I have a devil for a hair!
Arcane number XV and the experience of matter
DIABOLUS
The Treccani online encyclopaedia provides us with the following definition of the word 'Diavolo':
[from Late Latin, eccles., diabÅlus, Gr. Ī“Ī¹Ī¬Ī²ĪæĪ»ĪæĻ, propr. 'slanderer' (d. of Ī“Ī¹Ī±Ī²Ī¬Ī»Ī»Ļ 'to throw through, slander'), used in Gr. crist. to translate the Hebr. ÅÄį¹Än 'contradictor, opponent']. - Spirit of evil, enemy of God and men, whom he tempts to induce them to sin; regarded as the chief of the rebellious angels (also called Satan or devil), he has been variously represented as a deformed human figure, with horns, tail, and sometimes wings: to believe in the d., to be afraid of the devil.
What you have just read is only the first part of the vast explanation that the most authoritative Italian encyclopaedia makes available to us. Actually, on the 'devil' and everything that gravitates around this concept, we could go even deeper, plumbing the historical roots from which it arises. In the above description, the devil is 'framed' within an image that certainly does not give rise to positive feelings. When Christianity took its first steps, pagan satyrs were immediately likened to the demons of hell, as slanderers whose purpose was to separate people from God.
For this and many other reasons, the devil is also placed next to the figure of a beast with horns and hooves. The tail also carries with it meanings of separation and disharmony with the whole, in its function of keeping something or someone away, creating a distance, keeping alert. An antenna used to sniff out danger.
The figure of the Devil is also associated with the fifteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Samekh, which together with Mem (the thirteenth) gives rise to the Hebrew name Samael, or Angel of Death. According to the Quabalistic view of the initiatory secret society Golden Dawn, the Devil's 'foil' occupies the path between the sephirah Tiphereth and Hod, i.e. the point on the Glyph where the embodiment of the spirit in the body is located.
In astrology, however, there are several interpretations. One is the juxtaposition with the sign of Capricorn, into whose house one enters on the day of the winter solstice, i.e. the time when darkness would have the greatest presence. On an astrological level, the sign of Capricorn is in turn associated with concepts such as practicality and concreteness, decisiveness and decision-making ability. Other points of view, on the other hand, believe that the Devil has links with the sign of Scorpio and thus with the Water element and sexuality.
Both the former and the latter, however, contain within themselves constituent elements of the material plane and can therefore be traced back to the "S" and "C" of the IESC that we have already had the opportunity to analyse in the article on the World card, Arcanum number XXI. Moreover, the Devil also embraces concepts such as perdition, money, lust and greed.
Without the need to delve further into the metaphysical aspects of the figure of the Devil, we already understand after just a few lines how in fact he represents the world of matter in all respects. That same world with which everyone, bar none, has to cope at every moment of their day. Personally, I am very fond of this archetype and I think this fondness has been amply expressed since I decided to open a philosophy column. The reason why everyone is on this planet, regardless of their job, musical tastes or sporting ability, is obscure to most. I ask myself questions, just as some people deliberately decide not to ask them. Some people also decide to seek answers in the absence of questions, perhaps dealing with issues that, although they have my full respect, have nothing to do with the world of the subject. What happens to all of us every day, from the moment we wake up and place a foot on the floor to the last waking moment before we go to bed at night, represents a crucible of opportunities to know ourselves.
I will never tire of saying that it is precisely by making coffee or lighting a fire in a stove that the seed of knowledge is contained. Attention to each daily task is what, more than anything else, allows us to experience life. It is undoubtedly attractive, sometimes romantic, to talk about topics such as life after death, reincarnation, angels and the extra-terrestrial world. I don't blame those who encounter these topics, and although I don't give them much publicity, I admit that I am sometimes interested in them myself.
However, as far as my own life experience is concerned, there is nothing that has been able to give me fragments of reality as much as making a homemade pesto pasta or playing a game of cards with friends. It is a fact that there are no things more important than others in absolute terms. Rather, there are immediate experiences and less immediate ones. Starting from the latter with the intention of getting to know oneself is a bit like driving a car without knowing what the clutch is. You can do it, but certainly not in the best way.
THE SUGGESTOR
A year ago I embarked on this adventure with the intention of explaining how every daily activity is actually 'mediated' by the influence of a kind of 'companion' whose sole purpose is to keep us in a state of inertia. I have explained in several articles how the basic ingredient of life is movement and therefore every state of stillness, stance, alignment or conviction are actually different facets of the same colouring. Blue may be light, dark, tending to violet, but everyone will recognise it as such. Blue cannot be confused with yellow, just as red cannot be confused with green. This companion that I have now called in countless ways is always the same.
Imagine the moon and its face always illuminated and visible. In reality, there is also the opposite face, the one you cannot see and yet it is always there, invisible, albeit at work. This companion acts at all times making us believe that it is him occultly. Our every action is dictated by his will, even if we think we are masters of our movements.
During the philosophical column, I explained in detail the pathway by which this portion of consciousness takes hold and acquires power within our lives. I realise that these words may be unclear to those who have only recently become acquainted with my column, so I would like to remind you that the articles I write are always accessible from the main screen of my profile. Should what you are reading prove particularly challenging, my advice is always to stop and start from the beginning. You cannot play football without knowing how to dribble. I will never tire of saying it: you always have to start from the basics in order to undertake any body of study, or work for that matter, in the best possible way.
The thoughts I have transcribed over these months are the fruit of a lifetime's experience. More specifically, the conclusion that there is some sort of inertial principle that accompanies us through every fragment of our day has arisen over the last few months.
Everything that happens to me, every person I meet and every conjecture I develop confirm the existence of such an entity day after day. Every time I lose myself in self-sabotaging thoughts and feel anger. When I feel envy for someone or fear for something that has yet to happen. When I take offence at a word someone says at the 'wrong' time for me, or when I can't get myself organised to do everything I want to do without realising that I have wasted two hours of my day looking at crap on my mobile phone.
Mind you, these are not made-up examples. They are all reactions that I have experienced and still tend to repeat at times in a systematic way. They are non-actions. Although I am a real and conscious subject, I deliberately decide not to be present. However, someone acts in my place. From a biological point of view, it makes perfect sense. If the captain fails in a ship, it is obvious that someone has to take his place, otherwise it will sink. The replacement will allow the ship to dock or withstand the weather, but he will never enjoy the experience of the voyage. He will allow the crew to survive, but will not allow it to develop its full potential. At all this juncture, the commander is not latent. He is not even latent. Electroencephalogram flat.
The Devil, depicted in Arcanum number XV, fully represents the substitute and at the same time the greatest ally at our disposal. The human being is placed within a cycle of existence of which he has no consciousness. He is born as an explorer only to become in a very short time a leaf fluttering in the air. A captain who loses the reins of his sailing ship and causes it to be carried by the wind without lowering its sails.
The Devil is the one who allows us to experience the world from a state of helplessness and total unconsciousness. Without the Devil at our side, we would be mere biological vessels performing vital operations with the sole purpose of staying alive, just like a plant or a rock on a mountain. It allows us to experience matter because it is in it that we have the chance to find ourselves and bring back that captain who voluntarily decided to leave the reins of the crew in someone else's hands.
From my point of view it all seems to me to be disarmingly logical. What else would we be doing on this planet? Do you really think our purpose is limited to food and the mere fulfilment of any other biological need? Only a madman could be convinced of that.
Starting from this assumption, it is natural to think that there is actually nothing evil in the figure of the Devil. Returning to the etymological meaning, we can agree that it actually represents an opponent. An opponent and ally at the same time.
Only challenge allows us to measure ourselves and bring out the best in us. Having an adversary or an obstacle allows us to be faster. It forces us into movement. It predisposes us to get from point A to point B, even though it is all very tiring. The Devil will make anything that can potentially take us out of an apparent state of tranquillity appear to us as something extremely burdensome. This is why anything that strays from our personal parameters of pleasantness appears to us as a hindrance.
The Devil will always tend to make us frequent places where there are people we consider to be 'OK' or eat in restaurants where they make those side dishes we like so much. The result will obviously be to always do the same things, hang out with the same people and bind ourselves to the same customs. Anything outside this 'personal pattern of preferences' will be perceived as an enemy, something to be categorically avoided.
In reality, the Devil is a satellite navigator. By making us believe we are something we are not, he is at the same time showing us where we should go. It is a totally illusory principle of resistance. A defence mechanism. The ceremonial fear of something unknown. The expression of inertia. It will cause some manifestation of matter to bind itself to us and once it does, we will find it very difficult to get rid of it. It can take the form of a repeated behaviour, an addiction or a phobia. No one in the world can escape this principle. Like in the board game Monopoly, everyone starts from the beginning and the goal is to become aware of the existence of a functional ally for individual evolution.
FIFTEEN
Arcane XV represents an angel on a black pedestal. It is very reminiscent of the figure of Lucifer, the angel cast into the underworld by God, in one of the countless interpretations of the Holy Scriptures. In reality, the name Lucifer seems to mean 'Bringer of Light' and the Arcanum brings us back exactly to this vision.
Indeed, he seems to have no other purpose than to return from whence he came, namely heaven. The blackness beneath his feet represents the unconscious and fits perfectly with the figure of the invisible ally who, like the dark side of the moon, is always at work, in the presence or absence of consciousness. It only wants to return from whence it came and shine again, but to do so it must pass through the experience of matter in its entirety. As can be seen from the map, it appears as a multi-genus being. It has breasts but is endowed with a penis and its face does not show any sex. His laughter is an expression of pleasure as a result of earthly experience. A pleasure not to be understood in speculative terms, an end in itself, synonymous with addiction and greed. It is an experiential pleasure, dynamic and consistent with the essence of the individual.
An Arcane XV, on the contrary, can also experience material pleasure in a totally aseptic, emotionless manner. It risks closing in on itself and precluding any possibility of pleasure. It closes its wings and remains on the ground like a wounded bird, searching for a crevice where it can hide. Biologically, a conflicted Arcanum XV risks entering emotional death, the schizophrenic constellation involving the second embryonic leaflet: the archaic mesoderm. It regulates all the tissues deputed to the protection of vital organs and therefore at the moment when everything is perceived as a concern, it makes biological sense to enter a state of protection, with the need to wear armour to protect against everything.
If experienced in balance, the devil is a lift. Exactly like Arcanum V, the Pope, it is deputed to transport the consciousness upwards. While in the Pope we are in a more ideational - intellectual context, with the Devil we are in the midst of matter. We find ourselves between the lion and the ox in the map of the World. The two animal figures at its sides may remind us of the dimension of play and it is no coincidence that after the Devil we find the God Tower, Arcane number XVI, symbol of celebration and euphoria. The completion of the ascent up and the explosion of the defensive armour.
From a bio-genealogical point of view, Arcanum number XV speaks to us of incest in the family system. Relationships that someone experienced with extreme shame, especially in terms of sexuality. The Devil also represents all that is hidden and which is considered 'unacceptable' by common thinking. It serves to break down barriers, break down doors. In a certain sense he is an enemy of stability and the status quo, although paradoxically he acts in the opposite way, favouring inertia and habit.
Arcane XV is the representation of desire, that is, the conscious manifestation of a need. There is no difference between a physiological need and that of eating an ice-cream. Whenever a desire is evoked in its purity and I do nothing to realise it or even, on the contrary, hinder it, it means that I am breaking the wings of that creature that the natural system has placed at my side so that I may perfect myself. Desire is not to be understood as the spasmodic need to achieve something at all costs. Desire is to be experienced as a challenge. The opportunity to measure oneself in the face of adversity. The inducement to make a move. It does not matter whether the object of desire, whatever it may be, is then realised in real terms. The important thing is to make the move.
Desire makes everything flourish; possession makes everything worn out and faded.
(Marcel Proust)