XV-The Devil

Owl Tarot

And welcome folks, welcome- to The Devil! I am Owl Tarot, and here we enter one of the more misunderstood cards of the Tarot in general, but in the case of the particular interpretation of the Devil in Thoth, it couldn't be more wrong As some of you already know, I decided to start weekly threads about some of the thoughts and interpretations, as they come to me the moment I am writing, of the Trump I am currently studying. It is the third time I undergo this process (of weekly Trump study I mean) because in the previous two I gained further insight about the cards so I decided to follow this process yet again, but with a slightly different twist in it, which is to create weekly threads about the Trump of the week! So, anyone willing and available to provide some thoughts and opinions for me to work and contemplate about would be appreciated! It is one of those cards that have offered me personally wonderful meditative experiences, as have Death, The Hanged Man, The Tower and all the rest "bad" cards. So, let's move out!


XV-The Devil

Zodiacal Trump of Capricorn. Ruled by Saturn and exalted in Mars

26th Path, connecting Hod to Tiphareth. Hebrew letter: Ayin (Eye)


Some of you (who actually read my not-so-popular threads) might remember about what I said about Osiris and his balls with his big black... thingy having the position of his male reproductive organs before he was left with his bones (lulz)? Well, balls are back, but in this case they are 2 and are at the bottom of our Trump. Also, a really long phallic pole is penetrating the "body of Nuit" represented by the rings of the planet Saturn, who rules Capricorn. Ahh, Devil, you little Goaty womanizer!

Book of Thoth said:
Eliphaz Levi studied it very deeply because of its connection with ceremonial magic, his 4 favourite subject; and he re-drew it, identifying it with Baphomet, the ass-headed idol of the Knights of the Temple. [The Early Christians also were accused of worshipping an Ass, or ass-headed god. See Browning, The Ring and the Book (The Pope).]
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So, what the early Christians worshipped, the Ass-headed figure, was a depiction of Christ. Right off the bat, Crowley screams "This card is Jesus (among other things)". We celebrate Christmas at 25th December. If we are correct, Astrologically speaking, this makes Jesus a Capricorn. In The Death card, we saw Osiris-Jesus-Hoor as the eternal Life givers through the process of different form giving to force. In both cases, we have Spirit affecting matter. The principle of Spirit exists in both cards, as both are Going.

The number 26 is the numeration of IHVH. Spirit enters matter (IHVH) and he is thereoff IHShVH, Jesus-Hoor, God the Son made flesh. In fact, his esoteric title "Lord of the Gates of Matter" may describe his Divine influence on matter pretty good already.

Book of Thoth said:
This card represents creative energy in its most material form;

In this sign, Mars is exalted, showing in its best form the fiery, material energy of creation. The card represents Pan Pangenetor, the All-Begetter. It is the Tree of Life as seen against a background of the exquisitely tenuous, complex, and fantastic forms of madness, the divine madness of spring, already foreseen in the meditative madness of winter; for the Sun turns northwards on entering this sign.

The sign of Capricornus is rough, harsh, dark, even blind; the impulse to create takes no account of reason, custom, or foresight. It is divinely unscrupulous, sublimely careless of result.
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So, the Divine creative energy, at it's most material form, is depicted in this particular Trump. Liber 777- Table XXII presents Lingam and Yoni as the Hindu Deities assinged to this particular Path. The union of those two is said to be responsible for all life. Pan is, among other things, the God of flocks and is a Satyr, in Greek mythology presented as half man and half goat. He is also connected to the season of Spring, interestingly enough, which Crowley insists on himself. He creates without any reservation, because reason doesn't apply in his case.

Pan is also, in some myths, said to be the son of Hermes. Hermes, especially as the Magus, represents -among other things- the Word-Will of God. He is the Word of God made flesh, and this makes him the Lord of the Gates of Matter. In Christian terms, Jesus speaks with authority about the Law because he is the Word of God on earth, and his authority is given by Spirit. He is the Law in flesh, and this is why he doesn't always agree with the formality of the Law, because he knows the essence of the Law (the word Law here is used as a reference to True Will).

Book of Thoth said:
The roots of the Tree are made transparent, in order to show the innumerable leapings of the sap; before it stands the Himalayan goat, with an eye in the centre of his forehead, representing the god Pan upon the highest and most secret mountains of the earth. His creative energy is veiled in the symbol of the Wand of the Chief Adept, crowned with the winged globe and the twin serpents of Horus and Osiris.
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Sap is the juice of the Tree behind Pan. It's roots are the two balls. The Tree is apparently a phallic symbol in this case. The phallus was used to represent Pan, since he was a God related with sexuality. As Crowley said, he is creative energy in it's most material form. In those balls, the "roots" of the Tree, we can see figures. Biology tells us that sperm carries in it X or Y chromosomes, which determines a baby's gender. In one ball we get women adoring Pan, and in the other ball we have men figures, one of which is horned.
What do horns mean for Crowley?

Liber 333 said:
Horns are the universal hieroglyph of energy, particularly of Phallic energy.
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Also, we have the formula of Pan as depicted in this card here, in pretty clear terms:

Book of Thoth said:
The formula of this card is then the complete appreciation of all existing things. He rejoices in the rugged and the barren no less than in the smooth and the fertile. All things equally exalt him. He represents the finding of ecstasy in every phenomenon, however naturally repugnant; he transcends all limitations; he is Pan; he is All.
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Nothing can stop his all penetrating energy. His endless creative drive is represented by his horns as well. I quoted what horns mean for Crowley, but those horns are spiral as well. Zoroaster said that God's force is spiral, and it is pretty clear in our case as well.

I also think of this card as the scapegoat. Jesus was (and is) a scapegoat for his average (probably false) religious believers and religious organizations who didn't and don't want to work (according to their True Will of course, which was what I think Christ was getting at) and enjoyed the idea of the Divine paying every mistake they did and saving them, The Devil was made a scapegoat for humans who wanted to blame something else for their actions when things went wrong, and humans also like to blame others for their issues.

Kabbalistically speaking, he connects Hod to Tiphareth. Hod is the sphere of the Mind, the sphere in which human intellect operates. Tiphareth is God the Son's-Christ's-Hoor's-Bacchus center, the Sun. The Sun turns northwards when it enters Capricorn, Crowley said, thus I think that the light of Tiphareth illuminates the Mind of Man and all being, all the work of God, is appreciated without the judgment of reason for the totality of Existence.

About sexual stuff, I think I told so many up to now that I don't need to add more here. You know, Pan, the God of Sexual powers, the long Phallic Tree, those two balls in front of it, the sap of the Tree, the chromosomes inside them, insert your very own sexual jokes here!

I would like to say something about N.O.X., the Night of Pan, but since this post is so long already, I'll let Crowley say it:

Liber 333 said:
O! the heart of N.O.X. the Night of Pan.
PAN: Duality: Energy: Death.
To beget is to die; to die is to beget.
Cast the Seed into the Field of Night.
Life and Death are two names of A.
Kill thyself.
Neither of these alone is enough.

COMMENTARY (A)

The shape of the figure I suggests the Phallus; this chapter is therefore called the Sabbath of the Goat, the Witches’ Sabbath, in which the Phallus is adored.
The chapter begins with a repetition of O! referred to in the previous chapter. It is explained that this triad lives in Night, the Night of Pan, which is mystically called N.O.X., and this O is identified with the O in this word. N is the Tarot symbol,
Death; and the X or Cross is the sign of the Phallus. For a fuller commentary on Nox, see Liber VII, Chapter I. Nox adds to 210, which symbolises the reduction of duality
to unity, and thence to negativity, and is thus a hieroglyph of the Great Work.
The word Pan is then explained, P, the letter of Mars, is a hieroglyph of two pillars, and therefore suggest duality; A, by its shape, is the pentagram, energy, and N, by its Tarot attribution, is death.
Nox is then further explained, and it is shown that the ultimate Trinity, O!, is supported, or fed, by the process of death and begetting, which are the laws of the universe.
The identity of these two is then explained. The Student is then charged to understand the spiritual importance of this physical procession in line 5.
It is then asserted that the ultimate letter A has two names, or phases, Life and Death.
Line 7 balances line 5. It will be notice that the phraseology of these two lines is so conceived that the one contains the other more than itself.
Line 8 emphasises the importance of performing both.
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As most of the time, I went on and created a really long (and possibly boring) post which was yet another good exercise in itself for me and I hope it both helps you and motivates you to give me some food for thought! That's some of the things I could say about this card as I see it today of course, I hope you found it nice and not too boring and I'm looking forward to hear some your thoughts as well!
 

Zephyros

I'm trying to understand what is in the Devil's testes, and I'm kind of hitting a brick wall. The Book of Thoth says something about sap, but really flowery language and nothing conclusive. The right one seems less obscure than the left one, the Devilish figure seems to be putting down ethereal figures, which I interpret as the singleness of purpose of Will, the whole card being there in a nut (pun intended!) shell. I could, of course, be wrong.

The right testis, however, is rather more obscure, and I'm really drawing a blank here. The unformed figures recall to me a male child of perfect innocence, but I would attribute that rather the to left image with the horned figure (innocence not being the absence of evil, but the unity of purpose of Will).

And what about the lines splitting each testis in two? What are they, and why are they there?
 

ravenest

Well ....

was I on to something ... or not ? Do the time frames work for this ? Can Crowley or Harris have seen those diagrams?

If not, is it case of 'psychic vision' ?

How close a match do you see it ?

This question has been bought up more than once (the designs within the 'testes' ). I suggested similar before but I was running on memory and didnt find and post the image.
 

Owl Tarot

Apart from what Ravenest posted, this might aid you understand more about the "sap of the Tree":

Liber 333 said:
Mighty and erect is this Will of mine, this Pyramid of fire whose summit is lost in Heaven. Upon it have I burned the corpse of my desires.
Mighty and erect is this Φαλλοσ of my Will. The seed thereof is That which I have borne within me from Eternity; and it is lost within the Body of Our Lady of the Stars.
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As far as the figures within his "balls" go, ravenest has presented some valid points. Book 4 about The Devil:

Book 4 said:
Thus, he is Man made God, exalted, eager; he has come consciously to his full stature, and so is ready to set out on his journey to redeem the world. But he may not appear in this true form; the Vision of Pan would drive men mad with fear. He must conceal Himself in his original guise.

He therefore becomes apparently the man that he was at the beginning; he lives the life of a man; indeed, he is wholly man. But his initiation has made him master of the Event by giving him the understanding that whatever happens to him is the execution of this true will.
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One way I would approach the figures inside the right testicle is that the horned man is the initiate who rises towards the Night of Pan. All others are put aside in front of his True Will being done, thus I would refer to him as the Initiate who has enjoyed K&C with his HGA.

Also note that there are 10 pair of chromosomes within the balls, making them 20 in total. Both numbers are assosiated with Yod, the seed of life as presented in Atu IX and in the first letter of the Tetragrammaton. One way of understanding that is as the new life brought forth through the Initiatory process of one who has achieved K&C, a Magickal achievement that corresponds to the Grade of Adeptus Minor, whose Wand is in front of The Devil.
 

prudence

ravenest said:
Well ....

was I on to something ... or not ? Do the time frames work for this ? Can Crowley or Harris have seen those diagrams?

If not, is it case of 'psychic vision' ?

How close a match do you see it ?

This question has been bought up more than once (the designs within the 'testes' ). I suggested similar before but I was running on memory and didnt find and post the image.
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That is what I have always seen in the card, too. I know I participated in a thread here years ago when this was brought up. I also seem to recall someone mentioning that yes, Frieda would have had some kind of courses in which she saw microscope slides depicting phases of cellular reproduction/cell division (or something equivalent, at least for the era). When I saw closrapexa's post here, I replied to it a few different times, with handy links to diagrams, and then decided to let it go. My links were very much like yours, Ravenest.
 

ravenest

Thanks for response. I thought that, before, when we talked about it someone suggested the knowledge was not extant at the time of the Thoth design ?

It seems to make some sense though, that it did.
 

Zephyros

ravenest said:
Thanks for response. I thought that, before, when we talked about it someone suggested the knowledge was not extant at the time of the Thoth design ?

It seems to make some sense though, that it did.
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I think it was, don't remember who did all those experiments with plants and invented modern genetics or something like that (16th century someone?) but cellular structure has been studied for quite some time. I agree with the interpretation.

Another point of interest is that in the right testis all the figures are touching each other, while on the left side none of them are. Someone on Facebook suggested to me that one side (the left) represented female influences while the other male influences. While the figures on the right side seem as if they are fighting, this would seem too much of a clichéd representation of these things, but from another point of view this would make sense. The male influence "makes contact," as in Chochma reaches out toward Binah. The female influence is rife with metaphors of oceans and the like. Still, can't help but wonder if there isn't something more going on there, than "simple" Chochmatic and Binahtic metaphors.

Although the figures on the left has breasts, they aren't immediately recognizable as females, while the figures on the left also seem somewhat unformed. I take this to mean a certain embryonic form, potentials of things.

I also see some influence of Art here, certainly the "arrow-ic" force is quite present here.
 

Michael Sternbach

In the Middle Ages it was believed that the right testicle produces "boy"sperm, and the left testicle "girl" sperm.
 
XVII- The Star. Hello, my Beauty! XIX- The Sun!