| The Devil is the fifteenth card of the Major Arcana, and the fifteenth step on the journey of life. Perched on a half stone a demonic figure looks imposingly over a male and female figure who are loosely chained to it. The demons right hand is raised to the sky and his left is hanging loosely toward the ground. This demonstrates again the same as in the (1) Magician, "As above so be it below." Looking closely at this card you see that the chains are very loosely tied around the neck of the male and female figures. This card indicates the more bestial nature of man, as well as man's desire to have things bend to his/her will. It's a card of self entrapment and over indulgeance,and a card of indiscrimate self gratification without heeding consequence. The bondage is one of our own choosing and because it is we can escape it at any time. When The Devil comes into your spread he is there to tell you "Don't be a slave to your own desires." | ||
| In today's society of have's and have nots, and a society that is dominated by images and Madison Avenue it becomes easy to fall into a trap. We suddenly find ourselves desiring to be a lot more than what we are, to have more than what we have, and having our needs met is no longer satisfactory. MORE, MORE, MORE! Is what we are after and we don't care how much we put ourselves into debt physically or spiritually to get it. This is the chains of materialism that hang loosely around our neck but, yet because they are there that we feel like there is no escaping them. This card comes into your spread to remind you that, "ITS A PRISON OF YOUR OWN MAKING". and that you can free yourself from this bondage once your recognize that fact. It's also a card of being enslaved by excesses of any kind and half truths. | ||
| There is a myriad of symbolisms on this and many of the other cards in both the major and minor arcana. In order to present a comprehensive and easy to use as a reference source set of pages for this and other cards, I will refrain from going into great detail regarding the individual symbols on the cards. On a future date I will go over the more explicit aspects of them. If you have a question regarding a particular symbol you can email me at Tamerin. I would also like to hear from you on some of your interpretations of this particular card or any other that you would like to discuss. Please use above email link. | ||
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