Tarot Cards of Patience

I am Neo in the Matrix. Bullets soar at me, yet with a wave of my hand, they slow and freeze. I am able to pluck them from mid-air and shoo them to the side like metal flies. I alter time. I am stealth like. I am way cool.

Such is the concept of the 12th card in the Major Arcana: The Hanged Man. A card which represents meditation, sacrifice, foresight, insight, decisions, but most of all, suspension of one’s self over issues.

Ok, I am not Keanu Reeves and I am not the chosen one in a blockbuster hit movie. However, I do have the ability to suspend myself in proverbial air and let my conflicts fall to the ground. Which ones do I pick up and choose to deal with? Which ones stay on the ground for another day or time? Which ones do I abandon all together?

The Hermit is a man who has chosen to forfeit life with men to live in solitude. We never see him in his home, though we assume it’s a shack, a cave, or under a bridge. He is always on the move. Carrying his lantern and staff, like Gandolf, he seeks knowledge and goes wherever his light and staff lead him.

Drawing the Hermit in a reading tells us that it’s time to take pause, take stock, and get clarity. It’s a time for thinking not doing. Inverted the Hermit suggests someone who is hiding, in retreat, or forced into withdrawal.

The 14th card of the Major Arcana is Temperance. In my deck there is an angel carefully mixing the contents of two earthen pots. One contains the bluest of waters and in the other, fire. These two elements, if thrown together will cancel each other. However, with the proper proportions, the angelic alchemist will make the most astonishing balance of the two. He creates an amazing violet atmosphere that surrounds him. Because of his steady hand and head, the angel shows us that staying calm and cool creates something amazing. The Temperance card may represent balance, moderation and living at ease. In Temperance we see the impossible become possible with well thought out plans and patiently carried out application.

I had a very interesting experience in June. I was at lunch with a vexingly beautiful friend and she’s always being approached. A super foxy tattooed guy approaches our table and she starts to fluff herself. He turns to me (shoot down for my gal-pal) and says, “Excuse me, but do you tell people’s fortunes?” (Of course the “Crazy Lady” neon sign I carry was on, duh!). Anyway, I let him sit with us for a bit and he says, “I won’t take up ya’ll’s time, I just want to know the sign of the man I’m supposed to be with.” (Oh, well, strike two).

“Well, I don’t usually carry a deck…” (but since I had that neon sign, of course I had that deck) and the cards I threw for the guy were the Hermit and Temperance. Then, I did a spread and laid out 12 cards. One for each month of the year. In the 9th month I had the King of Cups and in the 11th month the Emperor. “Well, we have a Virgo and a Sag here. See, the Hermit here is Tarot’s Virgo and the King of Cups is in September. The Temperance card is ruled by Sagittarius and the Emperor is in November.” “Well,” the guy says, “Since I am a Sag I guess that means I need to hunt Virgos.” “Not only that,” I began, “but the Hermit and Temperance cards are telling you, you need to chill and take your time.”

Check out the most adorable tarot deck! Housewives Tarot: A Domestic Divination Kit. You have got to see it! It is very me and it might be very you!