TAROTThree of Wands
Upright
Looking towards new horizons. Exploration and making progress or new beginnings.
Progress, growth and expansion. Patience and seeing the longer view. Collaboration rather than going your own way.
Moving towards new ideas, new areas, or new ways of living.
Exploring new avenues via travel or relocating your life.
Intuition
The man on this card is literally scanning a far horizon.
Unlike the previous card (Two of Wands) this man is not about ambition and conquest but more about courageous exploration and experience.
The ship crossing his gaze suggests travel or exploration, and perhaps the fruits of this exploration coming back home.
Reversed
Lack of vision. Keeping your head down and seeing only your current world rather than the broad new horizons in front of you.
Lacking vision or the wider picture.
Reluctance to move away from the familiar at the expense of personal growth.
Ignoring new opportunities.
Astrologia
Confidence, determination, and curiosity. Assertiveness in pursuing one's goals and desires. Strong sense of self and independent. Can become overconfident and arrogant.
Three of Wands
Like the Two of Wands, the Three of wands is looking towards the future, and it is early morning. The sky is again red with passion and coming from the star sign Aries.
The situation is however significantly different. This time the man is not dressed for battle but for travel and experience.
He wears bright and colorful clothes that suggest the Far East and India rather than the Ancient Western World. He stands out as someone who thinks differently because he is well travelled.
A large (for the time) seafaring ship crosses his gaze, suggesting a long journey. This may be a physical journey, but it may also be a spiritual journey or life-changing path.
The man is looking away from us (and this is significant as he is the only subject in the Wands suit that does this). He is a facet of us that is less concerned with ourselves over what else is out there. He looks out over the wide expanse of sea to other experiences, other worlds, and other ways of thinking.
Like Alexander the Great (Two of Wands), this man is passionate about the future, but the Three of Wands is not the Archetypal courageous General. He is the Archetypal courageous Explorer.
Hippalus
Hippalus is a great explorer and navigator of the ancient world. He lived in Ptolemaic Egypt around the 1st Century BC. He was the first person to realize the Indian coast lies North-South and not the prevailing assumption of West-East. From this he was able to plot a direct sea route that was much faster than hugging the coastline.
This knowledge was significant. It massively increased trade via the sea route from the Red Sea to Southern India. This resulted in an increase of prosperity and growth.
It also initially required a massive amount of courage and self-belief. Sailing across the Arabian Sea in the ships of the time was a daunting task. Not with Hippalus of course. He knew that with conviction and planning, no explorer is ever lost.
Description and Symbology
We see the great explorer and navigator Hippalus viewing the distant horizon. He knows there is a direct route to exploration and riches beyond it for those who knows what he does and have the conviction and bravery to follow through. This conviction will take him on a long and potentially dangerous journey across the Sea of Arabia, a long sea voyage for ships of the time.
Like him, we also often see the horizon as symbolic of the future. Its line separates the known present and the unknown future.
The man can either move beyond the horizon towards the unknown, or stay in safety within the world he can see. A short term view would suggest safety, but a longer view tells us we all have to move (at least spiritually, but often also physically) from the place we were born to become adults. We have to do this constantly when making all our life decisions. The best things for personal growth are rarely the ones closest to your arm. You need the courage and tenacity to get up and make a path to them before you can grasp them.
The best things for personal growth are rarely the ones closest to your arm. You require the courage and tenacity to get up and make a path to them before you can grasp them.
As with the Two of Wands, the Three of Wands harks back to the Magician card. Unlike the Two, the Three is less about conquest and passion and more about personal courage aimed at self-development. The Three is about going on a journey of self-discovery and expanding your horizons, rather than trying to rule the world or shape it to your aims.
In short, the Two is about using your passion to change the world whereas the Three is about discovering the larger world around you and allowing it to change you.
The figure watching the horizon
The figure looks towards future horizons. The ship that crosses his gaze suggests he aims to use such a vessel to move towards such horizons; he is the Archetypal Explorer.
Three Wands
The man’s staff and the two plants behind him make up a trio or a crowd. The man may need help in his travels. A team effort or speaking to experts may be wise.
Red Sky, Early Morning
The red sky represents passion and, in this case, the courage, and tenacity of the explorer. The early morning suggests we are at the start of the plan or journey ahead.
The Novel and New
The man wears exotic clothes suggestive of the Far East. He is open to new ideas and being changed by them.
Tips for Readings
The following table shows the upright and reverse meanings for general questions. The last row ('Yes/No') is useful when you are picking a single card to decide a yes or no decision.
Upright
Reversed
This card suggests positive growth in the relationship. There will be a period of moving forward together, perhaps into new avenues.
Working together with patience and courage and an eye on the long view will work well.
For new relationships, this card suggests casting your net wider than your home area. Romance may be discovered through going somewhere new or travel as you have exhausted your usual options.
Obstacles in the relationship that prevent one or both partners following their true path.
This may be via other people causing friction, unmet personal expectations, or unreasonable demands.
There needs to be a reckoning, pulling back expectations, or fixing the problem together.
All must be done with a long view and an agreed direction. Easy fixes now may stunt growth in the future.
Expect steady gains if you move forward with an eye to the long view, ignoring minor setbacks, and with an inner knowledge of your true worth.
Moving forward as a group may also help. You cannot always go it alone, so look for help and advice from co-workers and associates.
Expect setbacks, disappointments and being looked over in the short term.
This card tells you to have the courage to instead look around at the wider horizon. There is a world of opportunity outside your current sphere. Do not be afraid to move. You have legs, not roots so feel free to walk and explore options!
Being open to new ideas along with the courage, tenacity, and patience to work towards the long term will work out for any health plans.
If it isn’t working, don’t keep trying the same thing. You are just repeating previous failure.
The key to health will be to reassess what works by looking at new methods rather than what you know (and probably also know 'what doesn’t work!’).
Your path to self-discovery means understanding you are a human, not a tree. You can move (both physically and mentally) and discover new ideas and thoughts to make you more whole.
The sense of exploration and tenacity will reap rewards in finding your real place in the world.
You will experience disappointments and lack of understanding unless you cast your spiritual-self farther than your human eye can see.
You need to look further than your local environment to gain a true global understanding of your world and your place in it, because the world exists far beyond your personal horizons.
Being open to new ideas, along with the courage, tenacity, and patience to work towards the long term will work out for any wealth plans.
Short-termism, retrying plans that have failed in the past, or simply not looking at the plans deeply may still lead to eventual failure: you need to be all or nothing.
You will be disappointed in returns unless you take a longer and broader view and have the courage and tenacity to hold for a longer time. This means mapping out longer term expectations, choosing a direction and sticking with it for longer.
You may also need external help if you are undecided on direction, but don’t look towards the closest source, as it may not be the best.
Yes. New journeys, a fresh start, or looking to new ideas. Retrying old ideas or just jumping in may however lead to short-term success but eventual failure — you need to do your planning before starting!
Yes, but the journey may take longer than expected through lack of courage and sticking to the safe route.
Reading the Card
The Three of Wands suggests taking the long view as you look to new horizons (new projects, new career, new relationships, or changing situations in any of them).
The upright card
There is a path ahead that may take a while to fulfil, but there will be great rewards that will come as both material and spiritual rewards.
The three rods (Wands) make a crowd, suggesting the need to work within a team, take advice, or simply to start with an accepted view and move it forward towards the horizon of the new.
The spiritual will come as a broadening of your horizons and a better understanding of your place in the world.
The journey may be long, but the courage and tenacity of the archetypal explorer will work well, as will planning and conviction. The true explorer is never lost because there is always a direction to move in, and every turn is a learning experience.
The reversal
The reversed card suggests frustration, impatience, or inertia. Something is blocking you from starting something new, or early setbacks are forcing you to retreat back into the safety of what you know.
Retreat to safety may work for the short term, but a longer term view suggests you will never grow. There may be a need to foster greater self-belief.
You need a greater conviction that what is waiting out there beyond the known horizon may be good or bad, but is the way to go if you want to expand your knowledge, experience, or wealth.
Card Design Process
The man in the card, Hippalus expanded the western ancient world by creating a direct route to Southern India. The aim of the card was to create a figure that looks like he has travelled to exotic places and come back wearing something a lot more colorful than the typical Greek white and solid colors.
The pattern on the man’s clothes was influenced by the works of Gustav Klimt.
Final Words
The three of Wands represents the Archetypal Explorer. Courageous, tenacious, and with a strong conviction in the direction they are taking. The card suggests becoming this archetype to navigate a new project, career change, relationship or other endeavor.
