Daily Draw - The Devil, Six of Swords, Justice

This week I am using the Kingdom Within Tarot by Juno Lucina and Shannon Thornfeather, published by Schiffer Books, and I will review it at the end of the week.  I am using a spread found in the back of the book, slightly modified, called the Triangle Spread, with the positions The Problem, The Way Through the Problem, and The Outcome, but I don't like the way it looks as a triangle so I made it linear.  This is how we do.

The Problem: The Devil (dun-dun-DA!)- haha what am I supposed to say about this card?  I have a loose relationship with the Devil card as a whole, because, frankly, I don't think it is THAT bad.  Of course, according to Jim Carroll, "The devil's greatest accomplishment is convincing the world he does not exist."  so maybe I have fallen prey to that trap, although for me, it is not so much that I do not believe in the devil, or manifest evil, but that I do not believe he/she/it has any power over me, so what care I where the devil may go?

This card carries a strong sentiment of judgment to it, not the card Judgment, associated with rebirth or awakening to a new life, but the ugly feeling of criticism and blame.  Look how Saturn, the ruling planet of Capricorn, associated with The Devil, looms above the angel, becoming a halo and symbolic of her highest thoughts, while she points down at all the things she finds distasteful, and which are distasteful, but it is important to remember that people are their souls, not their actions.  Mother Theresa said, "If you judge people, you have no time to love them." and I want to be aware of that critical feeling in myself, towards others, and towards myself, so that I can choose to change that feeling, and approach others, my family, my friends, people I don't even know, from a place of love, as well as meeting myself in that place of love and compassion.

The Way Through the Problem: Six of Swords- (small side tangent- Folks, this deck is weird.  I like it, I don't use weird as a derogatory term, but weird it is.)  I am not even sure if I was to deliberately pick a card as a response to what to do about the problem of the Devil I could have chosen a more appropriate one. The owl and the dead dude ( according to the book, Mictlantecutl, Lord of Death, however; he shall remain "the dead dude" in my mind) have turned their backs on the bright but harsh angel of the Devil card, and they are sailing away to a better place.  The ghostly mermaid behind them is releasing a specter, and the water purifies all as they rush forward to meet a better destiny.  This happens when we consciously choose to turn our backs on the things and people we know are no good for us, and when we make the decision and take the action to radically alter our behaviors.

For me, I have to remember that my thoughts, which are associated with the tarot suit of Swords,  are not just random and uncontrollable, but that I can change them.  I can stop the bad ones right in their tracks and I can make them like me instead, like Pink advises in her song, "You're so mean, when you talk about yourself, you were wrong- Change the voices in your head, make them like you instead. "  This is actually a simple thing to do, but like many simple things, it seems too easy to actual work, but it certainly can't hurt anything so I am gonna give it a whirl.

The occupants of the boat travel forth to their destiantion, which as it turns out, is the Outcome: Justice.  I like this image, with its' balance of light and dark, sun and moon, neither one whole or complete without the other, and this is a particularly interesting card to come away from The Devil and come to, because they are essentially polar opposites.  The Devil is a card about wrong motivations and bondage (not the good kind *wink*), and Justice is a card about karma and doing the right thing.  Both cards have an element of "just reward" to them, the Devil embodying the natural consequence when we go against what we know to be right, and Justice holding the bright promise of symmetry, the natural consequence of living right.  I like the promise dark has made to bright, and vice versa, the innocence and trust exemplified, which is a lovely idea, that we can all trust in the world again.  I think that is what Heaven will be like, no fear, no anxiety, just joy.

Venus crowns this card as the ruler of Libra, associated with Justice, and in a mimicry of The Devil, demonstrates that love is highest aim.  "We understand that justice is what love looks like in public." ~Cornel West

This reading was meant to be a daily draw, but the appearance of the two Major Arcana cards signify to me a reading that bears so more contemplation, as the cards are quite deep and evocative.



Update:  So, folks, guess what I did today.  Can you guess?  Well, if your answer was "not take my own advice", ding, ding, ding, you win!  There I was, in the hot and steamy shower, grooving to a favorite song, moving my body all fast and furious (yes, I dance in the shower.  It's private and you wash the sweat away, win-win) when something jiggled in a way I didn't like.  I was instantly filled with loathing, hate for this one body I am ever going to get, that is strong and curvy and that my man loves and shows me he loves in every way, this body that hauls me around and that I can twist and flex so fantastically thanks to my yoga practice, the body that likes to dance salsa and snowboard, that bore and nursed my children.  I actually told myself how fat and ugly it was, and that is when my Devil moment manifested for me, only moments after posting this.  Luckily, before I got too far down the trail of tears, I remembered to rein it in and talk only nicely to myself.  Then I danced for a few more songs, in the shower.  Naked.  And just enough jiggly to be cute.



These cards are from The Kingdom Within Tarot by Juno Lucina and Shannon Thornfeather for Schiffer Books.