black obsidian

Blessed Samhain! For those who do not know, Samhain is the Highest Holy Day for Pagans and Witches. It is when the veil is the thinnest, communion with ancestors comes through all forms. People place apples in their yards for passing spirits, and milk and honey out for the fae and gnomes. It is also New Year's Eve for those who embrace earth-based spirituality and pagan traditions. This day is the last day for drying herbs, which technically marks the end of Harvest. Winter is coming. It is also the traditionally time for Divination through Tarot, crystal balls, scrying, runes, or spirit boards. 

This week, I choose a traditional Samhain crystal, though it is technically not a crystal at all. It is a volcanic glass, or an amorphous solid. With a hardness of 5-5.5, it contains no crystalline structure. But that doesn't mean you can't do some heavy work with Black Obsidian. In fact, it has the reputation of heavy work.

Black Obsidian is an extremely powerful protection stone. Resonating with the root and earth star chakras, it helps eliminate negativity from a space. It cleanses and can seal the aura and helps create a kind of protective EMF shield for you. I use Obsidian when I need a real heavy hitter protector, like if I am going into a large group of people or to a big event, or further if I am meeting with people who might be combative or have expressed resentment or anger toward me in the past.

But my teacher Hibiscus Moon warns against using Obsidian for a extended periods. Without properly preparing oneself to see both those positive and negative aspects of oneself or our reality, as Chronos talks about in this very good Pagan Lore article, Black Obsidian can be extremely difficult to work with. Crystal healers use it to help clients who are unwilling to let go of the past and to do intensive parallel life work, including cord cutting and psychic surgery. But if held onto for long periods, it can ironically challenge us in ways we are not prepared for. Or reliving this past event without releasing it. I have not personally found this stuck quality to be true, but I use it for deep work, then move on. But this is why it can be important to work with crystal healers, who can guide you into doing this intensive work and help you release the things that come up. If you are confused about a stone, or working with a crystal and not getting to where you want to go with it, consult with a crystal healer. It might have something to do with how you are working with it. (Sorry for the public service announcement.)

Black Obsidian, though, is an incredible tool to help us recognize negative patterns in our behaviour and work with us to uncover unconscious motivations.  So, our intention with Obsidian should be to ask it to clear these patterns from our auric field and cellular memory, as Naisha Ahsian says, to help prevent that stuck quality some people talk about.

One of the correspondence for Samhain is with Obsidian as a tool for scrying and ancestor work. And Obsidian is an AWESOME stone for scrying. If you set up some candles and sacred space, gaze into a polished Black Obsidian sphere. This is one way to commune with ancestors and guides. Allow the thoughts that come into your head BE their voice. Because of this ancestral connection, Black Obsidian is a great tool for communing on Samhain.

Black Obsidian has such a deep lore and history in Native American cultures. It was used to make arrowheads for war. And a form of Obsidian called Apache Tears is a stone traditionally used for grief work. I use it in all my grief grids and for grief support.

Blessed Samhain! May your work with Black Obsidian be enlightening!

A great affirmation for Black Obsidian is taken from Naisha Ahsian: 

I cleanse my energy field of negativity and ground myself to the Earth's heart. 

tarot of the week-the chariot

Know the self to be sitting in the chariot, the body to be the chariot, the intellect the charioteer, and the mind the reins. -- Veda Upanishads

In the last few weeks, I have read Tarot at some events where I have reading after reading. During these readings, I notice some universal themes and cards arise. The intuitive message that Spirit is giving me about these cards is that this is a cycle we are in, rather than applicable just to that person. My message is usually to tap into this energy and ride the wave. One cycle trend I have noticed is the Chariot. Number VII of the Major Arcana, the Chariot is about victory, accomplishment, action, and movement and further, driving one's own fate. 

I love the quote from the Upanishads, (and I noticed after I picked it that Marcia Masino uses a similar quote in her book Best Tarot Practices). So much of this card is about understanding the Self and using every aspect of yourself to achieve. The underlying themes of this card is self-will, control, action, motivation, progress...The Chariot often comes after a period of hard work and action. It is the card that nods to your hard work, willpower, determination, and diligence. Spirit acknowledges you in that way. And acknowledges that you could have taken this path by dishonest means, or even easier means, but you kept your integrity. The hard work remains an important aspect of your path. This is an important part of this card--Integrity. I often talk about turning one's will over to the Divine, and so often, the cards ask us to trust in our path, or in Spirit to hold us and care for us. Our needs will be met. And certainly, Spirit still reminds us of that when we talk about the Chariot, but this is a card of ACTION. Da-Da-DUH! You must be the Charioteer, controlling your responses to things, seeing the road in front of you, and navigating the inevitable potholes.

Seven, in numerology, is a very mystical number. The number of faith, it is most psychic, or rather intuitive, number, and often the role of Seven is one of spiritual completion and wholeness--seven chakras, seven days to create the work, seven pillars of wisdom. It can indicate a completion and period of solitary reflection. Indeed, the King (yes, he is a King) on this card is alone, but you get the sense that he has an army behind him.

We might say that this card represents that cliche, "God will move mountains, but you need to bring a shovel." Or maybe even you direct a team of people with shovels.  The King, adorned with breast plate and scepter, stands proud. His crown holds a star above his head, which is hovering around the crown chakra. This is such an important aspect to me as a crystal and energy healer. I look for clues into chakra work. And so, this card, which seems so action-oriented, is grounded in the crown. Huh? It is because his work is grounded in integrity and alignment with his soul path. Look at his kilt (skirt, I almost said). It has all the signs of the Zodiac, and driving his Chariot are two Sphinx.

Let's talk about the Sphinx, because it is a terribly important part of this card. These Sphinc represent the logic and mind at work as well as his travels out of his land. (Some say they also mirror the Pillars on the front of the High Priestess.) The symbolism of the Tarot resides heavily in the Ancient Greek myths that has become part of our cultural language. And the myth of Sphinx tells us something about this card. The Sphinx, the head of a Woman and body of a Lion, tests the brave to answer her riddle. She torturously killed anyone who fails, but rewards those who truly understand life and death.

Which creature has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?

It is Man in all the phases of his life. And so the wisdom here, the man who tames the Sphinx, forcing the phases of man to work on his behalf, drives his own chariot. The Sphinx is this pull between our animal strength and our intellect. In this way, the Chariot asks us to recognize the power in self-restraint and the taming of our own internal beasts. This card often has a strong underlying sexual tone, as the Chariot is the card of sexual prowess. So, when I pull this card in the challenge position, I sometimes ask how power comes into sexual relationships for the questioner.

The curtains above this King, as the crown, harken to the Star, the card of great hope and optimism. Where this King's thoughts go, energy flows, and he keeps his thoughts aligned with the Divine and his ultimate goal. Though his body is shielded in metal, his heart is a strong clear block in the center of him. His heart is aligned with the Highest Intentions. The Chariot is a beautifully positive, victorious and multi-dimensional card to receive. But remember the words--action, integrity, hard work, self-will aligned with Divine will, power, self-knowledge.

A great affirmation for this card might be: 

I align my will with Divine will. 

sodalite

Sodalite is a readily available third eye stone.

In this blog, I have tried to mix up the crystals. Sometimes I choose them from Crystal Oracle Cards, other times with crystals I have been using during the week. This one was a little of both, since this week, I worked on third eye layouts for a number of clients. (But I did choose Sodalite for a card tonight!)

A readily accessible and great stone for third eye work is Sodalite. In all my crystal writing, I haven't written about any third eye stones, which is flabbergasting (though Labradorite is certainly good for third eye work.) Most basic chakra stone kits include Sodalite as either their third eye or throat chakra stone. I always include it for the third eye, because it resonates so beautifully with that chakra. Sodalite is a deep blue, certainly indigo. It has a Moh's hardness of 5.5-6, so it can be put in water. Most Sodalite has white Calcite running through it, which gives it the cool veining.

Sodalite is great for meditation, journeying, lucid dreaming and other dream work, and great for any third eye opening work like hypnosis or trance. it is great for psychics and psychic work dealing with a tool, like astrologers, numerologists, tarot and card readers, tea leaf interpreters, palmists...it helps identify archetypal patterns and symbolism, which is why it helps those psychics more than mediums or channels. it helps you recognize patterns, so another bonus for psychic work.

Sodalite is a stone of the NOW. Be Here Now, so to speak, hold a Sodalite to ground that energy in the present, yet find insight and pattern. In this way, it is a great stone for writers as well, teachers, psychologists. use your intuition, but don't consider yourself psychic? Sodalite doesn't discriminate. You can use it to enhance any intuitive work, including those in sales. I have been saying this a great deal in readings and crystal healing sessions, because so often I pick up on someone's intuitive abilities, and they argue with me about how they are NOT psychic. But intuition comes in many forms. I find the most intuitive and empathic of us learn to shield so strongly, they don't recognize how intuitive they truly are. That is a learned ability and a protective mechanism. You can also learn to open and shield, but that might be another blog post all together.  Still, we all use our intuitive abilities. We read people's moods, their vibes, we can tell when someone needs to be pushed, or we need to back off. This is all intuitive skills. Sodalite can help  you with those kinds of gifts.

A great affirmation for Sodalite might be: 

I open my intuition fully in the present moment. 

tarot of the week-queen of swords

Grief can be a burden, but also an anchor. You get used to the weight, how it holds you in place. ― Sarah Dessen

The Court Cards of the Minor Arcana work in one of two ways--they either represent people in your life, or aspects of the Self. These sixteen cards (four in each suit) hold attributes of the suit and of the Court position (King, Queen, Knight or Page), and in this way give us markers as to who this person might be. Each Court Card, individually, has its own sort of reputation. And the Queen of Swords most definitely has a reputation... 

Here is the beautiful Queen of Swords, faced to the future (in a Tarot reading, this is the Future), reaching out. Her sword is pointed up to the Heavens. Her feet are planted on earth. So much of the detail of this card tells us about this Queen. Firstly, the one most noted in Tarot circles is her Victorian mourning bracelet. It tells us this Queen is mourning the King, or a child, or even a divorce. Her reputation is one of ruling alone.

This grief (and if you have ever felt profound grief might understand this aspect of the queen) informs her every decision. She is determined to make decisions based on prioritizing what is important and what is merely noise. This is what anchors her, so to speak. She is not someone grieving in a way that is maudlin, or overly emotional. Her pain is written on her no-nonsense sensibilities, informs her decisions, but she does not wear her heart on her sleeve, and she never feels herself a victim. 

So, this Queen is independent, self-assured, knowledgable. I often refer to this aspect of the Queen first in my readings, because grief has reprioritized the Queen's life. All swords have a reputation for cutting through the bullshit, but the Queen has that reputation in spades. She has no time to hear petty grievances. Her time is too precious. And so, she can be someone who speaks her truth, uses few words to do it, but is a powerful, wise woman. People listen. Often, she has a reputation to those who do not know her of being a bitch, but to those around her, they accept her way is straight-forward, honest, and respectable.

Swords are quite intellectual as a suit, and so this Queen is run by her logic, intellect, and quick wit. Her heart chakra faces toward the future. That is her passion, after all, to create the future she wants. Her strength is her mind, so turn to this queen to figure out how things work, analysis, judgment and plans forward. And so, she isn't someone who is terribly reflective or stuck in the past. Her experience and the strength of her decisions make her someone to regard with great respect.  

Swords are also the Air sign of the Tarot, so look for this woman to be Libra, Aquarius, Gemini. She may be a writer, librarian, communicator, teacher. 

A great affirmation for this card might be: 

I know my truth and speak it with authority and wisdom. 

hematite

So much of my crystal healing arsenal is made up of grounding stones. It is just so vitally important to connect to Mama Earth and help shield and protect your electromagnetic field (EMF). Not only for empaths, but everyone should be mindful of their delicate auras. Hematite is one of the most effective grounding stones, and it is so easily accessible. There is no excuse to have one or ten of them in your house.  

So, what is hematite? It is iron oxide, named after the Greek word for blood (it actually streaks red, though most people know it as a metallic silver looking heavy stone). Almost like gunmetal silver, it is just an awesome balancer, grounder, purifier. Resonating with the root chakra, it is also an awesome ally for the Earth Star chakra as well. It works well, when places on the feet for grounding as well as in the hands After all, our Earth's core is iron, so scientists think. What is better for connecting you with the energy of the Earth than Hematite? My crystal mentor, Hibiscus Moon, calls the Earth the largest crystal around. 

Hematite helps battle those spacey EMF disturbances and pollution through electronic devices, cell phones, radio, television, computer work, even other people. If you google electro magnetic symptoms, you can see how many symptoms we take for granted as something we need to "deal with" are really EMF pollution symptoms. Hematite is a great shielder of EM pollution. In that way, Hematite helps with many autoimmune disorders, and with polarity issues that stem from electronic overload. Grounding is so vitally important with this, because EM suffering is really an issue of not being grounded enough. I could talk for days about grounding. Google it. Check out my teacher's amazing work and videos on grounding. She really is an expert in that area.

Hematite also is a stone of integration--Light and Dark, Highest Self and Shadow Self, Male and Female, Spirit and Body. Through this Hematite work, we can bring all these divergent selves into one unified manifestor. That is how we manifest, in fact. Many of us in the spiritual community, or on a spiritual path, have amazing ideas, but we often just build castles in the sky. Hematite can help us design an earth based branch of that dream. But truly, Hematite is a quick grounder and a long-term grounder. Hematite helps nail us to reality. Anyone who has had one of my transmuting shields knows what being gridded with hematite feels like--like being pinned to Mother Earth, or swaddled almost in protective Mother Earth energy. It is such a safe, warm feeling and so vitally important to intuitives and empaths. I cannot stress enough how important Hematite can be to those who are sensitive. Grab it. Pair it with some other strong grounding stones like Black Tourmaline or Smoky Quartz or Onyx. And learn what it feels like to ground and connect with Mama Earth.

A great affirmation for Hematite might be:

I ground my Light energy to Mother Earth. 

tarot of the week-the hanged man

The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice. Ironically, their virtues make them vulnerable; they are often wounded, sometimes destroyed. — Ernest Hemingway

So many of the cards of the Tarot possess dual meaning, ambiguity, and intrigue, but perhaps none embody paradox more than the Hanged Man. Just hearing about a hanging evokes fear, condemnation, punishment, but the Hanged Man is a card of mystery, sacrifice, and grace. The Hanged Man is number XII of the Major Arcana, and on the Fool's Journey, the card that resides between Justice and Death. But the judgment and punishment of the Hanged Man is truly a self-imposed experience, which is precisely what makes this card so rich in symbolism.

The Hanged Man shows a man, presumably the Fool (for he wears the same clothes as the 0 card of the Tarot,) hanging by one foot. Leaves grow around the edges of the gallows. His face is downright serene, still, calm. There is no suffering here. His arms are behind his back, and his head is radiating with light. A symbol of enlightenment. This position, most Tarot readers assume, is a loose hanging, one from which he could easily escape. But the Hanged Man has no such design, he is there for a reason.

The themes of the Hanged Man are sacrifice, perspective, and transition. The Hanged Man relinquishes his control to gain new insight. If he has put himself in this position, he can remove himself, but he doesn't. This is his path to enlightenment, to see things from not only from a different perspective, but also from one that is based on his absolute acceptance of himself. It's terribly important to remember that you surrender to win here. And in this way, you are asked to sacrifice the quick fix, the impermanent feeling for the long term spiritual growth. In this way, what the Hanged Man reminds us is that we must move into suffering, rather than out of it.

We allow ourselves to be seen as vulnerable, to accept our imperfection, to embrace vulnerability as the starting point of spiritual growth, and further to enlightenment. This reminds me of the teachings of Pema Chodron about learning to sit in emotions that make us uncomfortable, and get curious about them. This is the punishment, if we can even call it that. As humans, we are constantly trying to shift out of emotions we have deemed negative, or wrong. We are constantly trying to shift out of suffering. Suffering is the first noble truth of our human existence. It is, dare I say, why we are here. We are spiritual beings having a human experience, and the core of that human experience is weathering suffering. We will suffer.

In the same way, we are asked to look at things from a new perspective and get immensely curious about ourselves. Another paradox here, I suppose, is that this curiosity about ourselves actually creates connection with other people. We first gain compassion for ourselves, then for others, which ultimately helps alleviate our suffering. We surrender to win again, or rather we suffer to alleviate suffering. I think in this way, we must shoot our hostage, as they say. We must take the piece we have been using as our excuse OUT of the equation. We must expose our vulnerability and embrace who we authentically are. This is where the gallows come in. We put ourselves up to scrutiny. We do it in front of others by embracing our own imperfections as PART of what makes us human. 

As they say, suffering is mandatory, but misery is optional. The Hanged Man asks you to sacrifice temporary comfort for long term contentment and enlightenment. The word "sacrifice" means "to make sacred." And so, the Hanged Man asks you to make ALL your experiences sacred, even the ones that evoke the most shame. All are lessons, opportunities for growth, and in that way, we begin to live in the present, and we live in gratitude for each experience, even the one where you are hanging upside down by one foot.

What stands at the center of this card is the Hanged Man's spiritual enlightenment. This is the core of this card. How are you doing to get there? If you pull the Hanged Man, you are asked to be vulnerable, to look at yourself differently than you ever have. Let Go and Let God. Stop controlling and predicting, as Brene Brown says, because vulnerability is the birthplace of joy, creativity, belonging and love. And further, I say, of enlightenment. I love what she says, because it perfectly encapsulates the Hanged man--we cannot numb just the hard feelings in our life. We end up numbing them all. So, the Hanged Man asks you to feel the hard feelings. To sit in them. To get curious about them. And remember that though it is not comfortable, it is also less suffering than not feeling them.

A great affirmation for the Hanged Man might be:

I embrace my vulnerability as my greatest strength. I trust in my Divine path. 

Let me know what you think of this Tarot of the Week, or of the Hanged Man, or anything else on your mind. 

garnet

Garnet's deep red resonates with the root chakra, and can appear almost black. 

Throughout the month, as I work with clients and friends to develop crystal mojo bags, or medicine bundles, I am thinking about crystals and their attributes constantly. Last week's meeting with the Devil, coupled with a medicine bundle I was creating, brought Garnet to the forefront of my consciousness. Garnet, what an amazing stone!! Both the Devil and Garnet are symbols of Capricorn, which makes sense. Both are about the material, about earthing, in some ways.

There are many types of Garnet--Black Andradite Garnet, Rhodolite Garnet, Grossular Garnet (which is green), Spessartine Garnet, Uvarovite, but the one I will be talking about is Almadine Garnet, the one  you are most likely to find at your local crystal shop or metaphysical shop. Garnet has a Moh's Hardness of 7.5, and its name derives from the Latin granatum, meaning "pomegranate" since its color resembles the seed of the pomegranate. Like Lapis, Malachite and other ancient stones, Garnet is a stone of the ancient. A necklace of garnet was found in a grave from 3000 BCE, which really does speak to its hardness and durability.

Garnet is a stone of earth, resonating with the Root Chakra, and strengthening our Base and Earth Stone Chakras, making it an excellent stone for those feeling ungrounded, airy, or spacey. I just cannot talk about how important grounding is--for spiritual work, for healing work, for everyday existence. Garnet is an amazing ally in that realm, because it is a protective stone, but it also stimulates the heart. If you know anything about kundalini energy, the Garnet is an activator of the kundalini in the base of the spine.

So, let's talk about grounding and love, because that is part of the reason I chose Garnet this week. Garnet has the unique and beautiful resonance to help strengthen love relationships that are safe. It is a stone, as Naisha Ahsian says, of physical love. Physical love does not just mean sex, but the physical act of making a home, working together, building a family and future. When we combine those beautiful frequencies of base and heart, we create homes, safety, and security. Garnet also helps our heart desires manifest into reality. This is a great stone for someone working on their marriage. It firstly grounds one in reality, helping to alleviate stress and anxiety, but it also grounds one in the present moment. This is part of the gift of earthing. We feel Mother Earth's love for us, holding us, supporting us. We fall into that place of unconditional love that Earth and the Divine feel for us. We understand our integral role in nature and in our universe (the community as well), and the present. It helps us be here now. And so this beautiful stone, if we work with it, can help us be present in our relationships, cording us to Mother Earth and our long term goals.  

Because of its beautiful earthing qualities, Garnet works beautifully for psychic protection. Robert Simmons suggests to combine it with Black Andradite Garnet for extra ooomph for psychic protection and grounding.

A beautiful affirmation for Garnet might be

I am grounded in the present. I am held and loved. I hold and love. 

tarot of the week--four of cups

It is a frightful satire and an epigram on the modern age that the only use it knows for solitude is to make it a punishment, a jail sentence. --Søren Kierkegaard

So much of how we interpret Tarot is based on what we think of as challenges or as rewards. As a mother of two young children, solitude is a gift, a precious pearl, that I savor and fall into with open arms. While others take a moment of quiet as an opportunity to check their phone, call someone, reach out, connect. Such is the vision of the Four of Cups. Solitude and reflection, at times seen as a punishment and other times as a reward, primarily defines this card. What do we do with our time? How are we reflecting? What are we reflecting?

To begin with the numerological implications, four is about stability, like the legs of a table. The balance is from all sides--emotional, physical, mental, spiritual. For the Four of Cups, this is about retreat for emotional stability. But it is far more complex than what meets the eye. 

For introverts, this card is not in the slightest bit off-putting. Here is a solitary figure in retreat, sitting by a tree with arms crossed. For extroverts, this card is often interpreted as a Kierkegaard says, a kind of punishment, or maybe a self-imposed exile. Not a positive time, per se, but one that lacks gratitude and openness. When the figures arms cross the Heart Chakra, we have a certain level of being emotionally closed. Nothing is entering the heart, nothing is leaving it. Often, this position is interpreted as a kind of brooding, or unappreciative position. Certainly, the fourth cup, the one from a cloud (often the symbol as a gift from God, or Divine inspiration, or a new idea) , is right in front of his face, but he cannot or will not look at the option (the last leg of his proverbial table) that is right in front of him.

This closed position coupled with the downward gaze suggests a self-questioning, self-doubt and a kind of depression. I have heard it interpreted as a kind of apathy and passivity that holds the seeker back from emotional growth.  

But that is not the only way to see this card. we often need to close our hearts, not be so receptive to the feelings of others, to truly assess any given situation, particularly one regarding our own emotional well-being. Do I break up with that girl? That is often a question someone poses to the Tarot. Well, assessing that question would be terribly difficult if you were spending 100% of your time with her telling you she loves you. You need the space, both physical and emotional, to really get to the heart of the matter. 

Perhaps the seeker has worked hard, been putting his or her efforts into her work. Maybe she is worn down, worn out, needing time for solitude and reflection. This is the card of an emotional time-out, and a recognition that hard work and dedication gives us the luxury to take time to reflect on our work.  When I say luxury, there is nothing here to suggest that this is a financial or material suffering. In fact, the sky is clear blue, the background is serene, there is no turbulent water (emotionally chaotic symbol)--this turmoil is internal, rather than external. That is important, because this card reminds us that this crisis is self-imposed. Part of the implication of this card's brooding is that the seeker cannot see how good he truly has it. So, this card can come as a reminder that this is all in your head, and this time out or period of reflection, while necessary, is not anything like a punishment. The reflective means end, of course, in emotional stability, as Cups are the suit of emotional stability.

This solitude is often the exact environment in which creative solutions and glorious inspiration comes. The underlying quandary with this card lies in where you are in your time of solitude. Are you using it for enlightenment, or are you using it to wallow in your sorrows?  Are you searching for inspiration, or are you resigned to your lot? Are you able to make decision based on gratitude? And when your time of reflection is complete, are you able to reach out and grab your last cup? Or will you let the opportunity pass you with inaction? When a client pulls this card in a reading for me, I often tell them that the time of solitude and exile needs to be transformed into a time of reflection and enlightenment. You are on your proverbial mountain meditating. Take the time to be enlightened. Open your heart to your Higher Self. Listen to all the wisdom within you. Then take action with trust and confidence.

If you pull this card in a blockage position, I would work on heart chakra issues as well, using some heart stones to help you open up. Self-love stones like Rhodocrosite, or Rose quartz might be a great addition to your meditations, or even your baths. A great affirmation with this card might be:

I take time to listen to my Higher Self. 

Many apologies for the lack of crystal post and newsletter last week. I have been ill and took a much needed time out from my blog. (No surprises why I pulled the Four of Cups today, right?) I'd love to hear what you think of the Four of Cups and anything else coming up for you. 

tarot of the week--the devil

“We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.” ― Oscar Wilde

Spirit does it again. On the heels of last week's discussion about the Lovers, we are moved into the Devil card, XVth of the Major Arcana. You can tell the mood of a card by its background color, and truly the Devil is a dark card. Its imagery is haunting and overwhelmingly bleak. The Devil lifting his hand to silence or welcome you to Hell, holding a torch in the other, the Devil is replete with bat's wings, eagle's claws and a goat-man's head, perching above two enslaved figures. The figures, if you remember, on the Lovers. The upside pentacle on his forehead tells a story as well. It is the perversion of the material.

We all want for home, safety, security. There is no shame in that desire to provide and keep ourselves safe. But the Devil warns of more ominous attachments to the material--obsessive thinking, alcoholism, overeating, drug abuse, sex addiction, obsessive love, extramarital affairs, these are the attachments to the material that the Devil concerns itself with and warns against. The Devil is associated with the astrological sign Capricorn, and when I pull it, I use it to correspond with Root and Sacral Chakra issues. 

This creature is not the fallen angel, Lucifer, nor is he the Devil we are taught about in traditional Western religion. He is an amalgamation of the aberrant, the feared, the stalking symbol of materialism and attachment. And in this way, as Marcia Masino points out, the Devil is purposely not a being we identify. He is all your fears together. The word Devil means the "Adversary" And often this adversary is ourselves, our own attachments to the material. 

So often when I read for people, cards like the Devil are pulled and people groan or feel fearful at their imagery. But Tarot is not punishing, or changing your course. This is the energy around YOU right now. If you get honest, this is something you know about yourself already. The Devil is a reminder, a warning, that your attachment to things, to the material, to people, and even to fear itself is the problem. This is a reminder that you have shifted from your spiritual center, who you believe yourself to be or maybe who  you want to be. What are your priorities? What are your beliefs, your boundaries, and your moral compass? Because the Devil reminds you that what you are doing is far from those things. You have drifted, the card reminds you, from your Higher Power, or your guides, or Love, if that is your belief, the Universe's plan--most importantly, it reminds you that you have drifted from yourself.

Often, I find this card has come to represent addiction--to something or someone. Sometimes it has come to represent someone else's addiction, and our addiction to their addiction. With the Devil, this often represents addiction to a relationship or another person. But it can be anything--shopping, eating, drinking, drugs, sex, watching television. These soul sedatives, as Athena called them, numb us and block our pathway to our Highest Good. And you know, those things worked for us. Alcohol worked for the alcoholic at some point, possible from extreme self-consciousness or from physical or sexual abuse, from trauma the child is not able to face. It numbs us. But then it stops working, and starts causing the problems--losing jobs, friends, getting arrested, or just feeling depressed or ashamed day after day. We have to remember that the Tarot is not judging us, we are judging honest. Can you get honest? Do you want to get honest about what is holding you back from your true purpose in life?

The work we do along the way to our soul's path is rocky. We often have to face hard truths about ourselves during the course of our lifetime. This Devil card asks you to look at the hard truth of HOW you are using the material. See, eating cupcakes isn't a problem. You enjoy a cupcake. Who doesn't? But what if you are eating a cupcake every time you have a conversation with your mother? Are we facing the truth about those conversations? Are we dealing with them? How are we using the cupcake? So, when you pull the Devil in one of those hard positions, take out the judgment. Remember that the cupcake or the clandestine relationship, or the alcohol worked for you. Thank it, and then tell it that is has ceased being useful for you. That you are ready to feel all the emotions that you are meant to feel. See, we are spiritual beings having a human experience. We feel deeply, passionately. We are here to learn lessons. If we numb those feelings, our lessons are never quite learned, never realized, never actualized.

So, this is what the Devil asks of you. He challenges you to see yourself as your own worst energy.  What are you afraid of? What are you attached to that isn't serving your highest good? What binds you? What keeps you in bondage and makes you feel prisoner? Is it fear itself? And most importantly, what are you willing to let go of to experience true happiness and freedom? Serenity is right there, if only you can take off your chains and grab hold of it.

Marcia Masino has a great affirmation for the Devil card:

I am a Divine Being of Light, a child of God. I am loved, protected, and enveloped in white light. 

What do you think of the Devil? What are you wrestling with? How does the Devil card feel to you?