Tag: The Devil

The Fool’s Journey through the Major Arcana: SunFest 2016: The Devil

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

The Seekers arrive at a point where the path splits. Both choices look about the same, but one has a curtain of gold suspended across it. Before they can make a decision about which way to go a man appears. He is dressed in fabulous festival garb. He has obviously spent a lot of money at the vendor’s booths. The Devil: Ah, seekers. My favorite people. And you obviously have a decision to make. And I’m here to help you make it. Let’s be up front about this. Survival is the name of the game—if you don’t stay alive, you don’t reach enlightenment right? To survive, you have to eat and you have to have a roof over your head and so you need…….money. Now to get that money you need to have a job. And to get a good job that you like doing and that pays enough to feed you and put a roof over your head you need an education or training.… Read More »

He Who Sups with the Devil Should Have a Long Spoon

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Major arcana

We all sup with the Devil daily. He is Lord of the Material Realm and we are partially material beings. We require food, water, air and shelter from his kingdom to remain alive. And he is constantly tempting us to take more. We buy the most expensive homes and cars we possibly can and shop for the best furniture, food and clothing. “Go ahead,” he says, “Enjoy your life. The more you have the happier you will be.” And yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Father of Lies is telling you the truth. A 2008 Princeton University study by Angus Deaton says so. And here’s the graph: It looks confusing, but once you get the hang of reading it, it’s quite fascinating. The vertical axis is a life satisfaction scale—the higher the number, the more satisfaction with life. The horizontal axis is the average household income (GDP, gross domestic product) of each country adjusted for buying power. Each country is represented by a circle, the bigger… Read More »

Have We Finally Gone to the Devil?

Posted C. LaVielle2 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot

The Devil key is all about materialism. Humans are, first and foremost, materialistic beings. We can’t help it. The material world surrounds and permeates us. It overwhelms us with its beauty, sensuality, terrors, and brutality. But we used to try much harder to reach beyond the material realms and toward the divine. From ancient times up until about the end of the 1900s we lavished most of our money, time, and skills on our sacred spaces. We built them huge. We built them to last. We built them high, so that when we raised our eyes we would be reminded of the divine. Our finest architects, artists, and craftspeople spent their lives making them truly awe-inspiring. But nowadays when we lift our eyes from the pavement searching for inspiration we see: Banks… That sometimes look suspiciously like… Temples and Cathedrals.

The Major Arcana and the Hero’s Journey: The Devil, Part IV

Posted C. LaVielle2 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

Ayin, or eye, is the Hebrew letter attributed to The Devil. Our eyes flood our mind with images and color and we rely on them more than any of our other senses. For this reason the eye serves as a symbolic shorthand for all of our senses. The implication is that this key is about being limited to the physical realm, the world that we can see, hear, taste, smell, and touch. The Talmud (Shabbat 104a) describes the letter Ayin as having two eyes. The good eye looks toward the preceding letter, Samech (support, Temperance) and manifests benevolence and charity. Remember that Hebrew is written right to left. The bad eye looks toward the next letter, Pey (mouth) and manifests greed and envy, which will eventually lead to destruction (The Tower). The Devil does everything he can to convince us to look toward The Tower, because this way limits us to physical reality and blinds us to the comfort and power of the divine that… Read More »

The Major Arcana and the Hero’s Journey: The Devil, Part III

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

The Devil squats in darkness on a half cube. Two chains lead from a ring in the half cube to loop around the necks of a man and a woman. This is the nightmare version of The Lovers. To make sure we don’t miss the connection, nearly all modern decks make The Lovers key 6 and The Devil key 15 (1+5=6). A quick review of The Lovers card reminds us that it is about how to make wise choices. The man, or conscious mind, opens himself to, or is in communion with, the woman, or subconscious mind, who is looking up and communicating with the Angel Raphael. In other words, we can make much better decisions if we are in touch with the universal consciousness, or higher beings, or the divine, or whatever we choose to call it. This is why, when faced with a problem, a wise person will not only look at it logically, but also “pray on it”, or “sleep on it”,… Read More »

The Major Arcana and The Hero’s Journey: The Devil, Part II, Sympathy for the Devil*

Posted C. LaVielle3 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

In the Middle Ages Satan falls yet again—from fallen angel to monster. He is usually red or black with fangs, bulging eyes, pointy tail, and claws, although he is occasionally pictured as a goat. The Catholic Church wanted to paint the most terrible portrait of the archfiend that they possibly could. But, according to Ronald Hutton,** the Devil wasn’t depicted as a man with goat horns and legs and cloven hooves until the late 1800s and early 1900s. This was a Christian reaction to the neoclassical movement, which occurred at this time and celebrated all things Greek. Wild and lusty Pan, spreader of unreasoning terror and more than a few thighs makes frequent appearances in the literature of that time. He, of course, fascinated the Victorians and Edwardians, and horrified most God-fearing Christians (or at least they said they were horrified). The goat imagery is very appropriate because the Devil is a scapegoat. He is a construct that monotheists use to explain the presence of… Read More »

The Major Arcana and the Hero’s Journey, The Devil, Part I

Posted C. LaVielle6 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot

Who or what the devil is The Devil? He is a construct of the monotheistic religions. When all you’ve got is one god and he’s perfect, how do you account for all evil that “lurks in the heart of man?”** You blame it on The Devil, of course. You make him the source of all evil, whose sole purpose is to corrupt god’s perfect creation (that would be us) through lies and deception. Problem solved. The pagan religions that predate monotheism have lots of bad guys, but, unlike The Devil, they are not totally evil archenemies of the human race. They are often regarded as the black sheep of the family, but they are still a part of the family or pantheon of gods, They are tricksters, like Loki, Hermes, and Coyote—untrustworthy gods who delight in teaching humanity lessons through deception. Or wild ones, like Dionysus and Pan, who give the gift of divine ecstasy. Some, like Set, who killed his brother, Osiris, chopped him… Read More »