Houdini

The Milk Can Escape, first performed in 1908, was Harry Houdini’s first original act.

Every night, well-dressed assistants stepped on a stage and poured water into the oversized milk can that would later confine their employer.

(Exhale. Inhale.)

“A little more. Little more. Up to the brink. There you go”.

(Exhale. Inhale.)

With handcuffed hands, Houdini would enter the can and – before vanishing underwater – asked the audience to try and hold their breath with him, for him, until the end of the act.

(Exhale.)

Head down, the can was sealed and the room thrown into that impossible, breathless silence.

Distinguished men with their turn-of-the-century moustaches put their lives and lungs on hold, rooting for all knots to be untied and locks unlocked. Elegant ladies squeaked in excitement as the escape artist managed to untangle that knotty mess and emerge from the tin tiny space.

(Inhale)

When this card shows up in a reading, you’re gonna have to tackle the most twisted, tangly knots of your life.

The intricate mesh of grudges, regrets and remorse you accumulated during the years is severely slowing down your journey. It’s time to repair the repairable and let go of the pieces that cannot be glued together.

This card is a hymn to self-liberation and to the power of acknowledging the little things that hold us back. Make a scrupulous inventory of your unfounded fears, self-imposed limitations, self-inflicted punishments and try to assess whether you or the world at large are better because of them.

Remember that it’s possible to learn from your mistakes without letting them haunt you and beware of your enemies without being consumed by hate.

Apologize to a wounded friend, forgive an old foe, forgive yourself. Mercy will feel like liberation and self-compassion like that first, deep, Houdini-breath after a lifetime in apnea.