Sherlock Holmes Card of the Day: 3 of Analysis

The Sherlock Holmes Card of the Day is:

THREE OF ANALYSIS

(3 of Cups)

In The Sherlock Holmes Tarot by John Matthews and Wil Kinghan (Sterling Ethos), the suit of Analysis (represented by a magnifying glass) is comparable to the suit of Cups in traditional decks.

The quotation chosen to represent the entire suit of Analysis is “There are fifty who can reason synthetically for one who can reason analytically” from A Study in Scarlet. This comment is made, as you might expect, by Sherlock Holmes himself. It is prefaced by the following: “In solving a problem of this sort, the grand thing is to be able to reason backwards. That is a very useful accomplishment, and a very easy one, but people do not practise it much. In the every-day affairs of life it is more useful to reason forwards, and so the other comes to be neglected.” I love that.

The Holmesian Wisdom for the 3 of Analysis is “Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use, and a chronicler still more so” from The Man with the Twisted Lip. The card shows Dr. Watson at his writing desk, putting the finishing touches to his latest story, enjoying the satisfaction of a job well done.

Keys for this card, upright, are: “generosity of spirit, solace, fulfilment, fortunate conclusion, the power to communicate joy and gladness, a job well done.” Reversed meanings: “endings, setbacks, delays, over-indulgence, accidents.”

The book that accompanies this deck also provides interpretations for each card under the headings “The Game” and “The Fog.” The former elaborates on the upright keys, while the latter expands on reversed meanings. Examples from “The Game” for the 3 of Analysis: “celebration of alliances. . . friendships you can rely upon. . . mutual support and appreciation.” Examples from “The Fog”: “dissipation or doing things to excess. . .friendship strained by events. . . feeling left out of everything goind on around you.”