III of Wands
I love how Tarot allows us to connect the dots when we do daily card pulls. It begins to weave a story of sorts that we can follow as something that's either telling us about ourselves or something we need to work on. Today's card is the III of Wands, the next step in our weekly journey that began with The High Priestess. More on that in a second...
There is a saying that sums up the III of Wands for me: "Nothing ventured, nothing gained;" so to me, this card is what I would call the "card of effort."
Traditionally, the III of Wands shows a figure standing on a cliff or hilltop overlooking a vast ocean expanse. Maybe they are sizing up the surrounding land for a luxurious resort. Maybe they're charting paths for his new shipping business. Maybe they're eagerly awaiting the homecoming of their handsome sailor. Who can say? However, the figure holds three wands, indicating that they are taking some kind of action to achieve their goals and move their desires forward. The figure has their eyes on the horizon, suggesting that they have a clear vision of where they want to go and are actively working towards it.
The III of Wands playlist is available on Spotify.
Message of the Day: Now, back to that weekly journey that began with The High Priestess. Yesterday, we were encouraged to step into our intuition and listen with a quiet mind. I discussed that this is a skill that takes routine practice, and the more we move into that mind space, the more in tune we become. So the III of Wands takes that a step forward to bring about the importance of making an effort to connect. There are times when we, honest to God, will struggle and cannot bring ourselves into whatever alignment needs to be in place for a connection to happen; that's part of being human, I suppose. We can't control everything that happens around us, and sometimes the stress, and bullshit, and negativity of the world around us just creeps in and pollutes our energy, blocking our access. Then you just need to call it day and dabble in the world of self-care.
However, sometimes we just don't feel like putting in the work or making the effort, and we're fine accepting things at face value - like reading the cards with their literal meanings. It doesn't mean you'll be wrong, and you may still get valuable insight from them, but it may not be as rich or connected as it could be with intuition in place. Alternatively, the cards may just not make any sense and you scoop 'em up and throw them back in the pile.
Now Tarot aside, the notion of effort and "nothing ventured, nothing gained" has a clear application in our daily lives. We are creatures of comfort and we fall into routines simply because they are easy and convenient - particularly when we have kids. Tuesday nights are "Chick-fil-a night" here because the boy-child has karate and it makes dinner "difficult" to get things done before bedtime. Does it HAVE to be? Nope. I could make the effort to do something simple like tacos or burgers. But then we have to cook and clean... sometimes sticking to the routine is easier just because it saves energy (even if it costs money), and I just don't want to deal with it. TOTALLY FINE. It's when that laissez-faire energy rolls over into other things that we begin to see problems. Then those "routines" turn into "ruts."
The Pandemic introduced a lot of these kinds of "comfort" routines - some of which we actually pay a steep price for (hello DoorDash and grocery delivery). I do feel like many of these "comforts" are social (but that could also be me projecting on myself about how horribly anti-social I am). Staying in on a Friday night in your comfy PJs with a plate of Totino's pizza rolls and a glass of something-you-probably-shouldn't-be-having-with-pizza-rolls instead of venturing out to see friends is lovely for when you want to fall asleep early with heartburn and intestinal regret, but also probably not the best for your mental (or physical) health, especially if it becomes a routine/rut.
But then we see other routines like the comfort of working from home... relying on AI to do our writing (or thinking) for us (ChatGPT), and automating EVERYTHING in our daily lives. I mean, I can turn off all the lights in my house simply by asking Alexa to turn off the lights. Easy peasy, but ultimately lazy. Think how many steps I could track by just going around the house to turn everything off...
So thinking about your own life, where have you fallen into a comfortable routine? Where has that routine turned into a rut? What kind of things could use a little more effort? Your social life? Your family relationships? Your mental health? Cleaning the house? Work? Exercise? The III of Wands invites you to stop, take a minute to look out around you, and make the effort to expand where things may have stagnated.
Decks shown above: