Are you frightened of the Devil Card? Does the Devil card in the Tarot deck make you shake? Does it strike your heart with terror?
In the Rider Waite deck it looks dark and menacing. Surely dark and menacing means evil, right?
The bad guy/gal in the movies always wears black, leather jackets and probably drives a motorbike. They smoke, take drugs and shag everything in sight. All those naughty symbols in our society that is seen as bad. Many people and Tarot Readers see the Devil and ask, ‘Too much indulgence? Addiction? Being naughty? Doing what you want regardless of the consequences?’. We are culturally conditioned by colors, images and symbols and a hairy devil with a torch of flame is not exactly comfortable. Yet perhaps we are being a bit narrow minded about the poor ole Devil? Do we have to be frightened of the Devil card?
What is the Devil really about? A Major Arcana card has more than one meaning so how can we expand on its meanings?
One way I like to see The Devil is as an invitation to see aspects of yourself that you don’t want the world to see.
Let us check out what Carl Jung said about that stuff we do not want the world to see. In Jungian psychology The Shadow is an energy within us where we store all the things we don’t like about ourselves.
The rude, nasty, selfish side. The aggressive, spiteful, spitting side.
However, Jung also pointed out that the Shadow contains ALL aspects of ourselves that we are frightened to show. So that means that the talents, gifts and wisdom inside us that never comes out ALSO lies in our Shadow.
Are you an aspiring writer who is an editor but never gets around to writing your own book. Are you a creative women who never has ‘time’ for her projects and dreams? Perhaps you have an actress, singer, creator, barmaid or dancer inside of you?
So next time you feel frightened of the Devil Card when it shows up, don’t see it as all bad.
Ask yourself this question:
What gold in my Shadow trying to reveal to me?
Are you frightened of the Devil Card? Turns out the Devil could be your best friend.
To read more about the Shadow check out Psychology Today and their article about another gift The Shadow / Devil can give you.
