Alphabet of Intimacy

©Orna Ben-Shoshan

This week I'll be drawing from a rather different deck, neither tarot nor Lenormand.  This oracle, by Orna Ben-Shoshan, has artwork similar to that in the Tokens of Light, which I blogged with last year.  The cards of the Alphabet for Lovers are also similar in their size (these are a little larger), and in having writing on the back of the cards, as well as the focus on the Hebrew alphabet.  This time, though, the theme is love, shown by every card image including a couple, and by the heart shape of the cards.

For this first draw, I pulled card 58, the third aspect of Tzadi.  The card is subtitled "Disregarding emotions, fear of intimacy".  On it, there is a couple, both in pointy brown hats.  Yet, they don't look at each other. The woman sits on a chaise longue with a sad expression on her face, and reaches down to something on the floor.  The man, facing in the opposite direction, is pulling on a thick, orange ribbon. 

It's an interesting combination, disregarding emotions and fear of intimacy.  I see the two being related: when we are afraid of intimacy, we tend to disregard emotions, both our own and those of the people around us.  After all, if we deny the emotions present, we can more easily distance ourselves from the people expressing or eliciting them.  These people, then, are keeping busy, each in their own way.  And so they go about their own pursuits, too busy to feel or to have time for the other.

What emotions are you denying?  What do you use to mask a sense of loneliness?