Speak of the Devil
Oh the good old Devil! The evil ruler of Hell and master of pain and suffering! A fallen angel and a cheerleader for honesty!
I did a thing…
I recently did something I never imagined I would do… I was invited to do a “live” on Instagram with the super cool and amazing Rebecca Schoenecker, (@leyeweye), tarot deck creator, artist and more (Read more about her here). Since I’m way too private to do anything like this, I initially told her no when she asked. But then (for some unknown reason) I changed my mind. It was fun and I actually enjoyed it while we were live, we had a good vibe and conversation, but the next day I watched and listened to the replay, I decided that I wasn’t having it. I liked the idea of a “live” conversation, but I hated the replay and I asked her to take it down. (sorry Rebecca). Even though I did say some good and interesting things that others could potentially be inspired by, I just couldn’t help but focus on the fact that the whole thing went against my own principles and beliefs; Basically I just don’t like showing my face online, I rarely do it, I’m just too private and weird like that. And goddess knows where a video like that could end up?! (Haha) And as you will learn if you read further down in this blog post, this feeling of going against one's own beliefs is not something one should ignore, so that’s why I told her to take it down, it just didn’t sit well with me, it felt wrong.
Anyways we had a great talk about tarot and more specifically The Devil card. This post is a mix of the notes I did beforehand and it is a sum up of the conversation we did end up having…
My relationship to the Devil card…
I was always a person who would go against the norm and be a bit provocative and different, and dark, I was known as “black Maria” for many years. I spent most of my youth going to demonstrations and punk shows in squatted houses and traveling the world, even though I was constantly broke, I always found loop holes and knew how to hustle. But even though I was always on the dark side I was also always an optimist with a Fools attitude and things always had a way of working out for me regardless. I think that happy-go-lucky attitude + equal amounts of foolishness and darkness is also reflected in my insta handle, youluckydevil_tarot. And that’s just the thing, to me The Devil card isn’t evil! It is a card about honesty and being true to oneself.
Keep reading…
Enigma23 Lucha Libre Tarot - (Test print, “Dark As Day” - launch in October ‘23) - Earth Magick Tarot
To understand where I'm coming in my perception and understanding of this card let's start from scratch. I'm from Denmark, a very non religious and non spiritual society in the “dark North”. It's a Christian protestant country on paper but in reality it's more of a *"cultural Christian" country meaning that most people are members of the state church and pay church tax but most will only go to church for weddings and baptisms and maybe Christmas because it's tradition. But in everyday life most are atheists and not very spiritual. Also it's a place where you don't show your religious or spiritual side in public. It's a private matter and even taboo for some. This is slowly changing though, but I would say that it's still the norm most places around here.
So to me the Devil has always been a bit like a cartoon character in a way. A pop cultural image of evil. Like Santa or the tooth fairy, just darker and … well yeah a hella lot cooler looking!
Hayworth Tarot - Outsider Tarot - True Heart Tarot - Autonomic Tarot - Club Tarot - Mystical Dream Tarot - Tarot Carlotydes
As a very young child I played a lot with witchcraft (more about that in future blogpost … maybe) and I did flirt with satanisme and read “The Satanic Bible” as a very young teenager in the early 90's. I found it fascinating as a rebellious act to "worship" Satan and provoke my *“cultural Christian” mother. But when it didn’t quite have the effect I was hoping for (I guess she is just more “cultural” than “Christian”) I quickly got over it, and a few years later came boys, alcohol, weed and punk music and I left both Satan and witchcraft behind for many years.
(Devilish fact: I actually stole “The Satanic Bible” from the library, I still got it in my book case, haha how’s that for being a rebellious teen?)
Tarosado - Tarocchi - Stunning Tarot - Black Tarot - Inversion Tarot - Pagan Outerworld - Tarocchi Universali
So what does this card, the Devil, mean to me? No doubt that it's a tough and powerful card. Just look at it, kind of scary looking. When I wrote the guidebook for Earth Magick Tarot this was one of those cards that just kinda wrote itself and had to be edited down quite a lot. … Apparently I have many opinions about this archetype.
But essentially my personal understanding of the card is that The devil asks us to accept, acknowledge and embrace our true selves, no matter how ugly, embarrassing or dirty this "true self" may be or look. We're all lustful beings full of shame, desires and flaws. And that's okay! We all have our guilty pleasures and things we hide from others because it's not socially acceptable or it's embarrassing. Also we all act out in rage caused by jealousy, insecurity, fear or low self esteem. This is part of the human experience.
Gothmancy - Rider Waite Smith - Tarot of the Holy Spectrum - Moon Power Tarot
And this is where pulling this card can be a sign for you to stop hiding or stop being embarrassed about your true nature. The Devil card can be an indicator that you need to stop trying to please others if that pleasing goes against your own true beliefs. This archetype is one that will kick in the door to the closet you're hiding in and demand that you expose and liberate your inner darkness, whether it be by indulging in "sinful" activities, acknowledgement of your latent desires or to speak your truth.
The Devil is also a cheerleader for destroying bad self image, destructive patterns and over all self liberation. He basically brings the unconscious into consciousness and helps us to live a more authentic, honest, unapologetic and vulnerable life. The only way to truly live that way and become enlightened human beings, or at least create a foundation for doing that, is to see the whole image of ourselves and accept it all.
Mystical Medleys - 22+1 - Outsider Tarot - K.LD Tarot - The Modern Way Tarot - Blue Birds Tarot
In my personal life…
It was actually when I was writing the Earth Magick guidebook that I realized what this card truly means to me and how it relates to me personally. As I said before it's a card about liberation and being your true self, but it is also very much a very sexual or kinky card. So this card can also be seen as a supportive card in terms of sexual liberation and exploration. I will not go into details about my own path in this realm but I will say that the teachings of the Devil cards have been a great support for me to lean on during my own ventures in that realm. I think many of us have a lot of shame, embarrassment or traumas related to our sexuality. And the teaching of the Devil as an archetype is all about getting rid of those limitations, loving yourself the way you are and accepting and embracing your own inner beast.
The Earth Magick guidebook
From the Earth Magick guidebook:
The Devil is such a contrasted character. Despite his bad reputation, he is more than just The Evil Ruler of Hell and Master of Pain and Suffering. The Devil card in tarot traditionally stands for shame, guilt, abuse, trauma, jealousy, greed and bad relationships. In more modern terms, this card also speaks of lust, perversion, sexual and emotional submissiveness or dominance, forbidden animalistic pleasures and fiery passions.
To some, this is an intimidating and alarming card and to others, it’s their absolute favorite – it all depends on the perspective of the seeker and where they are coming from. Because even though we are not all indulging in sinful orgies of the flesh, we are all simple, lustful beings with desires, shames and flaws. We all find satisfaction in guilty pleasures now and then or sometimes act out in rage or jealousy due to insecurity, low self-esteem or fear. Whether we choose to embrace these primal human characteristics or hide them, they will always be a part of us.
And this is where the Devil is your rowdy yet very supportive friend – the master of exposing and liberating our inner darkness and shadow sides while pointing out latent desires or shameful lusting.
He will break in the door to whatever closet we are hiding in and lead us toward shattering a bad self-image or destructive patterns. In other words, he brings the unconscious into consciousness and helps us become more aligned with our true and honest selves, which is an important part of growing as enlightened human beings. No matter how hideous or loathsome it may seem at first glance, we need to see the whole image of ourselves and accept it all before we can set ourselves free.
We realize the Devil is an angel, too… a fallen one with horns and an appetite for flesh, yes, but nonetheless an angelic creature who is here to guide us and teach us how to become our own most uncensored, authentic and unapologetic selves.
SHAME • DARKNESS • LUST • EXPOSURE
*Cultural Christian definition: (translated from Danish to English of Wikipedia)
Cultural Christian is a broad term used to distinguish between people with either an ethnic or religious Christian cultural heritage from those who are actively practicing or personally convinced/believing Christians (in some places referred to as "Church Christians"). A person can be part of the Christian culture through his education or upbringing with Christianity and its ideals (for example the 10 commandments and the teaching on charity) without being able to join the creed. From this point of view, the majority of the population in the Western Hemisphere can be broadly described as cultured Christians. Another frequent use of the term is to distinguish between political groups in areas of mixed religious background.
The concept of cultural Christianity does not have a clear definition, but can be used to identify people who were born and raised in a society and/or culture where Christianity is the dominant religion and thereby characterizes the perception and view of these people to such an extent that one associates Christianity and the concrete churches with the local history, tradition and culture. Being a Christian is a crucial part of their cultural identity, without, however, necessarily living according to the Christian faith and believing in all the church's dogmas. Despite being a member of a church, you do not find it important to go to church regularly and participate in its services, unless you are, for example, invited to baptisms (Christian names) in the family or church actions such as weddings, funerals or in connection with Christmas Eve. More get married and have their children baptized in a church, not so much out of conviction, but because the traditional Christian values are part of their cultural identity. Thus, cultural Christians will often have a conversational attitude with regard to changes to the church's liturgy, hymns, Bible translations, etc. in order to preserve the value base that one wants as a traditional point of reference.
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Funny article from The New Yorker “The Devil Critiques Expressions That Mention Him”
