In most Tarot decks this card is called The Devil. In this deck we call it the Deceiver. The term Devil is derived from the Greek diabolos, meaning a “slanderer.” In the New Testament the Devil is called the “father of lies.”
The Deceiver represents the fundamental error from which all other falsehoods derive, including the error of supposing that a reality called “Matter” is opposed to another reality termed “Spirit.” Or, the error that the only reality is Matter, and that all man designates by the word Spirit is actually no more than an intellectual abstraction.
In the previous card Temperance, I brought up the Law of Verification. Verification of the ideas in the Tarot that you’re reading about is accomplished through trying them out. Or, in simple terms, the proof is in the pudding! Otherwise, it’s only an intellectual debate, just noise, a game with no substance. If you start to use this information, the Cosmos will supply you with results. And, without those results, you go nowhere, just like the two pictured here on Key 15.
Smoldering fire and bondage appear to be this guy’s trademark. He has the horns of a goat, wings of a bat, arms and hands of a man, and the legs and feet of an eagle. The 5-pointed star crowning his head is upside down and his eyes are flaming red. The man and woman have hooves for feet and horns for crowns on their heads. Just at a glance this Key appears to be the reverse of Key 6 The Lovers. There we had Archangel Raphael in a very supportive role with a man and a woman paying attention to him. Here, things don’t look so good! But what’s really going on?
The mystery is given away by the small white beard of our goat. He also wears the symbol of Mercury on his navel. What does this tell us? The white beard tells us that he’s the Ancient One, like the Hermit. Mercury is the symbol for super-consciousness. So under the “smoke and mirrors” he’s none other than the Life Force. Their bondage is an illusion. At any time these two characters can lift their chains over their heads, and walk away. So why don’t they?
Religions and Hollywood have made great profits and gained large followings selling “devils”. “Sinning” and “nasty, fear-based stuff” have great marketability. In the Cabala the doctrine is that sinning is considered “missing the mark”. Let’s take a look at a little story about that. A father bought his son a bow and arrow set. The child went out in the backyard and played with it for hours. The rest of the family stayed indoors during these sessions! After much practice he finally got the hang of it. Over time he was able to hit the mark every time, even with his eyes closed. Yes, there are some who really, really miss the mark, for a very, very long time. We all start out not knowing very much, but with study and practice we, too, can hit the mark every time.
The Hebrew letter attributed to this card tells us a lot about the message being conveyed. The Hebrew letter is Ayin, which means eye. The sense of sight is a major source of illumination, illusion and deception. Vision is limited to what you can see with the naked eye. Just think how long it took to get people to stop believing that the earth was flat. The other misleading concept was “all you see is all there is”. By accepting these limitations we place ourselves in bondage to them. As a symbol the eye can represent this external, superficial appearances of things, even though Science has moved us way beyond that. So, the attitude to take is that the eye can deceive us only if we let it. Hence our ability to remove the chains.
Then there’s the All-Seeing Eye, which has been a symbol for Deity all over the world. In America we use it on our dollar bill. Ayin also means “fountain,” which leads you to the idea of the “waters of life” being the fountain of all manifestation, the source of creation. The robe of the High Priestess is the source of all of the water displayed in the cards.
From a 16th century magical manuscript, Eliphas Levi quotes that among the powers and privileges of an adept, those powers connected with the letter Ayin, “are to force nature to make him free at his pleasure.” In the Gospel of St. Matthew 4:1, “Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil.” These are important clues to the whole mystery of Key 15. Note that the Spirit did the leading for the specific purpose of testing Jesus.
Why is it that “appearances-that-deceive-us” are necessary along the Hero’s Journey? That’s because we actually live day-to-day in a dichotomy, which the mind just doesn’t comprehend. All is One, yet we live in the manifestation of duality? But, without duality nothing could exist. All would still be in the state of the Ain Soph Aur, in Hebrew the Limitless Light, which is in the Cabala as God prior to manifestation. It is the “black empty space” behind the Tree of Life diagram. How do we reconcile All is One with the duality of being? If the manifestation of the Life Power is always at the point of duality, how do we conceptualize and live this? First of all, you gotta have a sense of humor! And, just so, mirth is a function of this Key. You have to get past the mind for all of this to come together for you. Imagine being in one place and being everywhere, all at the same time, or rather, without time!
The only way to get to that ability, to get past the mind’s limitations, is through these trials and tests of our faith, and the use of “appearances” does the trick. The whole book of Job is concerned with this, as are the four Gospels.
In Sanskrit matter is called Maya, which means “illusion.” In the West the world of appearances seems to be the only reality. To those of the East the phenomenal world is unreal, with its ever-shifting appearances. In the Tarot the term reality applies to both worlds. What we call matter, that which has name and form, is the appearance of what we call Spirit, the “Appearer” that is making the appearance. In the Cabala there is no separation between the two, and they are not in opposition to each other.
So how can there still be all the economic, political and social evils of the present day? How can this fine theory erase all that? We must first begin to actively live, and thereby experience, what is being taught in the Tarot. Only at that point will we begin to realize our true place in the world. Removing the awareness of evil is just the beginning.
We also gain the power to change our living into creations of good. The magical manuscript previously quoted from Eliphas Levi continues: “The wise man rules the elements, stills tempests, cures the diseased by his touch, and raises the dead. The initiates know, and as for others, whether they deride, doubt, or believe, whether they threaten or fear – what matters it to science or to us?”
The zodiacal sign Capricorn is attributed to Key 15. See the lower right corner of the card. Capricorn is ruled by the planet Saturn, the planet of limitation and restriction. In Capricorn, the planet Mars is exalted, which means its highest field of expression.
Mars is strength and force. In the Deceiver is a presentation of power which both binds and liberates. Saturn, in its binding aspect, creates a form. All forms have definite limitations. As we discussed in Transition, all release of energy requires the dissolution of form.
In Capricorn these opposite aspects of Reality are brought together. In essence, form necessitates limitation and in our experience limitation is bondage. Yet the very limitations that bug us may become the spurs to action that release us. You could say that our stumbling blocks become our stepping stones. This is clearly indicated by the first column of three Keys in the Tarot Tableau. The Magician is a principle called concentration. The agency the Magician uses is the Strength card, by putting into action the law of suggestion. This activity results in the Deceiver card, where we experience a renewal of consciousness, and that renewal releases us from bondage.
As mentioned above, Mirth is the function of the letter Ayin. We are both healed and purified through laughter. Laughter is caused by a perception of the incongruous. This is why stand-up comedy is so popular. Also, as a Yoga student, I can totally relate to this. So, I’m in a Yoga class and it’s near the end and the Yoga teacher is demonstrating the “peak poise” that we’ve been working up to. Suddenly there’s a burst of laughter from the students! Seriously, we’re going to do that?! Smiling, the teacher says, “Yes, you’re prepared, so let’s get started.”
And here on this card we have before us the perception of the incongruity between the appearance of limitation, that most of us live by and think we are, and the truth that mankind is the immediate agent of the One Identity aka All of Creation! Yes, it’s true. Creation can only manifest through mankind. No other way it “gets here”. Hopefully, you’re smiling! No panic attacks allowed here! This realization is why it’s called the Hero’s Journey. I’m here to help you along the way, but you have to have the experience described here in order to move forward on your Journey.
In Hebrew IH, or Jah, is numerically the number 15. Jah is the divine name for Wisdom. So this card is about Wisdom. The background is black, which is the color of darkness, ignorance, limitation, but it is also the color of that which is hidden. From this you could surmise that the underlying cause of bondage is ignorance. The goat’s horns on his head refer to Capricorn. His wings are bat’s wings, signifying the powers of darkness. His face is that of a goat, but he has the ears of a donkey, to suggest the stubborn limitations of materialism. The earthy quality of the sign Capricorn is reflected in his brown, thickset body. So how is Wisdom revealed in the card?
A white inverted Pentagram is his crown. The five-pointed star symbolizes mankind, and a crown means authority. So, we’re looking at a figure who has no idea that he is the “center of expression for the Primal Will to Good which eternally creates and sustains the Universe.” This comes from a meditation created by Paul Foster Case called the Pattern on the Trestleboard. So in Key 15 we have expressed a complete reversal of awareness of our real place in the cosmos.
On the Teacher card the central figure only shows two of the fingers on his right hand, an indication that there’s more going on than just what you see. Here on the Deceiver the central figure has his hand wide open with a symbol of Saturn tattooed on the palm. This says all you see is all there is. The planet Saturn is an indicator of restriction and ignorance. The burning torch, a phallic symbol, is held upside down in his left hand, giving little light. A phallic symbol is used to express the regeneration of life from one generation to the next. Here it is reversed, like the crown.
With the claws of an eagle, suggesting the sign Scorpio, he sits on a half cube. Scorpio represents regeneration. A cube represents the Cosmos; the idea of that which was, and is, and shall be. So a half-cube would then represent a half-knowledge of that reality, and thus only the visible, sensory side of existence. This also brings up the idea of the misuse of regeneration, Scorpio, in the service of sensuality.
The two chained figures are our conscious mind and our sub-conscious mind. Their horns, hoofs and tails show that their reasoning comes from surface appearances. They function from their lower animal nature. They are chained to the cube but may free themselves at any time. It’s all in their head!
The symbol over this creature’s navel is a red cross surmounted by a combined yellow circle and moon crest. The three symbols together stand for Mercury, which is also the symbol of super-consciousness. Mercury is the Magician, your self-conscious mind, the doer, your Will. Mercury rules our nervous system, including our brain, particularly the frontal lobe. It is, in essence, the “control panel” of our personality and our ability to communicate.
Red is action and strength. The cross is the rod and the staff; the material world influenced by spirit. A cross is the four elements united in expressing spirit.
Yellow is mental equilibrium and intellect. The circle is the All and the crescent is a cup receiving all that life has to offer. The crescent is also the reflecting principle as expressed by the High Priestess. It is that in which the I Am sees an image of itself.
On this card the symbol of Mercury is placed over the gut. The small intestines is ruled by Virgo. This is the place where assimilation and digestion of the food we eat takes place. What we choose to eat (using our Will), determines the health of our gut, Virgo. In astrology Virgo rules the planet Mercury. So the health of our gut determines the health of our brain and nervous system.
How many people do you know of, including yourself, who are aware of just how important the health of the food that they eat determines the health of their nervous system? And do they know that the health of their nervous system determines the health of their personality and their ability to communicate?
The ludicrous figure of the Deceiver is a full demonstration of our ignorance of the nature of reality, and our true place in the world. And yet, what is the give-away as to who this creature really is? As mentioned before, the little white beard and Mercury on His belly. He is Spirit behind all matter. He reveals on this card what you need to do to lift the chains of bondage. Matter and Spirit are not opposed to each other, they are inseparable. As you travel along the Hero’s Journey you gain the skills needed in order to recognize the Deceiver when he appears from time to time. And, yes, when you recognize Him, and understand what’s really going on, it will put a smile on your face!
Gates of Light 