Artist: Peter Pracownik

Designer: Terry Donaldson

Here I am back at the Dragon Tarot, where a slender dragon wraps it wings protectively around the world. The dragons in this deck seem to have all hatched from the same clutch of eggs. If I was going to draw a dragon tarot— which I won’t but if I did— one of my main goals would be to give the dragons all their own personality and unique features. After all, dragons are people, too. But I digress.

My mother is here visiting. We do typical mother-daughter activities such as walking the frozen wetlands of the nearby nature preserve and constructing built-in shelving so baby-to-be has some place to store its (her?) dozens of onesies. I know the shelving project will not be completed before she leaves: I will need to finish the drywall and painting. I have other unfinished drywall projects around the house. My best excuse for not finishing the other projects is that it is impossible to carry home an intact 8×4-foot sheet of drywall on top of a Toyota Corolla. Afraid of impending lethargy, I say to the deck— Tell me to finish the drywall! —Motivation comes easier with a foreman.

The deck hands me the World: a card of integration, completion, accomplishment, and travel— quite a powerful card for a seemingly simple request. Nonetheless. To integrate is defined as to combine one thing with another— such as to combine drywall with mud and tape— so that they become seamlessly whole. To complete is to finish a project. To accomplish something is to stand back and look at it with pride and say, “Well! That’s done.” To travel is to move on to the next thing. Despite how annoying I find the task of spackling, I don’t think my request was deserving of the World, which indicates there will be praise and celebration for my successful achievements. I won’t complain. I just have to do what the World has obligingly ordered me to do— ASAP.