Arieli's Three of Goblets

Month: Tammuz (Days of Sun)

Numerology: The number three indicates a flowering, something created from the energy of the suit. It is the synthesis of One’s thesis and Two’s antithesis. In Pythagorean philosophy, the number three (triad) represents energy and unity restored. According to Joanna Powell Colbert, threes means harmony, flow, and abundance. The third sefirah on the Tree of Life is Binah, Understanding.

Arieli’s card: A man dressed in black holds a wash cup in his right hand and pours water on his left hand. Two more cups stand next to the basin.

Arieli assigns these meanings to the Three of Goblets:
Upright: purification, leaving the past, freeing oneself from the oppressive things, preparation for an important process or event Reversed: conscience, remorse, repentance, reconciling oneself with oneself, correcting the soul

Arieli’s description of the card: This card shows the custom of hand washing (netilat yedayim), which is done before eating bread and after waking up. The cup has two handles so that each hand can pour water on the opposite hand. [The morning hand washing ritual is slightly different from the ritual before breaking bread.] The ritual is a reminder of the ablutions performed by the priests before the Temple service. In the Gemara, it is said that the morning hand washing ritual is done to remove spirits of impurity that settle on one’s fingers during sleep. [Arieli cites Shabbat 109a, which seems to be about healing and bathing, but does not mention hand washing.]

The RWS Three of Cups: Three women dance in a circle, holding chalices high. Harvest fruits surround them. Pamela Colman’s Smith image suggests a stately ritual, while the young women in the Robin Wood image seem more frolicsome and perhaps even tipsy.

Traditionally, this card signifies: friendship, family, community, celebration, harvest, abundance, pleasure, or “the conclusion of any matter in plenty.” It may also refer to the Eleusinian Mysteries, which celebrated Persephone’s return from the Underworld. Reversed, it may suggest: stifled creativity, an affair, or “excess in physical enjoyment.”

Comparison between the cards: Both the Arieli and the RWS cards suggest joy. The former suggests an exuberant harvest celebration, the latter, oneg Shabbat.

Hebrew Letter Correspondence: The numeral 3 is the letter גּ, which the Sefer Yetzirah connects to Mars and wealth.

Relationship with Major Arcana: The third sefirah on the Tree of Life is Binah, Understanding. It is the place of receptivity and resistance. It is associated with the left temple of the head, which, if balanced with Chokhmah, the right temple, can bring insight. “Understand with wisdom. Be wise with understanding.” (Sefer Yetzirah 1:4)

Arieli’s connects the third sefirah to HaShekhinah, his High Priestess card. The Lurianic partzufim (faces) of the third sefirah are Imma and Tevunah, Mother and Comprehension.

Tarot has a couple of bizarre twists on mathematics. In one system, you add the digits of a card to reduce it to a single number. In the other system, you reduce a card’s number by ten. Thus, each of the following cards has a value of three:

3=3 Arieli’s Shekhinah (RWS Empress)
12=1+2=3 Arieli’s Justice (RWS Hanged Man)
13=13-10=3 Arieli’s Hanged Man (RWS Death)
21=2+1=3 Arieli’s Judgment Day (RWS World)

Visually, there seems to be little connection between Arieli’s Three of Goblets and the four Majors listed above.

The RWS Empress, like the Three of Cups, implies a bountiful harvest. The Hanged Man suggests the period of suspenseful waiting before harvest time. Death may be John Barleycorn who undergoes harvesting and malting. A wreath, again suggestive of bounty, encircles the woman in The World.

Magical uses according to Tyson: to obtain social pleasure, good hospitality; for a successful party, new clothes, or a feast.