The Devil

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/55/RWS_Tarot_15_Devil.jpg/220px-RWS_Tarot_15_Devil.jpg

Ha Ha. So this is my story. I am thinking that today is going to be my last daily message from the tarot. I have found that not many people read on the weekends and I have a lot on my plate anyway. I will go back to my once or twice a week blogs after today. So I was hoping for a really good card for my last message for the month of messages. And I drew the devil. Not the card I was hoping for to say the least. I wanted to end the month off with something positive. So I will admit I put the card back and shuffled the cards and guess what. Got it again. I guess my guides want me to talk about this card.

In doing research about this card I find that the devil card is associated with Capricorn, I guess because in the picture the devil is half goat. Capricorn is associated with the mountain goat. If you have ever seen a mountain goat or at least seen pictures of them they are the animals who are relentless in their ability to climb difficult rocks to get to the top of the mountain.  Part of the implication of the card of the devil is that there is someone who will do anything to get to the top. Capricorns are thought of as being natural leaders and very focused on getting ahead. As an after note, I am a  Capricorn. I really don't see myself this way, but we often don't see our own faults I guess, if you would consider natural drive a fault. However, my understanding of this card is that the card of the devil is twofold. It is a warning against overindulgence, but it is also a suggestion that it may take some relentless focus and abandon to reach or achieve a goal.

In the card, there is a naked man and woman with chains around their necks, hooked together and tied to the perch the devil himself is sitting upon. The woman seems to be holding a basket of apples, the fruit thought to be the downfall of mankind in the garden of Eden. Here is my thought. In the garden, supposedly the devil tempts the woman to eat of the fruit so that she can obtain the knowledge of good and evil, thought to be a bad thing by God. However, think about it. Knowledge is in my opinion our greatest asset. Without knowledge we are nothing but puppets, doing the will of whoever holds the keys. The person holding the keys is the one with the knowledge. The apparent sin in the garden was that Adam and Eve thought that they knew better than God, that they, if they ate of the fruit, could become wise. My question is, why would God want to have people who followed or served Him because they didn't know any better? Wouldn't it be much better to have those who followed Him because they had thought about it, weighed the options, and decided it was the best plan of action? In other words, in my opinion, if the story is true, which is a whole other blog, then God possibly used the devil to persuade Adam and Eve to think for themselves because God actually did want his people to have knowledge.

I for one believe that God, or our Higher Power, or whatever you want to call our Source, wants us to seek knowledge. He/She wants us to think for ourselves. And then after we have weighed our options, to choose love. In order to choose, we have to have first hand knowledge or experience with its opposite. Yes, I believe that this card of the devil warns us against becoming enslaved to anything. However, if, when we are in the throes of slavery, we can look up and see the light at the end of the tunnel, if we can muster the strength within ourselves to climb up out of the pit of darkness and relentlessly climb those rocks to get to the top of the mountain, then the devil has served his purpose. He has thrown us into the pit of darkness so that we will look up and see the light and know that the light is something worth pursuing. That old saying comes to mind.."whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Just for today, think about what things in your life have caused you to pursue your way to the top, out of the pit of despair. We can actually thank the "devil", which is symbolic of anything that pulls us away from the light, because in our darkness, we realized that we longed for the light. Today I want you to consider that there is no black and white, only shades of grey. Our ideas of right and wrong, good and bad, God and the devil, all need to be reconsidered. Sometimes our greatest obstacles are our greatest teachers. The devil has no power over us, except that which we give to him.

What is your greatest fear? What is your greatest "vice?" Thank those things for what you have learned, the knowledge you have obtained. Overcoming obstacles is what makes us who we are. We are only defeated if we give up. Stand up and climb out of the chains that have you bound. You have not realized. You have the keys.