4 Santeria -- Obatala [4 of Pentacles]

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Obatala is the Great Father in Santeria. He is the son of the Great Creator, Olodumare. Obatala is the oldest of all orisha. He is considered a judge and is known for his wisdom and ethics. He is cool, calm, and collected and is said to rule the head. This fits with the traditional 4 of Pentacles meaning of stability (and its negative aspects of rigidity and hoarding).

The card is in calming colors: blues and white. The snail (sacred to Obatala) crawls on his arm due to this coolness. The snail also secretes cool, medicinal secretions.

Obatala only wears white, which indicates purity and peace. There is a dove of peace that sits on his shoulder (the dove is also sacred to Obatala).

Obatala is associated with the snail, gorilla, elephant, boa constrictor, and chameleon. The boa constrictor is analogous to the voudoun loa Damballah, the Supreme Snake God and Creator of voudoun pantheon – thus Obatala, by default, could be considered to be analogous to Damballah.

This card is a four; 16 and 8 are sacred numbers to Obatala, and both are divisible by 4.
 

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