ShadowWolf - The Devil
The Devil
"The design is an accommodation, mean or harmony, between several motives
mentioned in the first part. The Horned Goat of Mendes, with wings like those
of a bat, is standing there on an altar. At the pit of the stomach there is
the sign of Mercury. The right hand is upraised and extended, being the
reverse of that benediction which is given by the Hierophant in the fifth
card. In the left hand there is a great flaming torch, inverted towards the
earth. A reversed pentagram is on the forehead. There is a ring in front of
the altar, from which two chains are carried to the necks of two figures, male
and female. These are analogous with those of the fifth card, as if Adam and
Eve after the Fall. Hereof is the chain and fatality of the material life.
The figures are tailed, to signify the animal nature, but there is human
intelligence in the faces, and he who is exalted above them is not to be their
master for ever. Even now, he is also a bondsman, sustained by the evil that
is in him and blind to the liberty of service. With more than his usual
derision for the acts which he pretended to respect and interpret as a master
therein, Eliphas Levi affirms that the Baphometic figure is occult science and
magic. Another commentator says that in the Divine world it signifies
predestination, but there is not correspondence in that world with the things
which below are of the brute. What it does signify is the Dweller on the
Threshold without the Mystical Garden when those are driven forth therefrom
who have eaten the forbidden fruit." A.E. Waite
The Devil
Well, I can honestly say that this is a card that I avoided writing a lecture on til today... and let me quote from the Spiritual Tarot by Echols et al as to why:
"Urrrrgh, am I scaring you? That's not really my purpose. They put me in this book of life experiences to help your recognize your shadow side, and it's a heavy burden.
I am the undeveloped, unlived aspects of your personality that keep higher wisdom from going through. When you understand yourself, and what gives you true worth, my power melts....
When you see through the illusion I present, you are on the way to true freedom. You will cease to blame others and find your way past me into your inner center."
Now let us look at the devil card- what have we but two figures- again the two, again the duality- chained by a devil with animal characteristics, depicting the baseness which can cause us grief- he sits on a cube of most limited and restricted information...we make our judgments too often by looking at things from only a one dimensional or limited perspective...and we bind ourselves into traps that keep us chained to our own judgments, our own desires...
Look at the chains- see how easily they can be removed. Yet immaturity and duality- these figures ignore the ease with which freedom can be found... And the devil is not some fallen angel but in truth our own self- in all its darkness and shadows... His left hand holds a light that is the tail of the male figure-- sexual connotation of what shall the individual choose-- while the right has all fingers extended and has the glyph of the planet Saturn...the planet of limitation, "bondage to circumstances that devour emerging creativity".
Is this all that it seems? Or is there more hidden in the card- the open hand seems so free of any deceit- yet don't we always deceive ourselves that the darkness, the 'evil', the badness is outside ourselves when its truly all one and part of us?
The reverse pentagram on the devil's forehead is a clear symbol of shunning all that would seek a higher ground-- and walking instead on the base path of darkness. Bat wings connote fear and darkness, and the horns and ears are symbol of Capricorn "goat"--stubborn rigid horns...look at the way the claw-like feet grab at the stone- it is most arduous to keep balance when emotions, and the desires are left unchecked...balance is precarious here....and one spends a lot of energy trying simply to maintain and not fall.
Note the two figures also have horns and tails-- this shows that they have delved totally into their animal side- and nature...and the sexual nature is emphasized quite predominately-- indicating that to live totally without spirituality sends one into the spiral of imbalance and chains.
When you get this card you see an imbalance where there is an over-involvement in the physical world- the mundane- and there has been lost somewhere the connection with the spiritual...sometimes this represents ourselves or perhaps others we care for...
If all we have in a relationship is the physical aspect- be it a relationship based on sexual desires only, on money only, on what is 'given' materially only- then we have no balance. There has to be some exchange of something other than a transaction based on this type of thing or the relationship is doomed to burn of its own accord. Without some sort of spiritual connection, the flames will burn without any control and eventually consume us...
Perhaps this card indicates to us to stop and see where we exist solely in materialism- be it our own desires for things, sexuality, food, drink or perhaps where we use those things to obtain what we think we want-- and ignore the spiritual balance that must be a part of all we do to survive. There is hope in this card- a chance for transformation and a change to loose the chains and get out of the trap...but only the person who is chained can remove
the bondage and move forward into the light.
shadow
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