3 card draw using Victorian Romantic
I’ve wanted to write about this reading for a while. It’s not an uncommon topic, however I recall this particular reading as an example where the cards drawn, and the message they impart, are so clear.
The querent’s main question was around her relationship. I used the Victorian Romantic deck from Baba Studio as I find this deck works very well (and not just for relationship questions).
I fanned out the cards in front of the querent and asked her to draw 3, shown above in the order drawn. I can’t talk about other readers or methods, but for me, the order the cards are drawn is very important. In this instance, chronologically, I read from left to right, with left as the past and right as the future, so that the middle card is the present.
So, the first card she drew was The Sun: here we see the passion and consuming love that they experienced as a couple. The Sun is a burning, fiery, life giving force: there is lust, abundance, joy, exuberance. That early, beautiful stage in a relationship – the honeymoon stage. And then we move onto the present.
I don’t exactly use this direct language, but nonetheless I make it clear what this card is all about. The lady in front of me starts to cry and confirms what has happened. This was a relationship where trust was utterly destroyed through infidelity, and not just once. She tried to heal these wounds, but her partner’s betrayal left some pretty deep scars. She took him back, but was not sure if the relationship was going to make it, and if he in fact was committed.
I have to say, that in my experience as a reader, when a woman sits in front of me with these kind of questions, her gut feeling is already telling her the truth. Our instincts, for all the reasoning and rationale and intellect we cultivate, are spot on. As a tarot reader, I see the cards, over and over, mirroring what the person already knows, deep down inside.
I move onto the last card, the Queen of Swords.
Isn’t she rather fierce? And dignified, I think. My intuition tells me the querent will make a break and leave this relationship – in this card, she basically stands alone, on her own. Which is a good thing, when a toxic relationship seeps out the life energy from you and breaks your spirit.
I am reluctant to say to her, “you gotta break this off”. I don’t think that is my role. It’s up to the person to make that decision, and own up to their actions in life. However, I do explain what this Queen is all about. Her power, her resilience in the face of adversity, how she stands her ground and has the sword ready. She cannot be harmed.
I think my querent understands all this, but I can see it is hard. That Sun energy she experienced early on in this relationship, that is powerful stuff. Love is a drug, they say. She asks about her partner, and where he fits, and what are his intentions, so I ask her to draw two more cards.
The Ace of Swords, by itself, is not good or bad. It is simply a new perspective, a new frame of thinking – a new beginning sometimes, although one that is framed mentally. However, next to the 3 of Swords, it is not a favourable answer by any means. And especially given the imagery on the 3 of Swords, which in this deck deals a blow.
He is simply not there for her, nor does he intend to be (nor was he in the past). Our lady above is left heart-broken while her knight rides away.
I think that, for all the sadness this reading brought, it also brought clarity, and in a way, a resolution for the querent, a way forward. I don’t think there was anything that I said, or that the cards showed, that she did not know already. In many ways, I felt this was a very good reading, because it was clear and concise. There really was no grey area or murkiness, or confusion.
Thank you for reading. Until next time, many blessings to all. Monica