Hail, Satan.
A visit to mud of the soul with The Devil.
"Spiritu duce, in me est. Deduce me in tenebris vita ad extremum, ut salutaret inferi. Descensum!”
“Guided by the spirit, it is in me. Lead me in the darkness of life to the end, that I may greet the underworld. Descending!”
During readings, Seekers (and some Readers) often shudder at the appearance of The Devil, and it’s quite understandable; the horns, wings, talons, chains, fire—almost every corner of Waite-Smith’s depiction of Lucifer is unsettling. But there is an intention to his appearance, of course: he is meant to stand out. Think of him as an early adopter of all things counter-culture, and, more recently, a staple of the early 2000s mall scene: Hot Topic.
Although his presence can be jarring, I always encourage individuals who sit with me to shift their understanding of the standard Christian-based depiction of our horned friend. While he can indicate deception, addiction, vices, and other unseemly parts of the human condition, he ushers in much more than fire and brimstone. Let us leave that to the preachers of the pulpit.
XV. The Devil. Clockwise from top left: The Medieval Scapini Tarot, Smith-Waite Centennial Tarot Deck, Terra Volatile, Pagan Otherworlds, Somnia Tarot: Illustrated Edition
As the story goes, God gave Adam and Eve one commandment after their creation: do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which stood in the center of the Garden of Eden. God warned them that if they ate from this tree, they would surely die. The Devil, as depicted in most G-rated Sunday School retellings, assumed the form of a serpent, sneaking into paradise to tempt both Adam and Eve away from God’s will. Ultimately, Eve was tempted by the serpent, who deceived her into eating fruit from the tree. Eve then offered the fruit to Adam, who also ate it. As a result, their eyes were opened, becoming aware of their nakedness, their shame, and their disobedience to God's command.
Of course, this parable never sat comfortably with me as a young child, and even more so now. The takeaway seems to be that we should embrace blind obedience, never challenging the status quo or seeking fulfillment outside of the life that has been granted to us. The serpent, from an ancient historical context, indicates change, a true shedding of the skin or home that has been granted but now simply doesn’t fit due to time, growth, and, in essence, change.
The Devil created with the help of artificial intelligence.
The Devil in a reading can mean the same. While the change might not be pretty, perfect, or even desired, he challenges us to get real with ourselves. As human beings, we exist on many different levels, ones that ascend into the realms of spiritual awakening, but also ones that plunge into the “mud” of our souls. The Devil wants to, of course, chain us to these pigsties that live in all of us-partying on ad infinitum. However, it’s the same free will that tossed Adam and Eve out of their perceived “paradise” that can also release us from the clutches of the party animal.
If we allow ourselves to visit the crappier, less-kept parts of ourselves, they facilitate moments of intense reflection. There’s no better learning in this world than surviving it, and The Devil, an expression of the human existence (he has a belly button), brings an awareness, a knowledge that if we can remove the chains of his deception, we come out on the other end of Eden just fine, if not better and more resilient.