caridwen
Anyone fancy getting into the nitty gritty of this fallen angel?
psychic sue said:I've never really considered that view of the devil fully, but it makes sense.
Just to throw in another view point, have a look at the Heirophant next to the Devil. The priest's 2 fingers held down signify that there is more to life that what we see, but at the same time, the fingers imply that the path to that deeper knowledge is closed. The Devil's open fingers may symbolise the narrow illusion that what you see is all that exists. Or it can symbolise seeing everything.
psychic sue said:The astrological glyph for Saturn on the devil's palm refers directly to that planet...
Interestingly, the gesture made by the Devil of the gap between the two double figures is the gesture that was made by the High Priest in Jerusalem to bring down the spirit force. This gesture still survives today in the Jewish new year, as a priestly blessing.
caridwen said:Yes, the open fingers suggest: "What sensation reports is all there is to know."
"On the palm of this upliftd hand is outlined an astrological symbol of the planet Saturn, ruling in Capricorn. Saturn is the planet of limitation, inertia, and therefore of ignorance. In his left hand is a torch, burning wastefully, and giving little light. The torch is a phallic symbol, representing the transmission of life from generation to generation. Its fiery quality refers also to the exaltation of the Mars vibration in Capricorn. In one sense, this is the fiery torch of revolution, based on materialistic interpretations of experience, the torch of terrorism and anarchy" Paul Case, The Tarot, 1949
Accordingly the Devil shows our deep fear of realised freedom....just as The Tower shows our deep fear of instablity and change.