It has been written that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The same can be said of every other attribute as well. Those who expect evil will see it.

Appropriately the Tarot Card of the day is card # 15, The Devil from Crowley's Thoth deck. The card is a surreal juxtaposition of the Goat, the symbol of Capricorn, with the staff of the Adept crowned with the twin serpents and the winged globe. Having both the Sun and the New Moon in Capricorn on this day the magnetism of the card is apparent.

The Goat on Crowley's card is a Himalayan goat with long beard, resilient hooves and magnificent spirally horns. The Goat represents Pan by the eye between the impressive spread of horn. Crowley designates Pan as the "All-Begetter". Pan, whose myths deal with the amorous and the seductive. The Goat stands before the Tree of Life whose roots are exposed and visible to all who would seek to have the knowledge contained within. Crowley says that if we look with the right eyes we can see Spring in all Her madness capering amongst the roots, captured here in the midst of winter, the zenith of the zodiacal evolution.

The Tree of Life penetrates beyond the heavens and through the heart of the earth. This can be seen as tying together all endeavours in complete appreciation. All things have beauty and worth in the eye of the beholder who sees them without blinders or prejudices.

In the lower corners of this card are pictorial representations of Shabbathai, the spheres of Saturn, said to be the division between people, that which keeps us at odds and separated by belief and faith. The best and the worst of humans...

James Wasserman gives this card the following definitions: blind impulse. Irresistibly strong and unscrupulous person. Ambition. Temptation. Obsession. Secret plan about to be executed. Hard work. Endurance. Aching discontent. Materialism. Fate.

My perceptions of the card are of creativity and developing the ability to see beyond the obvious. My keywords differ from Wasserman's. Sensation, Endurance, Humor, Ignorance, Androgyne.

The Devil of the cards is not the daemon of Christianity, but the hard knot of ignorance that is culturally imbued without the burden of proof. Found within this shadowy categorization is mirth and the inconsequential nature of the physicality that many hold as the truth of who they are. While the Devil does foreshadow energy and vitality and personifies the sexuality of card number 6, the Lovers or Liaison, the energy far exceeds the mere physical.

The Devil's apparent lust is tempered with an abiding appreciation of the complete spectrum of all that is and all that is possible. We must amalgamate this lesson, as well.

The Devil reminds us that for this Life journey to be satisfactory there must be full awareness of not only the body, but of the mind, the emotions, and the spiritual. The passion and power that is The Devil needs to be reintegrated into the personality demonstrated by The Hanged. Absorbing the passion and the power of The Devil will provide stability and staying power for the completion of the journey.

__________________________________________________