Diablo, old freind

Card #5

The Devil

Past events...most recent sphere of influence / events which have just passed or are passing.

Holy black magic!  Weird experiences! Shock! Violence! Ravage! Disaster! Downfall! Astral influence!

Has just happened....is still passing.

The Lord of the Gates of Matter; The Child of the Forces of Time

 Evil influences, depression or bad dreams are indicated by this card. Beware of the malice of others and the negative feelings in everyone’s heart. 

Rid yourself of unhealthy anxieties and learn from your adversities so that you may free yourself from their bonds.

 The Devil is the cosmic influences on man. 

The inverted pentagram on his forehead represents the opposite of light and good. 

The black background represents spiritual darkness. 

His right hand is raised in the black magic sign. 

The sign of Saturn is on his palm. Saturn is the planet of limitations and inertia. 

The bat wings represent obstinacy and the donkey ears represent stubbornness. 

   The staff of the Magician becomes the torch of destruction in the hand of the Devil.  

The cube he's sitting on is only half a cube, symbolizing only half the knowledge (showing only the visible sensory side of reality.) 

The number 15 in numerology equals 6, the Lovers, and here the lovers are shown chained, in bondage to the material, sensual side of their nature. 

The man's tail (a symbol of the base "animal" nature) is tipped in the flames we saw in the Lovers card. 

The woman's tail has the same fruit from the tree we saw in that card, also. 

This is a sign that they are misusing their gifts. 

The chains around their necks are loose, proving that the bondage is of their own making. They can loose themselves at will, but they choose not to.

If the Devil shows up, look carefully at your life and see what is limiting you right now. Is there an addiction that needs to be addressed? What substances, behaviours or people are holding you back?

The card of the Devil portrays a Satyr, a creature which is half man and half goat.  

The man and a woman hands and feet are free to dance, but they are held by their chains of fear and fascination for the music. 

Around them loom the dark walls of a cave. The goat in myth was associated with lechery and dirtiness, and was considered an unclean and lustful animal. 

The goat symbolizes the scapegoat, the person or thing upon whom people project the inferior side of themselves in order to feel cleaner and more righteous. 

Thus Pan, the Devil, is the scapegoat within which we blame for our troubles in life. 

 The dark and doorless cave implies that Pan dwells in the most inaccessible realm of the unconscious. 

Only crisis can break through the wall into his secret chamber. 

The dancing figures are free, if they so wish, to remove their chains, for their hands are not bound. Bondage to the Devil is ultimately a voluntary matter which consciousness can release.

The card of the Devil represents those hidden forces of negativity that constrain us and deceive us into thinking we are imprisoned by external forces. 

The Devil is an inner force within each of us, he is an embodiment of our fears, addictions, and other harmful impulses. 

The people chained at his feet are entranced with the paralysing fear of his illusory power and therefore stand still with hopelessness and a numb appearance. However, the chains hang loosely around their necks, an indication that freedom is within their grasp if they can only break free of the hypnotic attachment to the temptations offered by the Devil.

Although he represents the irrational forces of the unconscious, he introduces us to the final stage of the trumps, the stage that represents the Soul of Reason. His captives, who remain unconscious, represent the first and second stages. They are chained to him only in that they are asleep and unaware of his influence. 

 When we encounter the Devil in a reading, we must ask ourselves where we are "stuck" in life. We often fall prey to despair and the thought that we are controlled by external forces but we forge our own chains of imprisonment and powerlessness. What are the addictions or attachments restraining you from experiencing the freedom of the Fool? Are you giving yourself over to the illusion of helplessness and despair? You have the power within to set yourself free from the bondage of the Devil. What can you do to free yourself from his deception?

Need to lighten up. Not taking oneself so seriously. Need to break up old patterns. Let go of cares and worries and play more. Spilling out of oneself inappropriately. Hanging onto things that have little truth or reality. Affirmation: "Laughter resolves all things. I empower the joy within me."

Devil upright is raw, primal energy. 

This suggests that if this person is being truthful about their situation, they've been riding a wave of energy which has been quite impressive. 

The caution here is that they not become a "slave" to that energy and bound to it. 

If they come to love the feeling of power that this energy has engendered they are in peril of becoming bound to it. 

Eventually that energy will wane, just as all cycles in life do. If they are bound to it they will experience loss and possibly anxiety or depression over this loss. 

 However, if they control and channel that energy to prepare for the times when the energy is in ebb, they will be much happier in the long run. A card which would strengthen that message would be Strength, meaning that they should channel and control the energy they've been feeling rather than just letting it run wild through their life.

 Drive: The freedom of spirit, independence of mind, anarchy of science  

Light: Independence, wilfulness, never accepting dogma, never bowing the head - 'Non servam': I don't serve! Shadow:Darkness, loneliness, being misunderstood and an outcast

 This card tends to suggest that you are placing restrictions upon yourself, but either you don't realise it, or you believe that there is nothing that can be done about it.

You are being driven by your baser instincts and you may even feel that you cannot escape the situation you find yourself in. 

However if this is not the case, your free will is not lost and you need to take responsibility for yourself and your actions.

Cabin Christmas

Nothing like taking off Christmas morning

A country drive, empty road, deeper and deeper into the woods

With the dogs. With the lovely Lucile. With good food and fine liquor and sweet weed.

No phones. No internet.

Wood heat.

Haul water.

Was smooth sailing for 4 days.

Except for canoe trip #2

It got a little dangerous at one point...high winds and currents...and smoking herb didnt help

 But when we made it back to home shore we felt fucking powerful. 

Then had to haul dirt and spread it on the ice road for an hour so we could drive back to civilization.

 Very alive times!

breaking ice breaking bread breaking bad breaking up breaking open breaking light

Black square

These nights not sleeping bring me to my knees no dreams no touch no restful knowing

black square enters to block immense pain between here and wherever whatever you might be

black square cuts time into manageable bites 1am 2 am 4 am 5 

so so long endless if black square stretched into an infinite band

black square contains time in a 4 by 4 square equation that maybe i can manage sanely

black square can hold the overwhelming expanse of universe 

neatly tied with black ribbon and black bow 

invisible dimensions of darkness

black square blocks me from seeking you out

black square negates sadness

These sleepless nights herald black square to calm the torturous silence

no voice

no breath

nothing but black square

Ecstatic late night disturbance

 

This image has always haunted and exhilarated me

ecstatic solitude and wistfulness

a root or vine of life reaching towards

the possibility of union

a woman dying or being born?

a simultaneous event, actually

 

just now I notice the child feeding from her breast

stunning in it's ecstasy

beautiful in it's truth

but for me 

at this juncture

disturbingly sad

the tree is about to break

Speechless

 Dante is led by Beatrice to contemplate the fixed stars, the wonder of creation, through to the depth of divine love.

Betrayal

I am processing feelings of betrayal. Betrayal is a strong and dark force....it is also small minded thinking and feeling. Bigger things are at play.

Came across this collage (which I love!)

It also freaks the hell out of me!

It also hits close to home.

I am not sure where I stand in relation to it?

Which character I represent?

Perhaps I am simply the revealer.

The person who made it is a literature student.

Below is an explanation about what everything symbolizes

in relation to a classic piece of literature.

Rationale

For my creative response, I chose to focus on the themes of death, fate and the struggles between Agamemnon and Clytemnestra.

The colours are representative of different themes throughout the play. The black represents death. The gold represents fate, and the will of the gods. The red represents betrayal and deceit, as well as death to some degree.

In the centre of the collage, there are four lions facing a gold crown on a red background. The lions are white and represent Agamemnon. I chose to use a lion because I believed it represents Agamemnon as a warrior king, since a lion is a majestic and ferocious animal. The lions are positioned around the crown to represent how Agamemnon is protective of his status as a King with extreme power, not unlike the gods. The background is red to show how Agamemnon is surrounded by death induced by Clytemnestra's betrayal, as his murder is being planned by Clytemnestra.

The red octagon is then surrounded by gold triangles to reinforce that Agamemnon's fate is already sealed by the gods, and is inevitable. These, in turn, are surrounded by black snakes. The snakes represent Clytemnestra, who is described as a snake by Cassandra:

It's outrageous - the woman kills her man. What shall I call her? What awful monster suits her? A snake?^[1]

Clytemnestra is also represented as a black snake in comparison to Agamemnon's white lion. This is to show the contrast between the genders of the two characters, and also emphasises the portrayal of women in ancient Greek literature; that is, that they are always the undoing of men and are evil or driven to insanity.

The expanse surrounding the octagon has been divided into eight sections. Each of the sections represents a different aspect driving the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra. The sections with sheep represent the sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Agamemnon. The sections with the red triangles with a white background represent Atreus' betrayal of his brother Thyestes. The white section with gold edging and text represents the will of the gods and the role of fate and prophecy in the play.

Firstly, I chose to use sheep to represent Iphigineia's sacrifice as sheep were commonly sacrificed in Greek literature (example: the death of Ajax), however it was immoral and cruel of Agamemnon to sacrifice his daughter merely for success in war. Essentially, he treated something precious as something ordinary, hence the representation of Iphigineia as a sheep rather than a young girl. The gold triangles represent the role of the gods in her sacrifice, as Artemis sent winds that prevented the Achaean fleet from sailing to Troy unless Agamemnon chose to sacrifice Iphigineia. Lastly, the background is black to represent death as a means to appease the gods.

The section which represents Atreus' betrayal of Thyestes is shown by a background of baby balloons covered by red triangles. The baby balloons represent Thyestes' children, and their innocence, similar to the innocence of a newborn child. The red represents death, and the triangles are here representative of teeth to emphasise how Thyestes ate his children unknowingly. The red represents Atreus' betrayal of his own brother, and the gold edging on one side shows how fate has made the conflict inevitable because of the family curse.

The white section with text represents the role of the gods and Cassandra in the play. The text is taken from the play itself, and all lines are related to the ultimate power of the gods and the inevitable fate that humans face at their mercy. For example:

If some ray of sunlight finds he's still alive, his vision still intact, thanks to Zeus, whose crafty plans at this point don't include destruction of the entire race, there's hope he'll soon come again.^[2]

The last section, of a black background and a red triangular edging emphasises Agamemnon's death at the hands of his deceitful wife, and run through the centre of the collage to show that all reasoning inevitably leads to the same fate.

Deb Mak produced this creative piece in response to Agamemnon by Aeschylus, for assessment in the Classical Literature unit at Dickson College, Semester 2, 2009.

Roi de Pentacles (Denier) (Money)

4th card -past foundation

Broad and basic events and influences which existed in the distant past and which upon present events are taking place. Represents the unconscious mind and those subtle motivating factors which one may not be aware.

The King of Pentacles is the card of worldly success, ultimate fulfilment, material satisfaction, and high ambition. He sits upon a throne decorated with carvings of bulls and vines and his robe is covered with embroidered grapevines rich with fruit. At his feet and all around him are vines, flowers, and plants of all sorts, representing the highest attainment of material success. In his right hand he holds the sceptre of his power and in his left he holds a golden coin, symbolic of his material influence. Behind him is his castle, the symbol of all he has built through his efforts and determination.

 

This card is the representation of the final fulfilment of a creative task.  

Here we see a King who has reached the pinnacle of his financial power and influence and is able to rest assured of his continued prosperity. 

He is no longer required to struggle to achieve what he desires, like the page and the knight, and is able to accomplish anything he wants because he has already proven himself.

 A loyal and trustworthy man may be too methodical to gain complete success. 

In other cases, it is the symbol for wealth. The wealth may come in the form of associates, money or knowledge. 

As a talisman, it is symbolic of luck. 

Want to make money, be more successful and/or to unite or re-unite with someone. 

The standstill will be overcome, and/or a reunion is at hand.

 A devoted friend. Has considerable responsibility. Responsible and trustworthy. 

Slow to anger, cares deeply for family. 

Not very demonstrative, has quiet energy and purpose. 

Makes a vigorous opponent. 

Practical realist, considerable wealth, shrewd, yet unpretentious despite wealth.

Pragmatism. You need to be pragmatic and play the political game well. Interact comfortably with everyone, no matter what his or her status. 

Get down to basics. 

Learn to be natural by watching the way of animals. 

Working with your hands benefits you.

With Kings, the emphasis is on behaviour. 

In readings, he asks you to take the kinds of actions he might take. For example: keeping a commitment, fixing something that's broken, making money, or sponsoring a new enterprise.

Abundance, security, ambition, power, stability, fathering, gentleness, financially stable, finds the right path, good at math, discipline, trustworthy, control, husbandry of land and animals, reliable, grounded, takes care of his body, acclaim, status, health, inner strength, thoroughness, sensual, wise man.

 Understands earth ways, conservationist, environmentalist, contentment, generosity, upholds folk tradition, calm, protector of the young, pleasure, harmony, nature lover, fertile, masterful, successful, earned through hard work, secure income, attuned to the seasons, integrity, good provider, practitioner of ancient arts, sound investments.

Patient, steadfast, confident, balanced, well established leader, persistence, stern, rocklike, hard worker, tenacity, diligence, practical, earth's bounty, loyal, uses common sense, conscientious, archetypal ancestral wisdom, slow but steady, can be counted on, a man for all seasons, farmer, methodical, primal, responsible, tribal leader, concerned with arts and crafts, worldly. 

He only believes in what he can see, touch, hear, taste or smell - anything else is highly suspect as far as he is concerned. He is a good provider, and an excellent husband and father, so long as his authority is not disputed. While basically good-natured, he wants to be King of his own castle and expects to be treated as such. He has high expectations of family members and may have trouble relating to his children if they do not think and act as he does. This is the sort of man who will automatically assume his children will one day take over the family business - that they may have other ideas will simply not occur to him. 

 When this King shows up in your reading, look at your life. What are you feeling 'stuck in a rut' about? Are you feeling like the Alchemist, or do you feel a need to transform some part of your life into gold? Is this another person, or do you think it's an aspect of yourself? Be careful not to get stuck in the mud. Having your feet on the ground is a good thing, but everybody needs to lighten up once in awhile and stick their heads in the clouds, even if it's just for a breath of fresh air.

The focus is on expansion, media, arts, communication, contacts with those in power or authority, and finishing old projects while starting new ones.

When cards of chaos such as  The Devil appear in a reading with the King of Pentacles, it still means that trials and tribulations are on their way, but the King gives you a special protection from any true damage that ensues. You will still be asked to go through the gauntlet that wrenching changes bring, but you will not be so much worse for wear when it is all done.

Frequencies

/

//

///

////

/////

//////

Feeling frequencies

of abandon

Fleeting energy siphoning out

//////

/////

////

///

//

/

?

??

???

????

?????

??????

Is this floating or sinking

Love or hate

Messages from the Others

From you

From my sleepless sword speared heart

??????

?????

????

???

??

?

*

**

***

****

*****

******

Hearing frequencies

high pitched meteorites

surreal buzzing 

from underwater radio stations

broadcasting broken heart songs

******

*****

****

***

**

*

^

^^

^^^

^^^^

^^^^^^

^^^^^^^

dot dot

dash dash dash

dot

dot

cannot decipher the code

^^^^^^

^^^^^

^^^^

^^^

^^

^

(

((

(((

((((

(((((

((((((

Your voice is lost to me now

I've quit looking

I must quit looking

for now

tune out that frequency of torture

((((((

(((((

((((

(((

((

(

~

~~

~~~

~~~~

~~~~~~

~~~~~~~

for now I will only tune into those unfamiliar frequencies

and start believing in a heaven again

in ethereal lights and Utopian souls

I will believe their secrets are more important then yours

~~~~~~
~~~~~
~~~~
~~~
~~
~

+
++
+++
++++
+++++
++++++

One day soon (!)

the tuning fork of my wisdom

will come in clear, precise and sharp

and all these static sensations will be understood

++++++
+++++
++++
+++
++
+

Valet des epees

This 3rd card (of a 10 card spread) indicates Specific Goals.

Indicates the best that can be accomplished based on existing circumstances.

An alert young person finely dressed and bearing a Sword, who is about to make an announcement. Swords are associated with the element of Air.  Birds, like Swords, represent the start of an action. Storm clouds and wind appear in the background, the youth stands on rough terrain and the waters behind are rough. This gives the general sense of this card is one of tumultuous energy. Swords represent the element Air, and thus correspond to the ethereal nature of the mind and intellect. The Page seems to be either on the defensive, hence protecting his ideas, or on the offensive, looking for some victim of the double-edged sword of his mind.

 Pages represent news. A new perspective and a new way of doing things are approaching. The focus is on unexpected events in love and relationships, messages, motions, growth, and ideas. If you are hearing negativity, don't believe it. Joy will replace pessimism, so don't give up. Your search will have a successful conclusion, and everything will turn out just fine. 

The astrological sign for the Page of Swords is Taurus. A person with traits of diplomacy, practicality and understanding.  This person might be: sensual, realistic, possessive, persevering, thoughtful, down-to-earth, and security-minded.

 The Page of Swords has the ability to find out the truth regarding all matters. She has both mental and physical agility. She is full of anticipation. The situation in which you feel trapped is only temporary. Your pessimism will soon be replaced by great joy, and someone will be very instrumental in changing things for the better.

The Page of Swords has the mental outlook and philosophy of a child, and constantly fascinated with matters of the mind. This is not to imply by any means that she is childish and immature; but in fact is probably the most mature and mentally developed of the four Pages. She may not realize her full power at the moment, but she knows how to use what she has discovered to the best of her ability. Like all the Pages, the Page of Swords will manifest in your life either as an event, another person or as a part of yourself that needs to be awakened. 

The Page of Swords can also stand for a child or young-at-heart adult whose relationship to you involves truthfulness, ethical behavior, discouragement or matters of the mind. This relationship is likely to be troubled or difficult in keeping with the challenges of the Swords suit. As a child, the Page of Swords encourages you to have fun with mental activities of all kinds - learning, exploring, and researching. Enjoy the world of thought your mind can open to you.

"I am the Page of Swords and this is my story.
It's not easy growing up in the kingdom of Swords, and I deal with the conflict by escaping into the fantasies of my own mind.
My parents tell me I am distracted and day-dreamy, that if I only applied myself I could accomplish so much more.
What they don't realize is that in my day dreams I am re-building the entire universe!
My mind is not as "in the sky" as everybody thinks it is. On the contrary, like the other pages in the cards, my station is affiliated with the earth, so I can be very grounded when I have to be (usually when I am working, and when I need to meet a time limit).
As the Page of Swords, this gives me a great knack at discernment. I know the difference between fantasy and reality. Consequently, I have magnificent clarity. This aspect of me is often overlooked by others, which is a big mistake. I should be called upon when the natural flow and order of things needs to be identified in any project.
Because of my association with the earth, along with my sword affiliation with the air, I have a unique understanding of the cyclical nature of things. I am keen on concepts of rebirth, renewal and expansion by organic, naturally evolutionary modes.
In spite of the common perception that the Page of Swords is mostly wistful, my personality type tends to mature into an extremely effective innovator.
With age, I carry a meaningful message of regeneration.
When I pay you a visit in the cards, I am going to ask you to remember how you felt when you were my age. I present a mixture of nervous energy joined with calm assurance that everything will roll my way. I am the dreamer who can apply those dreams with uncanny alacrity and clear-minded intelligence."

In the Tarot, the Pages are messengers. They deliver gestures of spirit - opportunities offered to you to change your destiny.

Talking with him might feel as if you're being interrogated at times, as he fires off a volley of questions one after another.

Their minds go nonstop and they're looking at things from all the angles, trying to figure out twelve different things at one time. One question leads to another and to another and sandwiched in between the questions are statements about what they know that you don't. The Page of Swords favorite question is "Why?" Running a close second is, "How?" These mentally taxing people are usually very intelligent with keen insight. They communicate well, if not verbally then in writing, and their natural curiosity fuels their mental activity. 

 They can be shy, though, or what comes across as shyness. What they're really doing is sizing up a situation, mentally gathering information and processing it before they feel comfortable enough to speak. When they do finally speak, they will dazzle you with their new found discoveries and mental and verbal gymnastics.

This is because while all Pages' element is Earth, the Sword Page's suit element is Air. So he is what is called "earth of air." He wants his mental meanderings to be rooted in tangible fact. So he's going to dig for the evidence to find their solid basis. 

This need is at the root of his constant questions about why and how things are the way they are. His immaturity is usually evident in his arrogance, his need to always be right, and he tends to show off a bit where his mental prowess is concerned. He can be blunt, sometimes too blunt.  He is completely oblivious to the fact that he just insulted you and truly thinks he's offering welcome information that you want and need. Still, he's not too arrogant to admit he could be wrong, or he might need more research, or that he still has to find out more. He'll often question his own conclusions.

As a messenger, the Page of Swords delivers truth and insight, facts and knowledge. In a reading he may represent a piece of info you need, that last puzzle piece that allows you to see something clearly.

His is the way of research and honesty. He advises you to ground your thoughts in fact, think before you speak, find out before you mouth off. He tells the reader there is usually more to this than meets the eye and you need to cautiously proceed, observe a while longer, check your facts. When in the position of another person in your reading he could indicate that someone has a keen interest in you and may be watching you from afar, checking you out.

The Page of Swords could be telling you to speak the truth bluntly, but make sure what you say really IS the truth and not just words intended to pierce someone. Being in the flow requires a childlike trust and an ability to temper logic with imagination. This is my primary message for you.

 Awakening these qualities in yourself can have many advantages. The Page of Swords uses his blade to cut straight to the heart of a matter, ridding the area of cobwebs and red herrings that might lure you astray. His appearance is often a challenge, to expand your mind and look at things in new ways that you hadn't thought of before. If you have been unable to see all the aspects of a situation, the Page will show you how, and aid you in uncovering that which is less than obvious. Understand the problem that you face, and in the process of learning you will often find an answer. Expand your mind, learn how to do new things and have fun doing them. Seek out the truth, regardless of the consequences, and try to become more adept in the use of your mind.