The Waters of Our Life

From the Wild Unknown Tarot, the Five of Cups; from the Pictish Oracle, the Snake:

Love and sadness are blended together in the waters of our life, and we must drink them together, just as they are. Neither cancels out the other.

— Wayne Muller

The exhausted hang of this horse's head reflects the same physical feeling we have when sorrow and despair show up. Yet if we wait for a bit, those who care about us will tell their own stories of loss - not to invalidate our emotional struggle, but to remind us that it is universal. No one is invulnerable. But those tales will be followed by the story of a new and different road, one that doesn't forget the value of what was lost but allows them to move on. The Snake had a complex meaning in the Celtic world. Its ability to coil and strike caused fear, but its habit of shedding its skin connected it with healing. Loss usually creates anxiety, but given time and acceptance, healing may wedge itself into our heart and overpower it.