Illustration of a woman with blonde hair in a long striped dress hanging upside down from a tree in a desert landscape, with a road leading to mountains in the background. The card displays the number 13 and the word "Prisoner," with a Route 66 sign.

13     PRISONER

KEY CONCEPTS:  decisions, guilt, shame, discomfort, politics, power, control, feeling trapped, escape, wisdom won through hardship, a person bound to the querent, a troubled person, a prisoner, imprisonment, issues of lack and abundance, possibly the querent. (Corresponds to Hanged Man)  

MESSAGE:  Our Prisoner friend hangs trapped in a virtual gridlock.   When “The Man” busted him stealing oranges, his subsequent arrest stopped him in his tracks.   Instead of free-wheeling, he’s now chained in an awkward position with his world-view turned upside-down.  Despite the checkered past that led to wearing these stripes, Prisoner upholds a cheery countenance in good times or bad.  Patience is a tree with bitter roots, but it bears sweet fruit; prisoner won’t let circumstance dictate his reality.    He knows he’s lost charge of his traveling days…but did he ever really hold the reins? Until authorities forced his relinquishment of every last shred of control he couldn’t hope to find ultimate freedom.  Do you dare to let go of your need to dominate? Now that all illusions of personal power are stripped away, Prisoner finally hangs loose.  He’s released from the iron grip of scarcity that once ruled his life.

Are you open to new understanding? One bleak winter day as Prisoner peered through the bars of his cell window, an epiphany broke through.  As he studied a barren orange tree, Prisoner felt a dawning awareness of the Infinite Life flowing throughout the tree’s roots, trunk and branches.  Even a bare tree in winter contains the potential for hundreds of oranges next season. Throughout the tree’s lifetime, a century of bountiful seasons follows.  Innumerable seeds from this tremendous array of fruit could produce thousands more saplings…with juicy oranges appearing endlessly in time. 

Prisoner escaped the shame of his former life, and so can you. By learning to rest in unlimited abundance he attained deeper wisdom. Now he understands the branch can’t bear fruit of itself, rather through its life-giving connection to the trunk, roots, and soil.  Peace gained from higher understanding holds the key to any cell.

RELATED SITES:  OLD JOLIET PRISON, JOLIET, IL; ONE-ROOM JAIL, TEXOLA, OK; TWO-CELL JAIL, GARDNER, IL; HOOSEGOW JAIL, GEARY, OK; RUBEL CASTLE (IN THE FORMER ORANGE GROVES), GLENDORA, CA.