Unlike the Two of Wands, the Three of Wands is indisputably a card of power, wealth, expansion and success (particularly in trade and commerce). Like all Fire cards, the Three of Wands is associated with business and career matters, as well as creativity, sexuality, and spirituality.
Again unlike the Two of Wands, where some interpreters have seen doubt and hesitation, the Three of Wands is confidently awaiting the first fruits of his (or her) choices.
The post is divided into two: Here are the components that usually go into the divinatory meanings of the card. The next post will combine the elements to form suggested interpretations.
Suit and element
Suit: Wands
Element: Fire*
Wands are associated with power and leadership (a director's baton, Moses' staff). They can also represent magic and miracles (think of magic wands, Aaron's staff). The phallic shape of the wand denotes both masculine energy and the capital "I," accentuating ego and individuality.
A wand is a phallic symbol, denoting will, intent, control, and power (particularly transformative power, as an occult tool).
Both the symbol (wand) and position of the person in the image indicate focus, which includes the "masculine" qualities of drive and ambition.
Wands can also denote creativity, the spark of inspiration.
Fire cards are optimistic, passionate, creative, and enthusiastic. They connote growth and energy. In the Three, the fire ignited in the Ace still burns brightly.
A caution when dealing with fire is that fire can burn itself out, and the brighter the flame, the sooner it disappears. When a Wands card shows up, it might indicate prompt action.
Fire can also consume and destroy, so caution is necessary. Fire can be difficult to control.
Other cautions when dealing with Fire cards are the danger of burnout, overconfidence, and pride that becomes hubris and arrogance.
Astrology
Decan: Sun in Aries (11° to 20°)
The Golden Dawn assigned the second decan of Aries to this card; Picatrix describes this decan as one of pride, nobility, wealth and rule. This interpretation is based on the zodiacal sign Aries, combined with the qualities of the Sun, its ruler. The Sun is exalted in Aries, which means that the best of each is combined in this card.
Both Aries and the Sun are associated with leadership, self-confidence, achievement, and individuality. The Sun also signifies nobility, pride, joy, and energy.
Aries, on the other hand, is dynamic, pioneering, and purposeful, associated with beginnings, change, and the thrusting energy of spring. Wands sprout leaves on all the Wands cards, also denoting living wood, growth, renewal, creativity, potential and beginnings (think of a cutting used to grow a plant).
Putting all the above together, the Golden Dawn came up with 'Lord of Established Strength.' You can see why!
The number
Three is associated with the planet Jupiter. Jupiter, both as the largest planet in the solar system and due to its status in myth and legend, signifies benevolent leadership, expansion, and wisdom.
The number three points to completion, although not the fulfilment and finality of nine or ten. The Three of Wands therefore refers to the completion of a cycle. What was sparked in the Ace of Wands, and continued in the Two of Wands, is now complete.
Three also points to completion, fulfilment, or wholeness in triads such as mother/father/child, beginning/middle/end, body/mind/soul, id/ego/superego, thought/word/deed, and thesis/antithesis/synthesis.
Three is the child, product, synthesis, or result of one (unity) and two (duality); it therefore indicates fruitfulness. Three can also resolve the tension between one and two. (Unity, broken when Two appeared, is restored in the Child of the union.)
Threes are adventurous and gregarious, often indicating journeys, movement, and change.
Spirituality
The Three of Wands is not obviously a spiritual card, yet it has much spiritual power conferred on it as both a three and a Wands card.
According to Elizabeth Hazel (see bibliography), solar light from the Sun represents the divine potential in a human being, while Fire is associated with divinity (for example, Prometheus stole fire from the gods; the Holy Spirit descended in tongues of fire.) Fire also represents light, which points to enlightenment and illumination.
Three is often considered holy or sacred, recalling divine trinities (Father, Son and Holy Ghost; Osiris, Isis and Horis; Braham, Shiva and Vishnu).
Wands can also represent magic. Think of Gandalf's staff, a magician's wand, and even the wand as witches's broomstick.
Wands are associated with the Greek god Hermes (Mercury to the Romans), as they recall the staff of Hermes (the caduceus).
Understanding in the suit of Fire
The card is located on the third sephirah (Binah) on the Tree of Life. Binah translates to 'understanding.' It refers to the understanding gained from both the first sephirah (Kether, meaning crown), and the second (Chokmah, or wisdom). When One became Two, Two knew and reflected One. This reflection and knowing resulted in understanding. You can also say that Kether is pure knowledge, Chokmah is the knower, and Binah is the thing known.
Another way of looking at the card is as wisdom (Chokmah) made concrete or practical.
Aleister Crowley derived the card title, 'Virtue,' by combining Atziluth (Fire) and Binah (understanding). For him, the combination of Will (Ace of Wands) and Dominion (Crowley's title for the Two of Wands) leads to the formation of character, that is, virtue.
Manifestation
According to the Pythagoreans, three is the first 'real' number (one is not a number, because it is the source of all numbers, and cannot be divided; two is likewise not a real number, as it consists of two ones).
Three is also the first number to result in a tangible form or shape (the triangle). (One is a point only and two is a line). Three is therefore associated with manifestation (thought made real).
The Pythagoreans regarded Three as the source of everything that has three dimensions. With three dimensions, distance and perspective becomes possible.
The sequence of cards
Following the Ace of Wands (the creative spark) and the Two of Wands (mastery, hesitation, doubt, choice), the Three of Wands presents the manifestation of the idea (Ace), and the result of the choice made (Two).
Fire cards can be volatile. In the three, however, we see a balance between the volatile Ace and the more peaceful Four. The card also indicates greater stability than found in the Two.
Etteilla
Finally, the divinatory meanings of many of the cards, including the Three of Wands, were influenced by Etteilla***. Etteilla, in turn, may have been influenced by astrology, which brings us back to the Golden Dawn.
Associated major arcana cards
Minor arcana cards take on some qualities of the major arcana cards with the same number. The Three of Wands is therefore connected to Trump III (the Empress). Numerologically, the numbers 12 and 21 also indicate three (1+2=3), therefore we have to include Trump 12 (the Hanged Man) and Trump 21 (the World).
The image
A card's image is a mnemonic for its divinatory meanings, but often the image conveys much more, whether the artist intended it or not. The image and its symbols recall personal associations, and may reflect our projections as we strive to make sense of the ambiguous image.
Many Tarot decks are based on the Rider-Waite deck which, for the Three of Wands, shows a man with his back to us, looking out towards three ships on the ocean. He may be waiting for the ships to come in, or perhaps he has just sent the ships off with goods to trade.
The image also contains many symbols, including colour, which underscore its meaning. Again, symbols and colour may evoke personal associations, which give the card personal meaning beyond what was intended.
Books consulted (and recommended)
Anonymous. (c1888). Book T.--The Tarot (Written and privately circulated among members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.).
Cirlot, J. . (2002). A dictionary of symbols. (J. Sage, trans.) (2nd ed.). Mineola, New York: Dover.
Crowley, A. (1969). The Book of Thoth: A short essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians (Republished.). York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser.
Dudley, U. (1997). Numerology: Or, what Pythagoras wrought. Washington, DC: The Mathematical Association of America.
DuQuette, L. M. (2001). The Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford. York Beach, ME: Weiser Books.
DuQuette, L. M. (2003). Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot. Boston, MA: Weiser Books.
Greer, M. K. (2002). Tarot for your self: A workbook for personal transformation (2nd ed.). Franklin Lakes, NJ: New Page Books.
Greer, M. K. (2006). Mary K Greer's 21 ways to read a Tarot card. Woodbury, Minnesota: Llewellyn.
Hazel, E. (2004). Tarot decoded: Understanding and using dignities and correspondences. York Beach, ME: Weiser Books.
Huson, P. (2004). Mystical origins of the Tarot: From ancient roots to modern usage. Rochester, Vermont: Destiny Books.
Javane, F., & Bunker, D. (1979). Numerology and the divine triangle. Atglen, PA: Whitford.
Konraad, S. (1983). Numerology: Key to the Tarot. Atglen, PA: Whitford.
Louis, A. (2008). Tarot plain and simple. London: Bounty Books.
Menninger, K. (1969). Number words and number symbols: A cultural history of numbers. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Pollack, R. (2004). The Kabbalah tree: A journey of balance & growth. St Paul, Minnesota: Llewellyn.
Schimmel, A. (1993). The mystery of numbers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sterling, S. W. (2000). Tarot awareness: Exploring the spiritual path. St Paul, Minnesota: Llewellyn.
Thomson, S. (2003). Pictures from the heart: A Tarot dictionary. New York, NY: St Martin's Griffin.
Westcott, W. W. (1911). Numbers: Their occult power and mystic virtues (3rd ed.). London: Theosophical Pub. Society.
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* The most 'traditional' pairing. Some decks associate Wands with Air and Swords with Fire. Other combinations of element and suit are also found.
** In Jewish mysticism, the Tree of Life is depicted as ten interconnected spheres or sephiroth (singular, sephirah) on three pillars. The sephiroth, which represent creation or the ten "emanations" of God through which everything was created, are grouped into four "worlds:" Atziluth, Beriah, Yezirah, and Assiah.
The first triangle of sephiroth belongs to the highest of the four worlds, Atziluth, the purest of the four and the one closest to the divine. Atziluth comprises pure ideas and the divine will in its purest form.
The sephiroth represent the ideals to strive for on the spiritual path back to the divine, starting from Malkuth, the lowest of the ten spheres and the one linked to material creation.
*** Jean-Baptiste Alliette (1738-1791). Etteilla (his surname spelled backwards) was the first person to allocate divinatory meanings to all 78 cards.
Related articles
Personal power perplexed: Two of Wands (Part 1)
Personal power perplexed: Two of Wands (Part 2)
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