs
Opportunity: possibilities, new perspectives, two paths forward.
Two of Hearts
Connection: unifying two things, finding a middle ground, love.
Two of Spades
Doubt: hesitation, worrying, right or wrong?, incomplete information.
Two of Diamonds
Balance: juggling, striking a balance, searching equilibrium, centering oneself.
The High Priestess
The Nixie: soul, the unconscious, inner depths, receiving, immersion, trust.
The Twos were all about Duality. And according to their element, the suits deal very differently with whatever duality they might face. The Nixie is our first glimpse into the unconscious and our own shadows below the surface.
Watch the video episode where I explain the cards:
Active and passive numbers in Tarot
With the Threes we are returning to the light and enter a much more active state. The Twos, like all even numbers in Tarot, have a quieter and more passive energy. This is not a strict rule, mind you. But check their names and keywords again. There is a lot going on, obviously, but not much is happening. Doubt (Two of Spades) is probably the best example here. When we experience profound doubt, there is a ton of stuff going on in our head. And we might even do things. Write a list of pros and cons, talk to someone about our racing thoughts … But as long as we are doubting, we are stuck. Similar with the Opportunity of the Two of Clubs: opportunities, new perspectives and the two paths forward arrive – but no action is taking place yet. Connection and Balance, the cards of the two »feminine« suits, are more passive in their nature anyway. Their keywords, I would say, sound a bit more active (which is remarkable!), but the actions are more … passive or feminine in themselves. Except for juggling.
I can’t state this often enough: Tarot is not rocket science, it is no science at all. So please don’t get caught up in single keywords that someone else just made up – rather try to see the bigger picture, grasp the logic or system behind the cards.
And, let’s take a moment to meditate on juggling: It is a very active act – but it doesn’t lead you anywhere. If you are good at it (I wish I was), you can just juggle for hours on end and nothing will have changed afterwards.
The Three in Tarot: Progress!
Right. Let’s move on to the Threes. I’ll give you the names and keywords of the Threes in the Creative Tarot first:
Three of Clubs
Departure: setting off, firm choices, forward momentum, confidence.
Three of Hearts
Fertility: being open, allowing things to unfold, allowing, trusting.
Three of Spades
Decision: right and wrong, knowing, understanding, conscious choice.
Three of Diamonds
Practice: persistence without perfection, improving, refining your skills.
The Empress
The Queen: support, benevolence, the right path, fertility, help.
Check how most of them have a much more active quality than the preceding Twos. Things are finally happening here. Even with the Two and Three of diamonds: before it was just juggling around, now it is actual improvement: There’s a difference! And please keep in mind that we are still quite at the beginning of the whole numbers’ sequence. It’s not the time to create masterpieces yet, that comes much later. At this point it’s just the departure into something new, the fertility to actually receive, a conscious choice for or against something and the act of practicing.
If you look at the Three from a geometric point of view, you’ll see that things are taking shape, literally. The One (Ace) is just a dot. With the Two (two dots) you can draw a line, give things direction, create a kind of level, connect or separate something with a line.
Now add a third dot! You can connect the three dots to form a triangle. And that is the first shape. Still two-dimensional, but a shape, an actual object on a layer. But there’s not too much to do with these three dots. The triangle is the only shape you can form – that’s much different from for example five dots with which you can draw a star, a pentagram/pentacle or a pentagon or some crazy object. With three dots we are stuck with a triangle. BUT Things are taking shape!
The Minor Arcana Three in Tarot
Let’s take a closer look at the cards now!
On the Three of Clubs we witness the departure. We see the Puppet stepping onto one of the Clubs, taking the Club on the left with it in its stride, reaching for the large Club on the right. Its shadowed back tells us that the light is coming from the front, it’s moving towards the light, upward, forward, leaving the shadow behind. There is no string attaching it to the past (left), but one pulling it towards the future (right). How much more positive vibes do you need??
The Three of Hearts, fertility, shows the Puppet in a kind of floating position. It is impossible to tell if the three Hearts in the image are emerging from its body or coming from above into its body. However, the quality and name of the card suggest the latter. So it is a moment of receiving something from the outside, something from above, touching the core – and the mind cannot quite grasp it, I’m sure I detect a look of surprise in the way the puppet holds its head. Maybe the hearts even pull the Puppet up? A kind of ascension? A powerful moment, obviously, that can only arrive when we are fertile, open for it. Sometimes that’s all we have to be (and not do).
The Three of Spades looks rather passive, especially compared to the Two of Spades. In the Two the Puppet was still in a more dynamic position, looking back and being firmly attached to one of its two Spades. In the Three it stands still, centered, holding one glowing Spade before its belly, while two other Spades kind of sit on its shoulder like the devil and the angel. Looks like the Puppet is not listening to their chatter anymore, its focus is entirely on the center Spade. This is what a right decision looks like. And please remember that a »right« decision can always only be the one that feels right at this very moment with the information you currently have. It doesn’t mean that this is the perfect decision for all eternity!
The Three of Diamonds looks and feels like a very cheerful card to me personally. I think the interpretation of the image could be something like this: The Puppet is holding the medium-sized Diamond, releasing the smaller Diamond into the past, leaving it behind, and maybe it’s already aware of the larger Diamond floating on the right side, just coming into the picture. Check how its feet are turned towards the right (future). The direction is there, it’s right in the middle of the process taking it forward (yes, and that process is called practice). We never start out with the biggest Diamond, we have to earn it step by step.
So, once again, we have an underlying theme of the Threes, something is taking shape, and the four pip cards show us what that looks like in the world of their element or how they achieve this state with their Fire, Water, Air and Earth. (I wrote more on the elements in the post of the Twos, you can check it out here.
The Empress in Tarot: Help along the Way
The Queen, a very feminine and passive figure in this rather active and masculine environment, is the essence of these states and processes – or probably the personification of them. She is undoubtedly the most
B O R I N G card of the whole deck. She really doesn’t do anything, she just sits there by the side of the bridge to the castle. Not even close to the center of the card. And we can hardly see her in all her sky-blue robes, hidden half in the shadows. She even wears gloves!
Guess what: The Queen’s card is not about the Queen. It’s about the castle.
Side note: The castle is a dreamy, sunny interpretation of Burg Eltz. A wonderful medieval castle close to where I live. It has never been destroyed, is still owned by the Eltz family and looks like a fairytale come true. Google it!!
And just like Burg Eltz the castle in the picture is also kind of too good to be true. Is it even real? It disappears somewhere in the clouds … But is still firmly grounded.
In the Fool’s Tale the Fool reaches a lovely castle after his creepy encounter with the Nixie. But he gets sent away by the guards, the doors are literally locked. All a castle could provide, like safety, shelter, food, warmth, company, a purpose in employment, are locked to him. Because he is just a Fool.
But then he meets the Queen outside the castle gates. She is the first non-freak he encounters. A motherly figure who listens to his story, wipes away his tears, envelopes him in a warm hug and then opens the gates for him – and with them a whole new perspective. What was impossible and unattainable to the Fool just half an hour ago, just became his new reality.
Not because he tried utterly hard or had the perfect strategy in place. More because the circumstances were suddenly right. Maybe even because he gave up and was in the right place at the right time. Destiny? Serendipity? Pure luck? I don’t know.
But the Queen, the help along the way, was there, catapulting him from misery to fancy castle life. Look at the card closely: she reaches out her gloved hand. It’s hardly visible, but it’s there.
Don’t play the Martyr!
This is a reminder for us to check our mindset from time to time. We are allowed to actively look out for help. Even in the dark. And we are allowed to take the hand that someone (or something) holds out to us.
We don’t have to make it on our own and we don’t have to take the difficult path. There’s little glory in martyrdom. Please note that the way to the castle on the card is completely straight. No bends, no dark corners. It’s actually THERE. We can walk right in. Yes, the entrance is a bit dark and the outcome (top of the castle) completely unknown. But it is there. And, yes, the Queen might hide a belt of TNT under her robes. And with her smile she might make fun of us. All possible. But why not just trust her?
The Fool gained her trust by trusting her first, telling her his story, crying openly, being vulnerable.
Maybe that is what »fertility« means. And think about it: How are you supposed to receive help and support while you are trying so hard to convince yourself you don’t need it, never mind asking for it.
In that sense fertility, help, trusting (some keywords from the Queen and the Three of Hearts) might not be active acts – but they can be conscious choices and I’m afraid they also need some practice.
The Tarot Spread of the Empress
The Stash Card of the Queen suggests the question »Where do I stand? And what do I need right now?« For the spread you only draw three cards: The first card shows where you stand, the second shows something that helps you – and the third hints to something that you might look out for, that you can find and that will help you.
Here’s a video of the spread. I wish I had drawn some other cards since the Two of Spades (Doubt) had already been discussed in the last episodes. But if the cards show up, someone (you? me?) probably needs them right now. Enjoy!
Here’s the video of the Queen’s Tarot Spread:
Have you ever tried to read the cards based of their number and elemnt? What do you think about this rather unspiritual approach?
If you want to read the Queen’s chapter of the Fool’s Tale next, just click here.
