One of the most iconic images in the tarot, the Three of Swords displays a floating heart that is pierced by three swords. Above it, there are heavy clouds. There is also a heavy downpour in the background. The symbolism is pretty opaque, and the emotional effect that it has is immediate. The heart is the seat of warmth, affection and spirit, and the three swords indicate the power to harm, cause pain, and create suffering to what it pierces. This is an image of grief, loss and literally heartbreak. The clouds and rain depict the surrounding grimness of the situation. All these symbols point to the Three of Swords showing a low point in one’s life.
source: Labyrinthos
Gina Chick, a rewilding facilitator, was the first woman to win Alone Australia, the survival show in which contestants compete for a big cash prize after being dropped in remote wilderness to survive (alone) for as long as they can.
While her journey in the wild was inspiring it was her vunerability, her willingness to share her dance with traumatic loss and grief and the loss of her infant daughter to cancer which captured the imagination of Australians.
Processing Loss and Grief
Let us be clear! There is no set way of processing loss and grief and there are no timelines that one can observe. The ideas presented here are just ideas, processes that have helped some, but not all.
Use a spread to open a fresh window of perspective.
If you are a devotee of Tarot and Oracle cards you can lay down the Three of Swords in the centre and pull four cards. There is no magic involved. It is a simple reality that when you look at the images in the cards nuances and points of reference may rise up that help clarify the matter.
Make a Battle/Scar Cloak
In her book Women Who Run With The Wolves in Chapter 13, Clarissa Pinkola Estes writes about Battle Scars and describes a process she uses in workshops. She shows women how to make a full length scapecoat from cloth or other material. This coat details in painting and writing and with all manner of things pinned and stitched to it, all the name calling a woman has endured, all the slurs, all the traumas, all the wounds, all the scars.
Of course this coat may become so heavy that you need a chorus of Muses to carry and sing over it but I think you get the idea! It helps heal!
Waltzing With Matilda's 