Name: Gift
Italian Name: Presente di Pietre Preziose
Playing Card: 3♦*
Polarity when Upright: Neutral to Positive
Core Meanings: Movement of goods, Parcels, Objects in General | Offers, Gifts | Opulence, Wealth
Polarity when Reversed: Positive
Reversed Core Meanings: Gradual resolution of difficult situations

Card Description: on a table a small jewel box lies open, revealing its rich contents.

Suit and Number: threes are connected to the idea of movement, while Diamonds are cards connected with money and everyday life. The Three of Diamonds is the card that represents movement of goods and parcels arriving. It represents gifts and proposals in general, and has a connection with wealth and the freedom to do what you want and go where you go.

UPRIGHT 3♦

General: on the whole a positive card, but it has some neutral connotations. It is mainly the card of goods coming and going and, by similitude, of gifts or proposals coming and going. It also represents wealth and being materially free from worry, and it is the significator card for most objects (the exception being means of transport (3♣, 6♠) and books and letters (2♦).

Love and Relationships: this is not a card that speaks of feelings. In the main, it represents people who are wealthy or who makes us gifts or proposals, and in that sense it is positive. However, the validity of the gift must be ascertained by looking at the cards nearby. Metaphorically, it can represents that a person is of great value to the querent, although this usually signified by other cards (such as the Handmaid). It can, however, signify that someone gives us advice, and whether this advice is good, or whether we will follow it or not, will be disclosed by the other cards in the spread.
Because this card has a connection to people’s character (see the section “Other”), with positive cards it can represent a couple getting along fine (it can also represent an engagement ring and therefore signal the consolidation of the couple) while with negative cards it signifies the potential for a breakup due to being too different. Just a month or so ago I pulled some cards for myself and the spread was 10♥ + 3♣ + 5♥ + 2♠R + 3♦ + 8♣ + 9♥. The cards showed a journey to my hometown to visit relatives where there would be some tension due to differing character traits, but in the end things would turn out fine. That’s exactly what happened last week.

Work and Money: an excellent card for financial and career readings. The Gift is the card of jewelry, finery, opulence, etc. It is connected to the idea of freedom from financial worry. It indicates good business sense and good business advice. It is the card of exclusive markets and and social progress. The concept of gift or proposal or opportunity that the Three of Diamonds embodies must be understood as anything that arrives toward the querent that will allow him or her to get where he or she wants. This is often the case with job proposals or being short-listed for a promotion. It can also signify someone’s patronage or being taken under a powerful person’s wing, if near a significator in the right context. Because of the concept of gift, the card can take on the meaning of being gifted at what we do. It represents people who make spectacular career choices, and it represents working with (usually precious) objects.

Other: as we have seen, the Gift card represents the movement of goods. It also represents, therefore, parcels and packages, and any object in general, regardless of it being precious.
The card does have a psychological meaning, signifying one’s gifts and talents, and more in general what someone brings to the table in terms of outlook, and can therefore signify the person’s values and character. This is usally a shade of meaning, as this card tends to be more on the material side most of the times, but as shown by the example above, it is a shade of meaning that can come up in a reading.
Artistically this is a card of talent or fame, and also represents (obviously) artifacts (usually not books, but be flexible). The cards surrounding it may show whether we are using our talent or not, whether our artifacts have a public or not, etc.
Spiritually, other than religious paraphernalia, the card can show someone with high values, someone who has a noble soul, but this is pretty rare. With negative cards it can signify materialism and someone who is not in touch with reality as they only have first world problems.

Important Combinations:
3♦ + J♦ = a parcel | news concerning an offer
3♦ + K♠ = a loan or help from the authority
3♦ + 2♣ = opulence, a great gift
3♦ + 10♣ = a trinket | a misplaced item
3♦ + K♦ = a job offer or a rich job

REVERSED 3♦R

General: there is no rational reason why this card should be positive when reversed. At least, none that I could find. And yet it is positive. Very positive. 90% of the times, its meaning is that of difficult situations slowly sorting themselves out. Everything else is just a minor shade of meaning that rarely comes into play. However, unlike the Two of Clubs and the Five of Clubs, this card is not very strong, meaning that if surrounded by negative cards it will fail to solve all problems.

Love and Relationships: this is a very material card, and does not in the least talk about feelings. Usually, the difficulties that it solves are of a practical or material nature. If the couple has material problems, this card normally heralds a resolution, for instance if they are waiting for an adoption procedure to go through.
With negative cards, or if the question is pertinent, this card can behave, on rare occasion, like its upright counterpart does when surrounded by difficult cards, namely, it points to differences in values and someone who is wrong for you (though not necessarily a bad person). With cards of enmity and shady situations, it can rarely show the presence of a powerful negative person influencing the situation.

Work and Money: excellent card on the whole, as it points to the sorting out of difficult situations. Often, it represents difficult material conditions that slowly lose their grip on the querent. Similarly, if the querent is waiting for a deal to go through or for some bureaucratic red tape to clear, this card is an encouraging sign. With negative cards it shows problems that are only partially or superficially solved. Alternatively, it can point (but rarely) to cheap gifts or cheap proposals, and in general something that has no great value. This include cheap tips and cheap pieces of advice, or even advice given to hurt. Again, though, this is rare.

Other: there are other layers of meaning of this card that come out, albeit seldom, when it is with negative cards. It represents not making full use of your talent (basically, the opposite of the upright card) or even wasting your life. Artistically it can represent damaged objects or lack of talent (or not having developed a latent talent). Psychologically, in addition to someone who is wasting their life, it can signify someone who is cheap and superficial.

Important Combinations:
K♣ + 3♦R = a therapy that slowly cures you of your ailment | in general, a good solution
5♦ + 3♦R = melancholy and dejection slowly coming to an end
4♣R + 3♦R = a recommendation or help that solves the issue
K♥ + 3♦R = a protector or benefactor helping you (Q♦ for a woman, 2♠ for an older woman)
2♦ + J♣ + 6♦ + 7♣ + 3♦R = graduation

Other Combinations: Vera Sibilla | Examples of Combinations – The Threes

* in some recent versions of the deck, the 3♦ and 8♦ are swapped. I don’t know why this was done, but I’m guessing it was a mistake, especially considering the graphic similarity between the numbers 3 and 8 in the decks where the swap was made. In the 1850s version, the card is the three.