AUTHOR’S NOTE: In the opinion of Aleister Crowley, about the best that can be said of the Devil card is that it represents “creative energy in its most material form.” He goes on to relate it to the zodiacal exaltation of Mars in Capricorn (“the fiery material energy of creation”) and even more vividly to “the goat leaping with lust upon the summits of the earth.” Capricornus, he asserts, “occupies the Zenith” (of the Aries-rising natural horoscope) as “the most exalted of the signs.” (I’m partial to my abstemious Capricorn Moon, so I can’t disagree.)
More conventional tarot readers typically find only “temptation and the risk of deception or manipulation” in this card, although some have seen their way clear to sensing a “lost weekend” of debauchery in its lusty promise as long as morality can be put on hold. I prefer to interpret it as the urge for physical creativity of the entirely practical kind. (Although Crowley could not resist bringing “procreation” into the picture, in general usage that perception won’t always stand up to analytical scrutiny. Not everyone thinks with their “naughty bits,” at least not all the time.)
The presence of this card is ideal for any activity involving constructive aims of the Mars-in-Capricorn kind, but if it is allowed to slide into carnal prurience we will wind up in the “vulgar pursuits of earth” mentioned in the title. As Crowley observed, “the impulse to create takes no account of reason, custom or foresight; it is divinely unscrupulous, careless of result.” This justification most certainly underlies the sly excuse “the Devil made me do it,” and the amusing grotesqueries of Victorian artist Aubrey Beardsley.
What does the conscientious tarot reader do when this card shows up in a reading for an obviously “prim-and-proper” client? One time I was performing brief sample readings for attendees at a small presentation, and one woman received both the Devil and Death in her three-card pull. Before I could stop myself, I muttered “Ouch!” and she scolded me “You’re not supposed to say that!” I had to lamely back-pedal and talk about “marshaling creative energy in the service of significant change.”
It is sometimes assumed that there is no “good” way to characterize the Devil, especially if the matter at hand might lean in the direction of shady preoccupations. While this exposure must be acknowledged as one manifestation of its potential, all of the tarot cards are multi-layered and it is possible to find more favorable implications in even the worst of them. All it requires is an impartial philosophical outlook on the human condition. Perhaps the Southern rock band Molly Hatchet put it best in the final chorus of “One Man’s Pleasure:”
“One man’s loss is another man’s gain
One man’s pleasure is another man’s pain
Now tell me people, who’s to blame?”
To which the Rolling Stones added:
“But what’s puzzlin’ you
Is the nature of my game”
