Waiting

Finally, a new tarot card!

And the timing of its creation is of course, perfect, in so many ways. ;-) That it has taken oh, how long (about a year and a half?), to get the inspiration for it would be enough to make its nature so appropriate, but it also fits well with the current environment in other realms of life. I'm not sure but maybe all art is that way. But, anyhow, like Tom Petty says, The Waiting really is the hardest part.

What does it mean, "waiting"? I think it's our most intensive experience of the duration, or passing, of time. We are rarely as aware of time as when we are anticipating something. Indeed, waiting is probably the reason we humans started counting time in the first place.

This card, the 7 of orbs (pentacles in traditional decks), generally depicts a farmer waiting for his crop to be ready for harvest. But I started with a picture of the lemon tree and highlighted 7 of its many still unripe lemons this late into the season. I'm still waiting for them to ripen so I can squeeze some lemons ;-), but I fear they will just wither on the tree. Wasted energy? Wasted hopes and disappointment? Waiting can really test our faith. We never really can know if our efforts will pay off in the future or if we've worked in vain. Sometimes the wait for results is longer than we are comfortable with and that makes us pessimistic that we'll get any results at all. It's all up in the air. When there is such uncertainty it is easy to begin to feel like your work is done whether or not you see any results. Maybe you already got some results (the journey and not a 'destination') that aren't so obvious. Sometimes the process is more important than the outcome. On the other hand, the uncertainty of waiting can make us and others question our methods and goals. Part of the Seven of Orbs tells us that only time will tell and that we should practice patience with ourselves and with others. We all are waiting for something, and ultimately we are not in control of the outcome. But we are in control of how we wait and how we react when our waiting is finally over.