Nine of Flies

Nosce teipsum — know thyself. The mirror ringed with flies forces self-confrontation including what we prefer to ignore.

Paradin’s emblem refuses comfortable reflection. The flies attend, witnesses to what the mirror shows whether we wish to see it or not. Self-knowledge includes the buzzing awareness of mortality, of imperfection, of the small persistences we cannot wave away.

Nine approaches completion. Here the suit of humility demands a final honesty.