“They love, and hate, and cannot do without him.” The perception of the Greeks on Alcibiades.
Today I picked the Three of Wands to use in the Free Association exercise. I’ll record exactly what transpired during the exercise, even if it doesn’t make immediate sense.
My first impressions of this card were
- Strong
- Bold
- People
- Love
- Power
- Joy
- Killing
- Death
- Murder
- Hate
- Want
- Despair
- Give it to me
Additional impressions were more abstract. I found it difficult to encapsulate those sensations using keywords so I have described them bellow:
A flower that is developing, unfolding, growing, trampled on.
I also got an unexpected feeling from the cards. It was almost as if I was sensing, on a personal human level, the motive: You think you’re better than me? This was followed by a feeling of being equal.
My sensory impressions of this card were
Warmth and heat, like a sauna.
The next stage involved talking with the card. This is what transpired:
I’m going to show you the whole world and how to take from it. How to take from it and how to love it – how to destroy it and create from it. I’m going to show you the meaning of hate, of pain and joy and love and death and all the beauty! But I won’t beg. I’ll leave it up to you – but do you want it?
I decided to try something different at this point. I tried to relate the energy of the card to an Historic event. This is a great way to build a connection with the Tarot. It felt natural for me to associate this card with Alcibiades and the Peloponnesian War!
Event
Need him but are afraid of him. They can’t control him but they know he’s useful. Must watch his ambition. His morality is ambiguous! He switched political allegiances on several occasions! Can we trust him? No, but we need him, just as he needs us; we need him to help win the war. Let’s consider our proposition (deal) carefully.
Conclusion
The Three of Wands is about people, power struggles and controlling agendas; schemes, plans and using (cooperating and negotiating with) people to achieve ambitions. Yet, they need each other so they cooperate…for now. This, in many ways indicates teamwork, for good or bad.
I like to think of the Three of Wands as a deal about to be made; going to be made; has been made. Deals often come at a price. “They love, and hate, and yearn to have him back.”
This post is part of the Free Association Exercise.
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2 comments… Let's discuss
For some reason, the three of wands always gives me a blank idea. But this post makes sense. “Teamwork for good or bad”.
Thanks for the input.
HI AJ,
Glad you liked the post. By using the Free Association exercise for all 78 cards, you will quickly build up your own version of the little white book – something that will be much more useful to you, as a reader