Patience!

For the April 'poem a day' challenge this year, I'm writing haibun to explore and reflect on my new Tarot deck, Forests of Enchantment. 

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Card XII is Suspension – a perfect name for the one usually called The Hanged Man. (Frustrating little card that it is, for those of us who are impatient for action.)

In the traditional image he’s hanging by one foot – not from the neck – with a halo around his head and a serene expression. It is sometimes explained as representing a spiritual initiation. There is also the suggestion of looking at the world upside-down, i.e. from a different perspective.

The immediate meaning is of being in suspension, or in suspense, hanging about, being left hanging … in other words, waiting. 

And waiting is being forced on you if you get this card. There’s no help for it, no way to hurry things up. ‘Don’t push the river.’ You must surrender to the lack of movement. You must surrender to God’s will. Then, and only then, a shift will happen and everything will start moving forward again. 

But you can’t fake it, even unintentionally. I remember getting The Hanged Man as my card of the day when I was doing Tarot readings at a festival, and obediently setting myself to surrender. But it took ages before I got any customers. Next day I pulled my card for the day, and again it was The Hanged Man. ‘Oh, OK,’ I said, slumping back in my chair. Three customers lined up immediately. There’s a difference between striving grimly to surrender and just plain giving up.

This deck takes the suspension idea a bit further, showing a sorcerer in stasis, suspended in amber – a position he has willingly put himself in, knowing that his mind can still roam free and he can release himself when he’s ready. He is choosing to take time out, so as to deepen his wisdom. 

The position he’s in is reminiscent of a baby in the womb. Some decks illustrate this card with an actual baby in the womb. The nine month waiting period followed by the forward movement of birth is a good illustration of the message. 

at the bus stop

looking at her watch 

repeatedly