“The Little Match Girl” is one of those fairy tales that sticks with you from when you’re a kid, not because of anything cute, sweet or sentimental, but because of the tragic ending. When I drew this card and saw the story attached to it I first felt a bit sad, since while it’s a story that has always stuck with me, it’s one that has always left me feeling a big depressed. I also suddenly found myself seeing the Three of Swords in a whole new light.

“The Little Match Girl” is a short story that was first published in 1845 in Danish and written by Hans Christian Andersen. Since then the story has been referenced and adapted through music, stories, film and plays. There are some variation of the story; in the original story the events take place on “the last evening of the year”, which would lead one to assume that this is New Year’s Eve, however many other re-tellings clearly place the events of the night on Christmas Eve. It’s possible that this clarification has been made over the years because of Andersen’s references to a Christmas tree and unopened presents in the story. It’s a beloved story that carries the vibration of sadness, fear and heartbreak from beginning to end.

On one of the darkest and coldest nights of the year, one of the last nights of the year, a young girl is out on the snow-covered streets among the hustle and bustle of holiday festivities. The girl, a poor urchin with no shoes and ragged clothing, attempts to get the attention of the passing folks as she tries to sell matchsticks to gain some money to bring home for her family. The girl, hungry and cold, finds herself at the end of the night in an alleyway, not one match sold, and with no money to bring home to her father. Knowing that her father will beat her if she came back with nothing, and too numb and frozen to walk home, the little girl wraps her thin, torn cloak around herself and settles into the snow in the alley to rest.

Tired and growing colder by the minute the girl looks at the matches and wonders what warmth they would bring if she were to light just one. As she does the warmth around her begins to grow, and in the glow of the matchlight, she sees a stove burning brightly and beginning to warm her. As the match goes out the little girl realizes her hands are less numb, so she lights another. This time, peering into the glow of the match, she sees a table full of warm holiday foods, so real she could smell it. Behind the table a Christmas tree, bright with lights made of stars, reflecting off the brightly wrapped packages underneath. Again the match goes out but the girl is mesmerized by the visions and decides that she must light all the matches at once to fully see the images before her. As she does her Grandmother appears in the image of the table, the store, the tree and presents.

The girl looks on the face of her Grandmother with great sadness. Since her Grandmother had died she had known nothing but pain and disappointment. Her Grandmother was the only one who had ever loved and cared for her. Back then the little girl was happy, her Grandmother kept her fed and loved, but since she died the little girl had known nothing but misery. As she gazed at her Grandmother her voice called out to her, beckoning and calling to her to come with her and join her in this perfect vision. The little girl cried out saying how much she loved and missed her Grandmother and how badly she wanted to be with her again. The little girl reached out for her Grandmother and as she did, her Grandmother scooped her up in her arms and the little girl pulled in close and fell asleep in her Grandmother’s loving arms. And as the little girl drifted to sleep, the last flames of the matches went out and the little girl sighed her last breath. Her body slumped in the snow and her hands fell with a thud to her side.

In the morning people were once again on the streets and some of them saw the little girl slumped against the stone wall in the snow. They looked at her with pity since she’d been left out in the cold all night, but they saw that she had a smile on her face and her cheeks held a glow. Then they noticed she was smiling. They knew that whatever splendor she saw before she died had brought her the warmth and peace she was seeking.

This is a story that is perfect for the Three of Swords. Often I think many of us turn instantly to the idea of this card speaking of the deception and heartbreak we experience when two’s company suddenly becomes a crowd of three; we often find this is the card that shows us lovers who cheat, people sneaking around our backs and things that bring disappointment and heartbreak often at the hands of another. But this card with the story of “The Little Match Girl” shows us the other side of the Three of Swords, the internal struggle and the desire to seek out whatever we can that will warm our hearts once again.

So in the Three of Swords we see the following themes:

Heartbreak: dealing with hurt feelings, getting upsetting or hurtful news, disappointment
Loneliness: separation, being away from home and family, feelings of being lost, confused and/or rejected
Betrayal: being lied to, let down, stabbed in the back, people working against you

In the Fairy Tale Tarot Three of Swords we see all of these themes. The little girl is suffering with the pain of heartbreak because of the lost of her Grandmother and the situation that she has now been put in. She is let alone, feeling separated from those she once loved while also feeling rejected and scorned by her father. She also shows the clear signs of feeling lost and helpless. And on some level we can see signs of her feeling betrayed. She’s let down by the lack of love she is experiencing and to some degree exhibits the worries that she is being “worked against” since she feels that if she goes home without any money her father will beat her.

The thing with particular Three of Swords with this deck we see more of the internal and personal aspects of the Three of Swords rather than the external effects of the card. In a full reading other surrounding cards could certainly explain the sources of the pain and betrayal and what its root may be.

Think about this…

How do you deal with pain and heartbreak? If something happens suddenly that brings emotional pain or the feelings of betrayal into your life, how do you react? Do you act out or do you internalize your hurt? Spend a little time thinking about your ways of dealing with these types of situations. Much like in a natural disaster or other emergency, it helps to have a “plan of action” in place. Do you know who you can go to if you need immediate help?

Keep your eyes open for the first signs of any trouble that may be coming your way. Be sure that you are able to find a way to deal with the problems, either on your own or with help of others, from the onset so that things do not become so complicated and confused that you can’t find a way out.