Today's drawing is a direct homage to the RWS version of this card, which has always fueled my imagination. Was the figure supposed to be dead? Praying? Sleeping? Waite himself didn't clarify matters when he described it as "The effigy of a knight in the attitude of prayer, at full length upon his tomb." Clearly there's a story here somewhere that no one is telling.
Whenever I read this card for someone, I make sure to point out that this brief moment of reflection is all that lies between the trials of the Three of Swords and those of the Five. In other words, you'd better catch your breath here in the eye of the storm, because round two is on its way. Whatever you do in preparation could wind up making all the difference.
I became drawn to the idea of the sideshow strongman as an inspirational figure here. His weight evenly distributed across the bed of nails, he is able to rest quite easily. There is quite a lot of discipline involved in learning to do these sorts of stunts, whether you're swallowing swords or eating glass or walking on coals. While physical conditioning is essential, ultimately the strongest muscle you have at your disposal is your brain.
(Yes, I know the brain is not actually a muscle.)
There are periods of actual respite when you can truly let go of everything, allow all your suppressed reactions to surface, begin healing, and finally move on. This card doesn't depict one of those periods -- it's more of a halfway-point, like the thirty-minute lunch break you get during an eight-hour shift. In fact, if you're a strongman, you may even actually be on stage for it, taking deep breaths so that you can remain perfectly calm while your assistant smashes a cinder-block on your chest.
There is a little bleeding, I'm told, resulting from incidental punctures here and there. Nothing to worry about; surely the tattoo on his bicep (a tribute to harder times) hurt and bled much worse. As for the snake inked on his forearm, let's just consider it a symbol of renewal and move on, lest we want to hear a long story about the trapeze artist who broke his heart back in '34.
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