A “Threepenny Opera” Followup Reading: Arm Surgery
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I have quite a few short essays jostling for inclusion here and I’ve been hard-pressed to maintain my self-imposed limit of one post per day. So I won’t in a few special cases, mainly new spreads and example readings that are more illustrative than profoundly informative.
As mentioned in my previous post on the subject of my wife’s broken arm and planned arm surgery, I decided to do a followup reading after the surgery since the previous reading was inconclusive regarding long-term recovery. The last card in the earlier reading was the Arcane (High) Priestess from Liber T: Tarot of Stars Eternal, showing that the surgeon wouldn’t know where the damage stood until he opened up the arm (which he did two days ago with an encouraging outcome).
The coin toss for the new reading gave me one card from the Thoth deck and two from the Liber T deck. Lo and behold, the first card in the new three-card line was the Thoth Priestess, telling me that the long-range healing prognosis would not be known until the cast comes off for an examination, and perhaps also that the extent of the repairs (installation of two metal plates) is entirely internal and invisible. (The severity of any scarring would also not be known until her first post-operative visit; this Lady isn’t giving anything away.)
The second card was the Hermit, suggesting that she will be isolated from her usual pursuits for some time (no vigorous hoisting and hugging of grandchildren, no lifting of more than one pound, no exercise class); the number “IX” suggests nine weeks. I also had the fanciful notion that she’s going to be a “one-armed paper-hanger” for a while since she won’t sit down and let me do everything, and that she looked a bit like the “Log Lady” from Twin Peaks holding up the sling with her good arm (she knows me well enough to take my twisted humor in stride).
The last card was The Lovers, so it looks to me like the road ahead will be clear. The surgeon told her that initial recovery would take six weeks as a minimum, and this is a “6” card. I think it also conveys my full-time support. I’m not at all resentful, but for her sake I certainly hope six weeks is realistic; as the “house-and-body” slave” I see the Hermit and The Lovers and would love to have that Hermit disappear. I catch myself humming Jimi Hendrix: “If 6 were 9, I don’t mind, I don’t mind.”
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on January 31, 2022.
