my description:
A golden haired woman dressed in a simple white tunic held a the waist by a rope belt stands holding a stave in her right hand. She seems to be leaning on it slightly. Behind her are seven other tall staves, and one smaller, paler one leaning against another one. All of the staves, including the one she carries, have small buds of leaves developing. The ground is sandy and there are white hills in the distance. The surrounding border shows an arid, fiery landscape.
Pretty close to the standard RWS depiction of this card, with slightly more emphasis on the idea of pausing and a bit less to the idea of being wounded. However, there is a rather lovely blend of strength and weakness here, and of having multiple reserves that can be drawn on as needed, even if they aren't currently being used. The woman both holds up and is held up by her stave... the active energy she's working with. Behind here, there are other staves she can draw upon. She both stands before them, protecting them, and they stand behind her, protecting her. The one weaker stave can't be used now, but it is propped up by the stronger ones and it is budding along with the rest of them - left alone but protected to grow now, it will eventually be as strong as the others.
The surrounding atmosphere is quite arid and lifeless - the environment surrounding this card isn't very helpful to growth, so it's more about maintaining one's inner reserves until the situation is more fertile for activity, but even in this lifeless environment, one's strengths can develop if they are used to maintain rather than expended. It's about hanging in there until a better time to act appears, not giving up, but taking a rest to preserve what you have so that when things do change, you're ready to move.
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