Ancient Egyptian Study Group Xv The Devil

Ladybro

Arcane XV The Devil:
According with my research, the ancient Egyptian people, in its culture/religion didn’t have The Devil concept as Christianity belief. Their gods and goddess could protect the people or not as their will.
Seth was a dangerous and powerful god but doesn’t match with this Devil.
In those time people in its culture/religion, didn’t have “ to sin” concept Their belief was a man/woman who had made mistakes or had taken a wrong way wasn’t a sinner or committed a crime against any god/goddess law, it was, just a mistake against MAAT. (SUPERIOR ORDER) And his/her rehabilitation to MAAT and to society had to be through getting good a new knowledge. Had to be wiser
In Clive Barrett’s picture Devil Card, we can see.
A god (Devil?) as a naked man with zoomorphic head... That’s normal because as we know lot of Egyptian god had animal head .because of their relationship between men a Nature.
This God/Devil seems to be a very important one and to have in high position
For example he is wearing gold sandals. The sandals (and the gold ones) in Ancient Egypt meant symbol of prosperity. They were important to wear for certain ceremonies.
The concept to wear sandals was to have the feet out from dust, dirty and rubbish.
This God/Devil also is wearing an important necklace ( Menet necklace?) another symbol of wealthy and prosperity
Sitting in a stone throne looking at the horizon, in his right hand has a stick crowned with Ba`s symbol .Ba represents the resurrection and transformation of human soul (ka)
Below there is The Horus Eye as in inscription on the stone. The all Seeing Eye also is a symbol of strength and healthy
Sitting on the floor a naked man and woman looking at each other in a particularly position.
He seems to be waiting a woman decision, and the woman on his knees may be is in doubt about….
They both have their grip tied or untied? ….
And finally a very big snake is involving the situation.
For Egyptian the Snake was a symbol of the supernatural things, the renascence from death. The Ka transformation and evolution

I Think this Arcane is about our sense, our sex, our temper, our hunger, our deeply wishes in a real and concrete way to feel it them
That’s bad? It’s dangerous?
Our education, culture religions created prejudice to hide, to control them or even denied this way to feel; but the real thing is its exist inside us
I think that this arcane remind us a wonderful and extraordinary thing: We are just Human Being in blood and flesh.
In others Egyptian tarot deck The XV arcane is named The Passion
 

SweetIsTheTruth

Set was demonized by the followers of Horus, but as you pointed out, He wasn't viewed the same as the devil of Christianity. Set was considered a necessary part of the Gods, as well as a necessary part of creation.
 

rwcarter

Set was known as the Red God because his domain was the burning desert that bordered the fertile lands of Osiris. Set was the god of chaos and adversity. He generally represented hostility and violence. He was also represented as a crocodile (see the Fool).

His jealousy of his brother Osiris and his coveting of Osiris' throne led to Set killing Osiris and later dismembering his body. In trying to hold on to what he had obtained, Set engaged in a prolonged battle with Horus for the right to claim Osiris' throne.

Set was also the god of foreigners. During the Hyksos invasion of Egypt, he was the chief god. After the Hyksos dynastic period ended, foreigners were no longer considered favorably and therefore neither was Set, whose name was forbidden to be recorded or spoken.

Set's domain included those stars that never set, while Horus ruled over stars that rise and set like the Sun, which is a far larger number.

Set's chief ally was Apophis, who is coiled behind Set's throne. Every day at dawn and again at dusk, they tried to use clouds, mist, rain and various forms of darkness to obscure the light of the Sun (Ra). The red that accompanies the rising and setting of the Sun was thought to be the blood of the defeated Apophis. Whenever an eclipse occurred, it was believed that Apophis had swallowed Ra. But Ra's defenders would quickly cut him out of Apophis, explaining why the eclipse only lasted a short while. Whenever Apophis was thought to be killed, he was able to return the next night because he already lived in the world of the dead.

The Hebrew letter Ayin that's associated with this card means eye. The Eye of Horus (which represents the moon) is carved into the base of the throne upon which Set sits. Set plucked this eye out during one of his battles with Horus. That's why Set was thought to be responsible for the monthly disappearance of the moon.

Set holds the wand of Thoth, which is also known as the caduceus of Mercury. The backrest of Set's throne is an obelisk. Both the caduceus and the obelisk are symbols of fertility in contrast to Set, who was considered to be infertile because of his association with the barren desert.

Set's forefingers make the motion of "As above, so below," which refers to the belief that what happens on one level happens on every other level as well. His forefingers point up to the winged sun disk and down to the Eye of Horus. Both are representations of Horus and suggest Set's obsessions with both his nephew and with retaining Osiris' throne. Another possible explanation is that Set is pointing out that although the throne is rightfully Horus', Set is the one sitting there now.

In examining the card, I noticed some interesting numerological symbolism. The obelisk suggests the number 1, while the way Apophis is drawn suggests the number 2 and finally, Set and the two people form a triangle, which suggests the number 3. 1 + 2 + 3 = 6. The number of the card is 15, which reduces to 6. For quite some time I couldn't tell if that was coincidence or if it were intentional. I also couldn't figure out what the connection would be if it were intentional.

Looking through various books on numerology (that's one of the benefits of having so many books in this house!), I finally happened upon Eileen Connolly's Book of Numbers Vol. 1. Since Set is viewed negatively, I looked at her negative keywords for numbers: 1 = selfishness, 2 = aggression, 3 = conceit and 6 = chaos. These are all words associated with Set. According to Ms. (?) Connolly, as 15 reduces to 6, the 6 is rooted in the numbers 1 and 5. Well, I've already listed the negative keyword for 1. The negative keyword for 5 is discontent, which I think also aptly applies to Set.

The upward pointing triangle formed by Set and the two humans is both a symbol of fertility (which again is juxtaposed against Set as an infertile god) and a symbol of danger, which is an appropriate association for Set.

The numbers 1, 2 and 3 are also mirrored in the caduceus. The wand mirrors the obelisk, both being symbols of both fertility and power. The two snakes mirror Apophis in the shape of the number 2, both being representations of the dual nature of snakes - the mating snakes representing the birth and rejuvenation aspect and Apophis representing the death aspect of the snake. The winged sun is comprised of three parts (the two wings and the sun), which mirrors the three points of the triangle, both being representations of power.

Barrett says the color associated with this card is indigo, which is shown in the background. But it's such a dark indigo that it looks almost black to me. Associations with the color black are negativity, hatred, resentment and evil.

Rodney