This month, we will return to the Major Arcana, and talk about The Devil.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take a moment to review some general information about the Major Arcana.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
There are 22 Major Arcana cards in a Tarot deck, with numbers from 0 to 21; the Majors usually deal with broader and more far-reaching life experience issues, archetypes that are easy for us to identify with and connect with at some point in our lives.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
An archetype (pronounced \u201cark eh type\u201d) is a generic, idealized model of a person, an object, or a concept which can be copied, patterned, or imitated.\u00a0 In psychology, an archetype is a model of a person, a personality, or a behavior.\u00a0 In the analysis of personality, the term archetype often refers to one of two concepts,\u00a0 a \u201cstereotype\u201d (in other words, a personality type observed multiple times, especially an oversimplification of a personality type; stereotypes can be positive or negative), and an \u201cepitome\u201d (which is the embodiment of a particular personality type, especially as the \u201cgreatest\u201d or \u201cbest\u201d example of the particular personality type; epitomes can also be positive or negative).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So basically, archetypes present personality traits that are common enough to be known by us all, through images (rather than words) that contain symbolism that connects with our subconscious in a universal manner.\u00a0 Each of us can understand the symbolism of archetypes and connect with that symbolism because each of us has (or will) personally experienced these archetypes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Each Major Arcana card corresponds to a number, an archetype, an element, an astrological sign or planet, a Hebrew letter, and a Path on the Tree of Life joining two Sephiroth.\u00a0 Let\u2019s start breaking this one down; we\u2019ve got a lot of work to do!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
While many archetypes represent people in our lives, such as Mother, Father or Priest, some archetypes represent energies or effects, such as Destiny, Justice or Fate. The Devil, the number 15 card of the Major Arcana, represents the archetype of the Libido and Psychic Energy.\u00a0 Yes, The Devil is often connected to sex, but actually he is more about our struggles with all of our physical world drives and needs, not just sexual needs.\u00a0 Humans are born with a basic need to grow and learn, and we are also born with a resistance to change and a fear of the unknown. \u00a0In the best of situations the growth and resistance balance each other out, but that does not always happen. The Devil is the representation or metaphor for all of those forces both within us and outside of us that strive to derail us from growing and learning, and encourage us to give in to inertia and the distractions of physical-world pleasures.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We are civilized creatures, we modern humans, and the codes of ethics and conduct we impose upon ourselves as we grow up and take our place in our communities end up leaving a part of our \u201cself\u201d unmanifested and unexperienced, that part of us that is the opposite of those civilizing codes of ethics and conduct.\u00a0 We call this part of ourselves our Shadow Self, and The Devil is the Adversary, the Tarot\u2019s symbol for this uncivilized part of each of us that gets tamed and repressed as we grow up, but is still alive and well in the darkness.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The traditional image on The Devil is of a horned creature, sometimes with cloven hooves and the legs of a goat or the wings of a bat.\u00a0 Often The Devil is seated on a throne, and he may be gesturing in a manner similar to the image on The Hierophant; indeed he can be seen as a perversion of the traditions and faith and striving for the highest good of the group that is The Hierophant.\u00a0 Often there are a man and a woman standing at the feet of The Devil, usually bound by ropes or chains to The Devil\u2019s throne and sometimes surrounded by flames.\u00a0 Often the image contains a reversed pentagram, symbolizing the glorification of the passions of Fire and bodily pleasures of Earth over the higher good of Spirit.\u00a0 However, there are interesting and informative variations to the traditional image to be found.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Legacy of the Divine Devil is handsome; he tells very adequately about the seductive allure of superficial beauty and attractiveness.\u00a0 We have all felt this lure; who hasn\u2019t wished for a better body or a better pick-up line?\u00a0 The Llewellyn Welsh Devil is called The Horned One, and is more is more about life in its natural state, without the interference of technology and society.\u00a0 The Horned One is about primal instincts and ancestral memories and the natural world as well as the pleasure of the senses, without the pain, suffering and bondage seen in the more traditional images.\u00a0 The Shadowscapes Devil appears to be more Trickster than Demon, and is not as obviously frightening; only after deeper examination do we see the talons on the hands that are seeming to protect the heart in his control.\u00a0 The bound person trapped below the Shadowscapes Devil has her eyes closed and her arms over her head; if she would only look around, she would realize how fragile the chain that binds her actually is, and how easy it would be for her to escape.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Devil is numbered 15, representing personal magnetism, a material focus, and the manifestation of magick.\u00a0 In numerology, the number 15 reduces to the number 6, which is about balance, polarity, and the energy of \u201cdistance between.\u201d\u00a0 In order to achieve balance, we must experience polarity, and experience that connecting \u201ctension\u201d between the extremes.\u00a0 The number 6 card of the Major Arcana is The Lovers; The Devil, which can bring fear and isolation, is the polar opposite of The Lovers, which brings love and connectedness.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Devil corresponds with the element of Earth, cold and binding energies that dry and shape the world.\u00a0 Earth energies are stable, material, practical energies that are slow to change; Earth is about the actual physical outcome or material manifestation of our efforts.\u00a0 This element represents everything from the physical world including Nature and fertility, and wealth, resources, and physical pleasure and well-being.\u00a0 It can represent diligence and an interest in quality rather than quantity just as easily as it can represent greed and avarice and cruelty.\u00a0 The energies of Earth can be true to personal convictions or they can stubbornly resist compromise; they can encourage us to be detail-oriented, or they can encourage us to be inflexible and compulsive.\u00a0 And of course, the element of Earth is about our physical bodies and our senses, and all the pleasures we can get from them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In astrology, The Devil corresponds with Capricorn.\u00a0 Capricorn, the tenth sign of the zodiac, is a Cardinal Earth sign, ruled by Saturn.\u00a0 Capricorn people are stable, hard-working, practical, methodical, and ambitious, never losing sight of goals regardless of how many obstacles or distractions are in the way.\u00a0 Capricorn people are a bit stoic and rigid, and they will stick to their beliefs despite convincing evidence to the contrary.\u00a0 More than anything else they enjoy power, respect, and authority, and they are willing to toe the line for as long as it takes to achieve those goals.\u00a0 The Capricorn personality is one that is firmly grounded in reality; here is the voice of reason in a chaotic world.\u00a0 A Capricorn person may seem unfriendly, arrogant, or without humor, but remember the image of this astrological sign has a fish\u2019s tail.\u00a0 The emotions are there, just hidden within that inhibited exterior.\u00a0 As far as material wealth is concerned, Capricorn approaches finances with prudence, planning and discipline, and thus, there are not many Capricorns who are lacking in physical-world resources.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the Hebrew alphabet, each letter is connected to the creative forces in the universe. They express themselves on three levels: one level is archetypical and runs from the first to the ninth letter; the second level is one of manifestation and runs from the tenth to the eighteenth letter, and the third is a cosmic level and runs from the nineteenth to the twenty-second letter. The Devil corresponds with the Hebrew letter Ayin, the 16th letter in the Hebrew alphabet, a letter of manifestation; this letter corresponds with the eye (and all of our physical senses), as well as knowledge and the expression of character.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On the Tree of Life, The Devil represents Path 26, running between Hod, the lower end of the Pillar of Form (which provides analysis and communication) and Tiphareth, the hub of the tree just below Da\u2019ath (the hub of the creation process where energies harmonize and focus to illuminate and clarify).\u00a0 Hod represents instinct, logical analysis, and knowledge without wisdom or the influence of ethics, and Tiphareth reminds us that that who we are is more important than what we do. \u00a0Here once again we see hints of the polarity we need to experience in order to achieve balance.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
That is a heck of a lot of information!\u00a0 Let\u2019s sum up what we have found.\u00a0 The Devil is the archetype of all those primal and selfish traits that we attempt to tame as we grow up and take our place in a functioning community; these traits may be successfully repressed, but they don\u2019t go away.\u00a0 The number 15 has a material focus, and it can represent charisma and the ability to effectively use magick.\u00a0 Capricorn also has a material focus; it is a Cardinal Earth sign, and it is ruled by Saturn, the planet of form and restriction.\u00a0 Those are not necessarily bad things on their own, but it seems as if we are building a perfect storm here; let\u2019s continue.\u00a0 The element of Earth seems to play a big role here.\u00a0 This element is connected to the physical world, and to what we need as physical beings to be healthy and happy.\u00a0 The Hebrew letter Ayin, a letter of manifestation, represents our senses, our knowledge, and the expressions of our character.\u00a0 The 26th<\/sup> Path on the Tree of Life, one of three that connect an outer Pillar to Tiphareth, presents a Dark Night of the Soul; difficult lessons to be learned.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So, The Devil tells of being caught up in the physical world and the effects of the physical senses, often to the point of being bound or addicted to those things.\u00a0 On the other hand, The Devil is often the convenient scapegoat blamed for any excesses of the physical world.\u00a0 After all, enjoyment of the physical world is somehow seen by many as a denial of or estrangement from God, and how nice it is to have The Devil around to blame for our own weaknesses. The Devil can tell of being chained to material goods, or being chained to your fear; it can represent being in bondage to negative thought patterns or habits or relationships or situations.\u00a0 The Devil can tell us we are having issues with control (too much or too little), or that we are allowing ourselves to be controlled.\u00a0 The Devil could represent believing in and valuing only the physical world, choosing to stay in the dark, or being too serious about life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If The Devil is reversed, it could very well be indicating some kind of weakness that encourages the negative sides of this card.\u00a0 A reversed Devil could also indicate that blocks and addictions are weakened enough to be released, or that we are ready to confront our negative reality and break free from its bondage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the end, The Devil is not necessarily an evil card.\u00a0 Instead of fearing him, when The Devil shows up, we should look at our lives and make sure we are not allowing ourselves to stagnate in an unhealthy situation.\u00a0 Acknowledge the Shadow, and strive for balance, and The Devil will end up as harmless eye candy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This month, we will return to the Major Arcana, and talk about The Devil.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take a moment to review some general information about the Major Arcana. There are 22 Major Arcana cards in a Tarot deck, with numbers from 0 to 21; the Majors usually deal with broader and more far-reaching life experience issues, archetypes that are easy for us to identify with and connect with at some point in our lives. An archetype (pronounced \u201cark eh type\u201d) is a generic, idealized model of a person, an object, or a concept which can be copied, patterned, or imitated.\u00a0 In psychology, an archetype is a model of a person, a personality, or a behavior.\u00a0 In the analysis of personality, the term archetype often refers to one of two concepts,\u00a0 a \u201cstereotype\u201d (in other words, a personality type observed multiple times, especially an oversimplification of a personality type; stereotypes can be positive or negative), and an \u201cepitome\u201d (which is the embodiment of a particular personality type, especially as the \u201cgreatest\u201d or \u201cbest\u201d example of the particular personality type; epitomes can also be positive or negative). So basically, archetypes present personality traits that are common enough to be known by us all, through images (rather than words) that contain symbolism that connects with our subconscious in a universal manner.\u00a0 Each of us can understand the symbolism of archetypes and connect with that symbolism because each of us has (or will) personally experienced these archetypes. Each Major Arcana card corresponds to a number, an archetype, an element, an astrological sign or planet, a Hebrew letter, and a Path on the Tree of Life joining two Sephiroth.\u00a0 Let\u2019s start breaking this one down; we\u2019ve got a lot of work to do! While many archetypes represent people in our lives, such as Mother, Father or Priest, some archetypes represent energies or effects, such as Destiny, Justice or Fate. The Devil, the number 15 card of the Major Arcana, represents the archetype of the Libido and Psychic Energy.\u00a0 Yes, The Devil is often connected to sex, but actually he is more about our struggles with all of our physical world drives and needs, not just sexual needs.\u00a0 Humans are born with a basic need to grow and learn, and we are also born with a resistance to change and a fear of the unknown. \u00a0In the best of situations the growth and resistance balance each other out, but that does not always happen. The Devil is the representation or metaphor for all of those forces both within us and outside of us that strive to derail us from growing and learning, and encourage us to give in to inertia and the distractions of physical-world pleasures. We are civilized creatures, we modern humans, and the codes of ethics and conduct we impose upon ourselves as we grow up and take our place in our communities end up leaving a part of our \u201cself\u201d unmanifested and unexperienced, that part of us that is the opposite of those civilizing codes of ethics and conduct.\u00a0 We call this part of ourselves our Shadow Self, and The Devil is the Adversary, the Tarot\u2019s symbol for this uncivilized part of each of us that gets tamed and repressed as we grow up, but is still alive and well in the darkness. The traditional image on The Devil is of a horned creature, sometimes with cloven hooves and the legs of a goat or the wings of a bat.\u00a0 Often The Devil is seated on a throne, and he may be gesturing in a manner similar to the image on The Hierophant; indeed he can be seen as a perversion of the traditions and faith and striving for the highest good of the group that is The Hierophant.\u00a0 Often there are a man and a woman standing at the feet of The Devil, usually bound by ropes or chains to The Devil\u2019s throne and sometimes surrounded by flames.\u00a0 Often the image contains a reversed pentagram, symbolizing the glorification of the passions of Fire and bodily pleasures of Earth over the higher good of Spirit.\u00a0 However, there are interesting and informative variations to the traditional image to be found. The Legacy of the Divine Devil is handsome; he tells very adequately about the seductive allure of superficial beauty and attractiveness.\u00a0 We have all felt this lure; who hasn\u2019t wished for a better body or a better pick-up line?\u00a0 The Llewellyn Welsh Devil is called The Horned One, and is more is more about life in its natural state, without the interference of technology and society.\u00a0 The Horned One is about primal instincts and ancestral memories and the natural world as well as the pleasure of the senses, without the pain, suffering and bondage seen in the more traditional images.\u00a0 The Shadowscapes Devil appears to be more Trickster than Demon, and is not as obviously frightening; only after deeper examination do we see the talons on the hands that are seeming to protect the heart in his control.\u00a0 The bound person trapped below the Shadowscapes Devil has her eyes closed and her arms over her head; if she would only look around, she would realize how fragile the chain that binds her actually is, and how easy it would be for her to escape. The Devil is numbered 15, representing personal magnetism, a material focus, and the manifestation of magick.\u00a0 In numerology, the number 15 reduces to the number 6, which is about balance, polarity, and the energy of \u201cdistance between.\u201d\u00a0 In order to achieve balance, we must experience polarity, and experience that connecting \u201ctension\u201d between the extremes.\u00a0 The number 6 card of the Major Arcana is The Lovers; The Devil, which can bring fear and isolation, is the polar opposite of The Lovers, which brings love and connectedness. The Devil corresponds with the element of Earth, cold and binding energies that dry and shape the world.\u00a0 Earth energies are stable, material, practical energies that are slow to change; Earth is about the actual physical outcome or material manifestation of our efforts.\u00a0 This element represents everything from the physical world including Nature and fertility, and wealth, resources, and physical pleasure and well-being.\u00a0 It can represent diligence and an interest in quality rather than quantity just as easily as it can represent greed and avarice and cruelty.\u00a0 The energies of Earth can be true to personal convictions or they can stubbornly resist compromise; they can encourage us to be detail-oriented, or they can encourage us to be inflexible and compulsive.\u00a0 And of course, the element of Earth is about our physical bodies and our senses, and all the pleasures we can get from them. In astrology, The Devil corresponds with Capricorn.\u00a0 Capricorn, the tenth sign of the zodiac, is a Cardinal Earth sign, ruled by Saturn.\u00a0 Capricorn people are stable, hard-working, practical, methodical, and ambitious, never losing sight of goals regardless of how many obstacles or distractions are in the way.\u00a0 Capricorn people are a bit stoic and rigid, and they will stick to their beliefs despite convincing evidence to the contrary.\u00a0 More than anything else they enjoy power, respect, and authority, and they are willing to toe the line for as long as it takes to achieve those goals.\u00a0 The Capricorn personality is one that is firmly grounded in reality; here is the voice of reason in a chaotic world.\u00a0 A Capricorn person may seem unfriendly, arrogant, or without humor, but remember the image of this astrological sign has a fish\u2019s tail.\u00a0 The emotions are there, just hidden within that inhibited exterior.\u00a0 As far as material wealth is concerned, Capricorn approaches finances with prudence, planning and discipline, and thus, there are not many Capricorns who are lacking in physical-world resources. In the Hebrew alphabet, each letter is connected to the creative forces in the universe. They express themselves on three levels: one level is archetypical and runs from the first to the ninth letter; the second level is one of manifestation and runs from the tenth to the eighteenth letter, and the third is a cosmic level and runs from the nineteenth to the twenty-second letter. The Devil corresponds with the Hebrew letter Ayin, the 16th letter in the Hebrew alphabet, a letter of manifestation; this letter corresponds with the eye (and all of our physical senses), as well as knowledge and the expression of character. On the Tree of Life, The Devil represents Path 26, running between Hod, the lower end of the Pillar of Form (which provides analysis and communication) and Tiphareth, the hub of the tree just below Da\u2019ath (the hub of the creation process where energies harmonize and focus to illuminate and clarify).\u00a0 Hod represents instinct, logical analysis, and knowledge without wisdom or the influence of ethics, and Tiphareth reminds us that that who we are is more important than what we do. \u00a0Here once again we see hints of the polarity we need to experience in order to achieve balance. That is a heck of a lot of information!\u00a0 Let\u2019s sum up what we have found.\u00a0 The Devil is the archetype of all those primal and selfish traits that we attempt to tame as we grow up and take our place in a functioning community; these traits may be successfully repressed, but they don\u2019t go away.\u00a0 The number 15 has a material focus, and it can represent charisma and the ability to effectively use magick.\u00a0 Capricorn also has a material focus; it is a Cardinal Earth sign, and it is ruled by Saturn, the planet of form and restriction.\u00a0 Those are not necessarily bad things on their own, but it seems as if we are building a perfect storm here; let\u2019s continue.\u00a0 The element of Earth seems to play a big role here.\u00a0 This element is connected to the physical world, and to what we need as physical beings to be healthy and happy.\u00a0 The Hebrew letter Ayin, a letter of manifestation, represents our senses, our knowledge, and the expressions of our character.\u00a0 The 26th Path on the Tree of Life, one of three that connect an outer Pillar to Tiphareth, presents a Dark Night of the Soul; difficult lessons to be learned. So, The Devil tells of being caught up in the physical world and the effects of the physical senses, often to the point of being bound or addicted to those things.\u00a0 On the other hand, The Devil is often the convenient scapegoat blamed for any excesses of the physical world.\u00a0 After all, enjoyment of the physical world is somehow seen by many as a denial of or estrangement from God, and how nice it is to have The Devil around to blame for our own weaknesses. The Devil can tell of being chained to material goods, or being chained to your fear; it can represent being in bondage to negative thought patterns or habits or relationships or situations.\u00a0 The Devil can tell us we are having issues with control (too much or too little), or that we are allowing ourselves to be controlled.\u00a0 The Devil could represent believing in and valuing only the physical world, choosing to stay in the dark, or being too serious about life. If The Devil is reversed, it could very well be indicating some kind of weakness that encourages the negative sides of this card.\u00a0 A reversed Devil could also indicate that blocks and addictions are weakened enough to be released, or that we are ready to confront our negative reality and break free from its bondage. In the end, The Devil is not necessarily an evil card.\u00a0 Instead of fearing him, when The Devil shows up, we should look at our lives and make sure we are not allowing ourselves to stagnate in an unhealthy situation.\u00a0 Acknowledge the Shadow, and strive for balance, and The Devil will end up as harmless eye candy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10569"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10209,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10569\/revisions\/10209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}