By Jeanne Fiorini
As people come and go from my office in search of guidance from the Tarot, common themes and their attendant issues present themselves like perennials in a garden. Coming in clumps and clusters, they appear in their true season, making themselves available to those willing to observe and honor them. First come the daffodils, then the poppies, then the peonies, followed by lilies, delphinium, and by summer’s peak, the brown-eyed susans.
In the same way that the rain and heat have now forced the sunflowers into blossom, so have life’s teachings brought fruition to those who have tended the ground of their own awareness. I’ve seen it time and again during readings this summer, this message clearly spoken through the Tarot: “Walk through the doorway.” And the messenger carrying this news has consistently appeared as the Three of Wands.
If you look at the RWS version of this card, you’ll see that three wands create a portal at which the protagonist is poised, facing away from those of us who stand in the present, seemingly more interested in what might be happening on the far horizon. Being number “3” in its suit of wands, this card has connections to the Major Arcana #3, The Empress, whose associated Hebrew letter, Daleth, means “door.”
Aside from these interesting attributes, the Three of Wands is a card about which, when we come to a discussion of it in introductory Tarot classes, I don’t have much to say. For me, it’s a card with little complication, ambiguity, or dilemma. Three of Wands is apt to be translated into something like, “You’re ready to go, all you have to do is step ahead into your future.”
Really? Nothing more to do? Just get going? No more planning? No more packing for the trip? No more hard work clearing up issues from the past? For those of us who’ve spent many years (and countless dollars in therapy) digging the rocks and debris from the gardens of our history, it doesn’t seem possible – or likely – that no more extractions are required.
But the essential task for many people seems to have shifted. The prep work has been accomplished; stepping into action is required. Walk through the doorway. During a recent reading saturated with this theme, I made a comment akin to, “You don’t need to spend any more time dwelling on your childhood and how mom or dad was mean to you.” Upon which the client exclaimed, “Oh, I am SO done with that!”
For this person the past has truly passed, and the only way to go is in a new direction. Oftentimes in such readings, I’m reminded of the image of a snow globe, or of an Etch-a-Sketch. One shake of the wrist and the old picture is gone. At times like this, our attachments to old forms can be dispersed as readily as the granules in a Buddhist sand painting.
Walk through the doorway. Sounds easy. The picture on the Three of Wands makes it look simple enough. But significant shifts are waiting to happen. Are we really ready to leave behind what is familiar, the well-worn identifications, the comfort of habit and the reliability of routine? Are we really ready to say goodbye to our carefully constructed sand painting? We need to summon our courage when the future is calling, or risk becoming a Hanged Man, stagnating and strangling the life force as we resist the forces of change and development.
All things have their season: the resting, the planning, the sowing, the tending, the reaping. If what is happening at my Tarot table is any indication, there is currently a widespread impulse toward harvesting what is known and bringing it into as-yet uncultivated pastures. New arenas of growth and expansion are ready to be nurtured—how exciting!
Earlier today, I was mulling over how to compose this article, knowing that the Three of Wands was the focus, but unsure as to how to weave its concept into words. While having breakfast, I tuned the television to The View. (Yes, I’m guilty.) Although it was an “encore presentation” of something originally filmed earlier this summer, interestingly enough and I’m sure not coincidentally, the entire show was focused on psychic phenomena. Well-known medium John Edward was featured, along with past-life regression doctor Brian Weiss, Tarot author Sandy Anastasi, and astrologer JoAnn Reeves.
Each of The View’s four co-hosts participated in one of the disciplines, and it was Whoopie Goldberg who had her Tarot cards read live on the show. Very cool! Anastasi used the RWS deck, and began by asking Whoopie to shuffle and then cut the cards into several piles. She then requested that Whoopie choose one of the piles, and from the top of this pile the reader drew three cards.
The first card represented where Whoopie’s mind was focused at the current time (Seven of Cups), the second card showed the situation in the moment (Ace of Wands). Both cards came in reversed positions, which Anastasi interpreted as indicating that things, though in the works, might take a few months to unfold.
Care to guess what might have been the third card, indicating what Whoopie’s future holds? Uh-huh, our Three of Wands. Anastasi commented that, essentially, decisions have already been made, the future is already happening, and that everything is good to go.
Walk through the doorway. Even the rich and famous are doing it! What a wonderful piece of synchronicity to confirm the fact that the Three of Wands is appearing in its true season, waiting for us to observe and honor its message.
The message is not about creating an upheaval for the sheer sake of bringing about change, but of knowing when a readiness is upon you. And being aware that from this place of readiness can emerge the most natural of next steps whose purpose is to take you to new experiences.
Give it some thought: Which unsown fields are calling to you? What snow globe in your life needs a shake-up? Which line drawing have you completed? What future are you ready to walk toward? Can you summon the courage to walk through the doorway?