Carrying on with our exploration of Capricorn, we come now to The Devil – but why? What’s the link
between the two?
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XV Cernunnos (trimmed):
© Druid Craft Tarot
|
Well, goats have come to symbolize sexuality in many
mythologies – for instance, Pan, the Greek goat-god, who was linked to the idea
of ‘wild desire’. In northern European
traditions, we have the Horned God, or the Celtic Cernunnos, representing nature and sensuality.
Throughout the ages, though, the goat has also become almost synonymous with
the Devil, supposedly representing temptation and giving in to our
desires. With Capricorn being an Earth
sign, the references to sensuality and physical desire can be extended to
material desires. So when we come across the Devil in the tarot, we’re reminded
about what’s overpowering or obsessive, the things we try to suppress or deny.
It can represent not only temptation, but also surrender – and reminds us that
we have the power within us to keep our feet on the ground!
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XV The Devil (trimmed):
© Haindl Tarot
|
Hermann Haindl’s depiction of the Devil shows both a goat,
the traditional Capricorn image, and a serpent. Rachel Pollack, in her Haindl Tarot: A Reader’s Handbook (published by Llewellyn, 2005), talks
about kundalini energy being raised by both creatures, through the spirals of
the goat’s horns and the coils of the serpent.
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XV The Devil (trimmed):
© Thoth Tarot
|
The Devil in Crowley’s Thoth
deck always makes me laugh – who can resist that wicked grin of that
goat?! Laughing at how we become
imprisoned by our desires and obsessions...and those twisted horns remind me of
the twisted sense of humour... There’s an emphasis here on the procreative
energy, too, with a very obvious phallic symbol taking centre-stage.
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The Devil (trimmed):
© Sharman-Burke/Caselli Tarot
|
These images are quite different from the more traditional
depictions of The Devil, yet the messages are similar. Juliet Sharman-Burke
talks about “power and energy imprisoned”, the Devil-goat in the image
symbolizing the material world, to which the figures have voluntarily chained
themselves – there are chains around their necks but those chains aren’t right,
and the figures’ hands are not restricted at all. I see Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn, coming
into play here – those figures show no indication of wanting to make any change,
to escape the restrictions they’ve placed on themselves. Sharman-Burke goes on to say “The Devil
refers to all that is dark within your own psyche. That is why we like to think
of The Devil’s abode as deep within the bowels of the earth in a place so safely
removed from us that we do not have to deal with him. However, such an attitude
also means that we live in fear of The Devil, and remain chained to his block
of inhibition, restricted because we cannot face the truth about ourselves.” (The
Beginner’s Guide to the Tarot, Juliet Sharman-Burke, Connections 2001)
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XV The Devil (trimmed):
© Shadowscapes Tarot
|
In the Shadowscapes deck, Stephanie Pui-Mun Law gives us a
much more ethereal view of The Devil, but we still see that figure seemingly
imprisoned – yet not allowing herself to see that there’s an obvious way out.
Rather than choose to see the beauty around her, she hides her eyes – what is
it she’s so afraid of? The Devil dances above her, laughing at how easy it is
to keep what should be a vibrant
creature a prisoner – a prisoner of her own fears.
So The Devil acts as a reminder to free ourselves of those
restrictions we placed on ourselves and surrender to earthy sensuality (which,
as a double Taurus, I shouldn’t have any problems with!) and to meet those who
would ‘demonize’ us and what we believe in with humour!
Beginner’s Guide to
the Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated
by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections
Druid Craft Tarot created by Philip
Carr-Gomm and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, illustrated by Will Worthington, published
by Connections
Haindl Tarot, created
by Hermann Haindl, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
Shadowscapes Tarot created by
Stephanie Pui-Mun Law and Barbara Moore, published by Llewellyn
Thoth Tarot created by Aleister Crowley, illustrated by
Lady Frieda Harris, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
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