Meaning of Illusion in the Oracle of the Triad

Card no. 32

Very close to the Doubt blade, the Illusion card is frankly negative for the querent in the messages it brings. Quite simply because it lets them know that they are at a dead end, and that it will be difficult for them to find a way out. Its predictions are harmful to them for the weeks to come, and there is no way to escape them. The card reveals that they have been lied to, or that they have lied to themselves as if to bury their head in the sand, hoping with great illusion that everything would soon get better, while they knew full well that everything could deteriorate very quickly.

The depiction of the Illusion card is a return to symbols linked to Greek mythology, whereas the previous cards focused on the Christian religion. First of all, we find a frame in which a trident appears, symbolising Neptune, the God of living waters and springs, without which human life on earth would be impossible. Lower down, we notice a Venetian mask used in the Commedia dell’arte, the popular Italian-style theatre, which exposed in broad daylight the failings, as complex as they are ridiculous, of human behaviour. Through this mask, the card strongly insists on the fact that it is never good to play blind when problems pile up on our doorstep. Finally, this card is associated with the astrological signs of Taurus and Gemini, and with the number 32, which embodies communication in society in numerology.

During a divinatory reading, the Illusion card tells the querent that they are on the wrong track by fleeing reality. It indicates that the consequences of their actions, or rather of their inaction, will have unfavourable repercussions on their future in the coming days and weeks. Suffice to say that the problems they will have accumulated will not dissolve for quite some time.

Keywords: Hide, Lie, Dead end, Deterioration, Escape, Consequences