Tarot Tuesday

The Devil

The keywords of the Devil include...money matters, feeling the burden of the material side of life and the desire for physical and material things. Feeling of frustration and oppression. A tendency to collect and hoard money and material objects... lust and sexual obsession. Wow, that's a heavy list! 

The lesson the Devil  tries to teach us is one of simple awareness and human empowerment. Once we begin to realize that darkness or the potential to do evil is a natural part of each and every member of the human race, we can then begin to gain mastery over it. All human beings have the capacity to get the upper hand over this by tapping into the goodness that also dwells within us all. 

Once a person becomes properly self aware to the point where they are no longer controlled by the pull of addictions, wants and greed, it  allows them to gain freedom from fear of being controlled by other people, as well as other forces that are always at work in the world at large.

When the Devil card makes an appearance in a tarot spread, it is typically letting the querent know that he/she is currently in a situation that has robbed him/her of control over their own life in one way or another... most likely through their own mistakes (or perhaps mistaken perceptions). However, the appearance of this card also signals the possible start of a chain reaction that can lead to no good if it's not nipped in the bud sooner rather than later.  

Poorly thought out actions lead to loss of control and loss of control in turn leads to insecurity, depression, and further inactivity. Once elements like that set in and begin to affect a life, it can be very difficult to turn things around.

The solution to this problem is for the querent to reclaim control over his personal power and identity. The Devil can only conquer you if you believe it can. This is a call to leave ignorance, indolence, and materialism behind. True happiness and success results from getting in touch with the spiritual being at one's core and realizing that strength comes from within... not without.

Tarot Shadow Work- Regression

Regression, if only I were young again...How often have I thought about better times long, long ago when all was right with the world and things were pleasant...*sigh*  Okay, reality check here, I'm rapidly approaching the big 44 here soon and if I  remember correctly, the good times were pretty darn crappy.  So, enough of the "Peter Pan" defense mechanism and the brief midlife crisis moment..

Do we find ourselves stuck in this type of thinking, where the situation we're in becomes so frustrating and stressful we find ourselves clinging to the wish that we could be young again...? Have we had any tantrums or stomped off with the threat of moving in with mother lately, simply because things did not go our way...? Have we looked in the mirror and discovered three new grey hairs, so off we went to the local grocery store to buy some hair dye that may or may not match the actual color of our hair as we remember it...?

These are all little ways of regressing and refusing to confront life's problems and assume responsibility for our choices in a futile attempt to control the hands of time. Looking at these behaviors as rational adults, we can see the immaturity and the fear behind it but how do we get to the point of moving past all these behaviors and reach the point in which our Shadow selves are no longer shadows?

In my case, I know what most of my weak spots are but there are those grey areas (and not on my head) that I still have issue with getting a grip on, like my temper. I love control... control is safe, if I don't have it, my temper flares up...I know what to expect when I'm in control and there are no surprises but do I really have control...The realistic answer is no, life is what it is and no man (or woman) is an island, especially myself. Taking the twenty two Major Arcana, I shuffle and concentrate on what I need to know about regression in my own life.

The card I drew is The Devil, who's shadow qualities are: Failure to love myself,having an issue with power (controlling or being controlled) and being too serious about life. These cards can be so uncannily accurate sometimes! Thinking about how this applies in my life right now, I can see that The Devil is trying to tell me that at this moment my issues with control are at play and offers me insight as to how I might address this in my current situation.

Change is inevitable and as much as I dislike change (understatement of the year) I must be flexible and adapt. I am forced to ask myself, "Why am I resisting this change and what made me thing that I may have any control over changes at all?"  The situation I recently moved away from was very stressful so those worn out old tapes  from childhood began to play in my head of a time when coping was not so easy to accomplish in the chaos of an alcoholic home.

I'm grown now, and there is no longer a need to feel in control... I am able to make choices for myself and I have the ability to make good, sound choices based on my understanding of life from an adult perspective. I am able to distinguish the positive changes from the kinds of changes that are unhealthy for me. It's not an easy road to walk but  taking one step at a time  is a great start and before I know it, those grey areas will become less and less grey.

Tarot Shadow Work- Anger

The fourth position on the Star of Discovery deals with anger, the anger that is felt towards another that reflects our own anger and/or rage issues. The card that I drew for this position is The Devil. Shadow attributes of the Devil are failure to love ones self...being too serious about life...the inability to play and sexually repression.

Anger is usually always fear in disguise and position four is indeed frightening for me. I was taught as a child that expressing anger was inappropriate as well as acting silly... daydreaming and talk about anything that remotely had to do with the "S" word...you know... sex!. I'm not sure why these emotions were not acceptable or why my mother thought that sex was such a bad or naughty subject, I never really have asked her why but it seemed like being in control of myself was something I always had to remain vigilant about.

It wasn't polite to act out in public or touch things that were not mine but somewhere along the line any type of behavior that most children exhibit was frowned upon and one look from my mom and I knew I was treading on dangerous ground. It stunted me as I grew up and have always felt the irrational need to keep myself under control even if it meant at the cost of my opinion, freedom of expression or the natural human need for intimate contact. (that dreaded "S" word!)

That belief hindered my first marriage as I was unable to truly understand and practice intimacy on a normal level and I think it may have even been the root issue that led to my divorce. Life is a journey... a learning process.. and it becomes very rocky and unclear if we do not have a healthy foundation to base emotional responses on. I am still learning and growing and thank the goddess daily for guidance and her subtle way of pointing me in the right direction.