Monthly Reflection: Three of Swords & Knight of Cups

The months of April and May appear to mark an important turning point for us my friends! The areas we have been stuck are being brought to light, and while it might be painful, it is an opportunity to release and to forge ahead on a new and better path.

So, let’s break this down…

April Reflection: Three of Swords

This was a significant, albeit difficult, month.

The Three of Swords is our card of heartache, a card many of us fear to see, and the way the Wayhome Tarot depicts this has an interesting additional layer for us to consider.

We can see the blood red liquid as a signifier of the pain we hold within ourselves. It sits there, circling round and round within us, an endless loop.

Deck: Wayhome Tarot

The thing is, we can get used to pain - we can get so used to pain that we don’t even register it as pain anymore. We become numb to it. Most, if not all of us, carry some of that type of pain - the pain we don’t even realise we’re carrying.

This is the pain, the limiting beliefs, the traumas, the negative self-talk that keeps us stuck in patterns and cycles, like those unhealthy habits you can’t seem to break, or entering into the same type of toxic relationship over and over. We can’t break those cycles, because we don’t even recognise the pain that is causing them.

We need something to wake us up, to pierce the hourglass that pain is perseverating in and release it from a holding pattern inside of us.

But that hourglass shattering no doubt creates its own pain.

Perhaps the incident that triggers the shattering is incredibly painful in itself, or maybe it’s just simply that the realisation cuts through you like a sword. Not to mention, all of this pain that we’ve been totally numb to, is now bleeding out of its chamber… we’re going to start to feel it.

This is incredibly difficult to experience, and if this description resonates with you, I am incredibly sorry to hear it. However, while this might be hard, what these cards indicate is that this is a process of release, and that can be a very good thing.

Consider that, even if we haven’t been aware of that pain looping around inside, it was there and for as long as we’ve carried that pain, we’ve been in some sort of cycle.

And so, this is an opportunity to break that cycle.

What we release here is making space within ourselves. The question is, what will you choose to fill yourself up with?

May Outlook: Son of Cups

The imagery of this card speaks of ‘filling ourselves up’ in a very literal sense. Typically, the Knight of Cups is depicted with an outstretched cup - he is offering it out to someone else. However, in this card, we see the figure drinking from his own cup.

May is all about internally rebuilding. We have an opportunity here to really take note of all that was spinning round and round in that hourglass and ask ourselves, do I want to repeat that again?

Because chances are, your answer to that question is ‘no’.

May is all about refilling that cup of yours, and so it’s important to be mindful of what is in your metaphorical cup that you are drinking from. What people are you surrounding yourself with? What are you consuming? How are you taking care of yourself? When we make space, energy is going to fill it - good or bad. What you don’t want is to be filling it back up with more of the stuff you just released. There is a sensitivity and susceptibility here. Humans are creatures of habit, and it is so easy to fall back into old patterns even when we are aware of them. It may take conscious effort to discern what you need right now, and what will fill you up with love, light and positive energy, but taking a bit more consideration now, certainly has the potential to pay dividends long-term.

So what that this encourages us to do is focus on ourselves this month! Take time for yourself, make the decision that might feel a little selfish, say ‘no’ rather than stretching yourself, invest a little more in things that are good for you, rest when you need it. The 3 of Swords is painful, and if you strongly resonate with this card, it means that you’ve been through quite an ordeal. It’s okay to give yourself time, to process, to heal and to refill yourself with goodness. It has the potential to really pay off long-term.

Ultimately, the Cups are our most emotionally sensitive, loving, generous and caring court cards of the tarot deck, and our Knights are cards of progress, so a little inward focus now can certainly allow you to express greater generosity and compassion in the future, because a heart overflowing with love, can give its love so much more freely than one trapped by its pain.

This is a turning point, my friends. Growth isn’t easy, but it’s worth it.

Let’s fill our cups this month - a brighter future is on the horizon.

N x