Cards of Patience
We all know that patience is a virtue. Just about everything we encounter in life requires our patience, from traffic to spouses to kids. Tarot requires patience, too.
Some tarot students have a hard time really getting into the cards because they lack the patience to learn and study them. Some tarot readers have a hard time being readers because they lack patience with their clients.
Within tarot are specific cards that teach patience, advise patience, and help us understand the wisdom of patience. For me, there are four cards in the deck that reference patience. Interestingly, three of them are Major Arcana. To me that indicates the spiritual nature and spiritual virtue of patience.
The cards of patience are the High Priestess, the Hermit, Temperance and the Nine of Wands. Each card bears a different message, and carries a different energy – but they all share that one key word: patience.
The patience of the High Priestess is the patience to be still, to be silent, to look within, and to study. The patience of the Hermit is the patience to endure the long journey, loneliness, and those who are as yet unenlightened. Temperance teaches us to be patient with the process of creating our lives. The Nine of Wands teaches patience in battle, and in healing.
Together, these four cards remind us that patience is the key to achieving the spiritual perfection that is available to us, and to enduring the challenges ahead of us.
