I often think about the difference between resilience and stubbornness. Resilience, thanks. Stubbornness, no thanks. I don’t negotiate.
Confronting this difference, however, is worse than merely thinking about it, as the idea of ‘no negotiation’ suddenly acquires a tangible dimension.
Luckily for me, when it happens that I have to deal with stubbornness, I do it in two ways: the samurai way: ‘off with their heads’, or the way of justice: ‘talk to my lawyer’.
I used be on a dream track of going from lawyer to becoming a court judge myself. My academic career took a turn, however, and I ended up a professor at Roskilde University teaching poetry instead.
On occasion I want to say about this unexpected swerve: ‘I’ll be damned’, but the truth of the matter is that poetry and justice are very much related.
As for the samurai, let’s just say that in addition to a martial arts practice, I also have a collection of swords that’s even registered with the police.
Back to stubbornness. I have no patience for it.
The new oracle deck that I created, based on two sheets of images featuring ‘fashionable English words’ by Kamekichi Tsunejima in 1887, display the Goat at the center of a 9-card square.
I can say the following here, pertaining to a stubborn matter that I had to take care of recently:
The Writer is as enterprising as ever, like a good Bee. You simply do not negotiate with stubbornness (Goat) however ‘enterprising’ it may also appear to be.
What you do is entrust the hassle to some authority (Commandant) that’s in charge of maintaining harmonious relations – as represented by the Azalea here – and goodwill – as represented by the Peony.
Any head (Gentleman) that sticks up in the air without just cause, but for pride, will be trampled upon (Shoes on Goat).
So much delight in 9 cards. It gets delightfully sublime too when the reading is filtered through dreams of justice and poetry that you’re still at, dreams acted upon that never leave you, no matter how old, or even stubborn you yourself get.
♠
Stay in the loop for cartomantic courses. Next in line is the Lenormand Foundation Course in September.
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