Meet the dashing and clever Triple Agent…

The Triple Agent is the man who’s so smart that he’s even outsmarted himself. Layering betrayal upon betrayal he proves his loyalty is only to himself. Or is it? This card is for anyone who’s being pulled in so many directions that they end up staying right where they are - or else falling to pieces. It’s something like being drawn and quartered:

The statutory punishment for treason in England from 1283 to 1867, D&Q was a multimedia form of execution. First the prisoner was drawn to the place of execution on a hurdle, a type of sledge. (Originally he was merely dragged behind a horse.) Then he was hanged. Cut down while still alive, he was disembowelled and his entrails burned before his eyes. (Some references, such as the Encyclopedia Britannica, say this step, and not dragging behind a horse, is what is meant by “drawn,” but actual sentences of execution don’t support this view.)

Finally the condemned was beheaded and his body cut into quarters, one arm or leg to a quarter. How exactly the quartering was to be accomplished was not always specified, but on at least some occasions horses were hitched to each of the victim’s limbs and spurred in four directions. An assistant with a sword or cleaver was sometimes assigned to make a starter cut and ease the strain on the animals. The remains were often put on display as a warning to others.

The Triple Agent is the master of treason, the prince of lies and deception. He is the person for whom truth has lost all meaning, and is merely just trying to stay alive at this point. No one can dispute his cunning though. And no matter how many intricate dilemmas he gets himself into, he always somehow manages to escape as well. For this reason, the Triple Agent card may also indicate the need for extreme adaptability and to become as flexible as possible to solve a difficult situation.

This may also be a card indicating that there is a struggle for power going on within your personality. Which aspect will survive? This card is also typified by the classic movie situation where the hero and the villain look exactly alike, and a third party must decide which is which, and who to shoot. This card may also indicate that you’re being lied to, that you’re lying to yourself, or others. Is there someone in your life who you don’t fully trust right now? Better keep a closer eye on them!

Philip K. Dick’s masterpiece A Scanner Darkly deals very much with this type of character. The novel (soon to be a movie) describes a drug addict who develops a split personality, and begins to spy and snitch on himself and his friends without doing it. Meanwhile, his other personality grows increasingly paranoid as he feels he’s being spied on and sabotaged at every turn by someone very close to him. The title of this novel comes from 1 Corinthians 13:12…

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

This card also features small emblems of triple-god figures. Hazily etched upon the wall is the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity. It consists of Brahma (the Creator), Vishnu (the Preserver), and Shiva (the Destroyer). Though their actions may at time seem completely at odds, they all function together as Brahman, the presence of god acting in the world. A similar Western tradition can be found in the three Greek Fates - the Moirae.

They were: Clotho, the spinner, who spun the thread of a person’s life, Lachesis, the apportioner, who decided how much time was to be allowed each person, and Atropos, the inevitable, who cut the thread when you were supposed to die

Also depicted is a triquetra on the lapel of the Bond who has been tied to the chair. The triquetra is a symbol of the trinitarian Christian godhead - the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost. One other more modern pop culture reference to this concept is tucked away on the wall in the upper right corner: the Triforce from Legend of Zelda. It is an object of mystical import made up of three parts: Courage, Wisdom, & Power. Only by uniting all these pieces may there be piece in the kingdom.

In terms of the traditional tarot deck, I’d say this card is most closely aligned with the Hanged Man, which is all about reversal.

[For more info on the pop culture tarot, go here]