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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The Temperance card becomes The Forge – where metal is tempered for the crafting of magical swords. (The skilled craftsmen pictured making them are of the race of dwarves.)
This is not as different from the traditional meaning as you might think. Temperance is also known as the card of the artist and/or the alchemist. It’s about taking things apart and putting them back together differently, which both artist and alchemist can be understood as doing. Even the more well-known interpretations – balance, moderation, patience – imply working to bring those things about. In the traditional image, the being standing with one foot in and the other out of the water is doing so purposefully, in full awareness.
Really the card is about working on oneself, balancing oneself. It is up to me to bring all the elements of my being into harmony; I am my own creation.
The sword you temper and craft, the art that you work to create, is – ultimately – your own soul.
my gardener
shows me how to dead-head
and tend seeds
