Eight of Coins

Naguib Mahfouz wrote, "Life is wise to deceive us, for had it told us from the start what it had in store for us, we would refuse to be born." As hard as it can be to face the facts as they become evident, you can do so much more with them if you accept them. The Seven of Coins illustrated the profound disappointment of discovering that what you've reaped isn't what you counted on back in your sowing days, but the Eight wants you to know that the entire crop need not be forsaken -- with a little careful cultivation, these disappointments could prove to be an incredible gift. It's an opportunity to infuse your natural ability with new humility, patience, and wisdom that you've accrued thanks to good old trial-and-error.

You'll have to pardon the gardening metaphor, it seems to be a built-in feature of this card. To depart from it ever so slightly, I thought I'd offer this gorgeous photography by Peter Watkins, who floods treetops with spectral light patterns and then photographs them using a technique that seems painstaking to say the least. The results are otherworldly and eerily intimate -- since trees are photosynthetic, Watkins' interaction with them is truly interactive, playful even. He changes how they look, but he doesn't change how or what they are, resulting in magnificent portraits of silence, patience, and endurance, quiet reminders of the potential that hides within all plain truths. [Via]