Poisons of the Heart

This week I'll be using the Tarot Lukumi, a deck created by Caelum Rainieri, Ivory Andersen and Raphael Montoliu. It is published by Dal Negro and the artwork was done by Luigi Scapini. The oracle deck I'll be using this week is the Diloggun Cards, a digital set created through the use of art by Mase Lobe. Each card is associated with an Ifa ethic as well as a proverb, with information from a book by Ifa Karade called The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts. Today's draws are the Five of Cups and Obara (six mouths):

Shattered legs may heal in time, but some betrayals fester and poison the soul.

― George R.R. Martin

          A man grieves for those who have been poisoned by seeds from a fruit he gave them; his attempts at using sorcery to heal them failed. Humans have different ways their hearts get poisoned, such as loss or resentment. But nothing seems to close a heart quicker than betrayal. Everything in the injured party's life seems to revolves around revenge or swearing off relationships altogether. The ethic and proverb for Obara read:

Ifa: One must be uplifted from poverty-stricken acceptance and state of mind. There is no virtue in being in poverty. Be industrious and accomplish your desires.

Proverb: Do not let what you cannot do tear from your hands what you can.

Clearly the Diloggun reading exhorts those who have been hurt to avoid self-pity. The past cannot be changed, but we can look to see what action might be taken that may help us heal rather than give up or rage against ghosts of the past. We may even find a new appreciation for others and life itself. As August Strindberg put it, "There are poisons that blind you, and poisons that open your eyes."