Deviant Moon - The Devil

Paganmare

The Devil dances on a blasted, blighted world - no humanity remains, just a barren, sterile wasteland that's slowly destroying itself. He dances in delight and joy at what he sees as his creation - total destruction.

More than any other Devil card, this one says one thing very strongly: that your own negative actions not only destroy things and people around you - they destroy yourself too. The LWB mentions this was a once-beautiful archangel. His current appearance is a reflection of his actions, his conscious will to destroy, pervert and bring and end to everything.

I think what makes this card so powerful is the joy radiating from the devil. He is an amazing character, full of such tangible pleasure in what he wreaks. Amazing!
 

mrmond

This is one of my least favourite cards in this otherwise extraordinary deck. It just seems too... one-dimensional. It's just the same old Devil, representing the so called 'evil'.

While this aspect should definitely be present somewhere in the card, I like it when it has something more to offer as well (the Thoth one is wonderful!) So I'll try to skew my head a little and look at it at a bit of a different angle.

The Devil is certainly a powerful figure, even though he's been burned and scarred by the hellfires. But he made them his strength and so he created his own kingdom amidst the flames. His triumph is wild. He succeeded in spite of the obstacles and his victory is all the greater for it.
Thus, for me there is definitely the power aspect. You are brave and full of energy (sexual or any other) and you're not afraid to use it all to your advantage. Whether it's for good or evil, doesn't matter (like I said, right now I'm trying to see something different in this card, treating the 'evil' as sort of default meaning). The card represents the celebration of your success.

And by the way: welcome to the group :). I've also joined quite recently and I'm very glad there is someone to discuss this deck with.
 

Ferret

Hope it's OK if I join in here?

It's almost like the Devil is dancing on the Earth before it was able to support life, back when it was very young and unstable.

I see no water on this world to cool the fires and nurture life. Volcanoes themselves can be tools of creation - they reshape the ground, form new land, and fertilise soil, causing life and growth. They can act as a valve for the fiery energies of the earth. If the valve is blocked pressure may build up until it obliterates life with violent explosions and blocks out the light and heat of the sun with clouds of ash... and the Devil dances gleefully above all this unstable raw power.

From the LWB: 'Standing on a volcanic globe, the devil dances in delight over the havoc he has caused in the city.'

It's interesting that the Devil is not actually portrayed as being in the city himself, except by indirect representation in a couple of cards. So the inhabitants of the city may not even be aware of his influence.

Perhaps 'civilised' society, as represented in Pentacles and Swords with its desire for control and repressed/rationalised urges is far more vulnerable to this fallen angel than the freer, more emotional and intuitive way of being hinted at in Cups and Wands? The Devil may point to the immense power and hold over us that our unexamined needs, ideas and desires possess, and the potential for destructiveness they hold if we don't recognise them and learn to channel them in a life-enhancing way.
 

Paganmare

Heck yes, Ferret: the more the merrier!

Mrmond - really interesting... as a pagan I do 'deflate' a little when cards default to a Judaeo-Christian perspective - and this looks very much like a Devil of hellfire, familiar to any Christian. However, it's wonderfully subversive (DEVIANT I guess!) to read the card as a card of triumph, power and success, so I really like that.

Also a good point, Ferret, that it's destruction in the CITY that we are directed to - the wild force of the Id destroying the constructs of civilisation. From that perspective, we could see the fires of destruction - even of hellfire itself - as a cleansing fire. I'm sure that's the way the Devil in this card sees it, hence his delight!

What I do find with this card - and a few others throughout the deck - is the short blurb from the LWB doesn't *quite* match up to what we see. It would be great if Patrick did get the chance to publish a longer work, but on thw other hadn it just makes our own brains work harder, which is a good thing!
 

zephyr_heart

Unlike the usual depiction of this card in the RWS decks, this Devil is so very thin and slender, and his thinness might imply that he is starving.

In turn, it might want to feed from our obsession, addiction, craving and lust.
 

hopena

This devil reminds me of the Gravelings, in a TV show called Dead Like Me. :) I found this description on a tarot blog:

Now, if you haven't seen the series and intend to, you'll probably not want to read much of that article because it is full of spoilers. The bit that concerns us is brief, and won't ruin a thing for you. It describes the other principal agent of Death in the show—the little nasty creatures called Gravelings. Whereas Grim Reapers are the human, thoughtful side of Death, Gravelings are like cartoon forces of wicked irony, and are the ones who actually enforce the myriad ways in which people meet their demise. For example, if somebody is going to slip on a banana peel, and fall into an oncoming bus, the Graveling will be there a few minutes earlier to eat the banana and make sure the peel has been left in just the right place. And the Graveling will probably laugh about it when the victim gets his desert.

http://tarotica.blogspot.com/2009/04/story-of-graveling.html

They don't really look alike, but he looks small to me - small and mischievous, in a potentially nasty way, just like the Gravelings.
 

swedishfish612

I imagine him as small, too. I don't know why, when compared to the world he is dancing upon, he is quite large. But I imagine him as this small, sneaky little guy who slips by unnoticed and covers his mouth while he laughs in glee at all the wickedness he inspires.

Oddly enough, I find him kind of cute. Maybe it's because I imagine him being small. Even though logically my mind thinks, "Devil! Bad!", I can't help finding something about him sort of impish and almost likeable. Maybe it's the way he seems to be wrinkling up his nose in devilish delight. Maybe it's the way he's dancing around in wicked glee. I can almost hear a raspy giggle coming from him.

I can't put my finger on what it is. But instead of being repelled by him, I sort of like him. And isn't that kind of fitting, in way? Go ahead, think he's cute. Imagine he's just a harmless trickster. All the better to lure us in and convince us to revel in our unhealthy obsessions and basest desires. What better way to turn our minds and darken our hearts than to trick us into thinking he's not so bad after all!

I, too, noticed how thin he is. Ravenous for something, this little guy is.
 

Shadowdust

This is not my idea, just post here :p

"This card, the demon go gentle on the roof. This card is probably referring to the impulse weakness of mind and action.

Another interesting point is the two legs of the devil: one four long toes, one third long toes. =)"