The Darkest Night

From the Margarete Petersen Tarot, the Devil; from the Elemental Dice, Night (Darkness + Darkness):

Whatever concerns a man ultimately becomes god for him, and, conversely, it means that a man can be concerned ultimately only about that which is god for him. 

― Paul Tillich

We humans love the pleasures of the senses, which is a natural source of enjoyment. But sometimes we can become obsessed with things, convinced that what we desire will provide us with contentment and take away pain. We don't look at the long-term costs of such gratification and can end up trapped like the people in Petersen's shiny diamond. Night, the roll of the Elemental Dice, suggests a darkness in which we can't see a way out. We've used up our of our strategies and tricks with no relief; we are left only with confusion and despair. Hope may be found beyond our own approaches - we seek others who have successfully found a healthy way forward. As Harvard Associate Professor of Psychiatry John F. Kelly found: "The results suggest that social context factors are key; the people who associate with individuals attempting to begin recovery can be crucial to their likelihood of success.”