Seven of Pentacles - the Strength of Patience

For today another card of this summery deck. It is the Seven of Pentacles which relates in its own way to the Strength card of two days ago. I’ve written about  patience being also a form of strength. When we look at this woman we see how closely she is connected to the fruit bearing tree. The guidebook calls her a dryad, so we witness a sort of symbiosis. While she touches and examines the lowest and most ripened fruit, it is in turn touching her arm. They both know on a deep level what is best for this moment: To pick or not to pick. The dryad knows if the time has come, when the fruit is ripe enough for the harvest. She has to wait and restrain her appetite for this delicious fruit just a bit longer because she knows how much more she will enjoy it if she can be patient. She has respect for the trees natural processes. Meanwhile she can enjoy her leisure time and think…

“I pause a moment and enjoy the fruits of my labors. I think about how things have gone, and how I might make better choices in the future. I have learned some valuable lessons from my work thus far. I shall consider trying new approaches where the ones I have used did not serve me as well as I had hoped. For now, I must decide whether I have set a good course, and should continue as I have, or whether I should change direction, if even just a little bit.”(Leila Vey)

So often we try to hasten a process in order to be ready and to start the next project. But how would it be if we stepped back and let things evolve, unfold and ripen by themselves at their own pace. That  attitude is asking a lot of strength and patience and most of all trust in life and the Universe. We have to have enough trust to let go of our need of control and expect that life will give us the best pick in the end.

 “Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is active; it is concentrated strength” E. G. Bulwer-Lytton