Modern Meaning for the Devil

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 09 Jan 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Karenwhe	09 Jan 2003
Well, I just wanted to share with you the new modern meaning I found for the Devil. In a reading of mine the Devil showed up. Didn’t get the poor fellow or what he was trying to tell me. So, I left it and said I will get back to it when I have time. Well, I didn’t have to get back to it. Today the new modern meaning of “addiction” in its most powerful force has shown itself to me. My computer crashed…….no actually it died………kind of can’t get it started………… I freaked to high heaven (if there is such a saying :D ). I couldn’t think, I froze, then I started thinking of the worst things that could happen (the motherboard is gone, the hard disk was wiped, the compute was defaced etc. etc.)……. And how long will it take to fix this even more freaked me out……..as all my life is in that computer. I couldn’t even try to fix it as the kids took all my attention……. so, I freaked some more, the things that went in my mind in those painful 3 hours you don’t want to know………..anyway to keep a long story short…. The point of the matter is that the Devil in my reading told me that I am too addicted to the computer, internet and everything else on my hard drive……totally “chained”, can’t breath without it……… I didn’t get that from the cards, but I damn well did in today’s experience. To get a "quick fix" I moved quickly to the laptop just to get a feeling that something is still there - though I had nothing to do on the laptop my work isn't there - but it made me feel good. The computer got fixed later by my husband in 5 minutes and it was a totally worthless hysteria. :rolleyes: So, for all of you computer/technology/communications freaks and geeks, maybe the Devil will start making more sense now in a more simple modern way. Think of what will you feel if all the data in the computer hard drive goes? What will you feel if you loose your cell phone or it gets stolen, and all your stuff is in there? What will you feel if you have to switch off your beeper/cell phone and any other communications items you have on you, in a certain zone for a Few Hours? What will you feel is your ISP goes down for a few hours? Not to think of an entire day.. If you get these not nice feeling thinking about these things, I think you are addicted, and further more the Devil in the cards probably did or will try to tell you this more than once. Those are my new thoughts on the Devil. I hope you will share similar once or comment if any of this makes any sense to you…….

Alex	10 Jan 2003
acutally I had a similar exp. today w/ a computer virus infecting my hard drive. After three hours trying to fix it, my life had ended some 7 times in my imagination. My thesis and the result of eight years of my life are in here. Then my boyfriend called me and of course he had to ask me "but don't you back it up?" and I said "yes, of course I DO back up my files". Then he said to me "at the expense of pissing you off I must tell you that you've been a little negative lately". I guess you're right RE the Devil, even though I haven't gotten any lately. The Devil doesn't like me much, I don't know exactly why. Alex. Quote: Originally posted by Karenwhe Think of what will you feel if all the data in the computer hard drive goes?

Umbrae	10 Jan 2003
To quote Tyler Derdan [‘fight club’], “You are not your Khakis”. You are not your job. You are not your addiction. You are not ‘what you do in private’. You are not your hard drive. However, believing that you are…that IS The Devil. It is said: Men (and/or Women) are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.

tarotbear	10 Jan 2003
SAVE NOTHING IN YOUR COMPUTER! BACK IT ALL UP ON DISK! I like the Devil in the St. Petersburg Tarot - he's Joe Stalin, and the image makes perfect sense to me, the way he enslaved everyone and destroyed anyone who opposed him. Remember, the Devil deals with illusions, the idea that something is right when it is very wrong. You chain yourself ( the Devil doesn't chain you, he only sucks you in) to that illusion.

Alissa	10 Jan 2003
The Devil at work, or Mercury retrograde??? I'm definitely no astrology expert, but we're smack dab in the middle of a retrograde, which is infamous for computer problems, car problems, mechanical problems in general (among other unsavory effects). But yes indeed... what a modern addiction is just about right!

Karenwhe	10 Jan 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Umbrae To quote Tyler Derdan [‘fight club’] , “You are not your Khakis”. You are not your job. You are not your addiction. You are not ‘what you do in private’. You are not your hard drive. However, believing that you are…that IS The Devil. It is said: Men (and/or Women) are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds. I couldn't agree more, and yes my head is stuck in my hard drive, but at least I am aware of this now and I shall work on it to reverse the addiction............. I was just thinking of getting addicted to something else as a replacement …..you know like Nikorets instead of cigarettes ......... :) :) :) ROLF

Ophiel	10 Jan 2003
Rudolf Steiner (founder of the Anthroposophical Society) had an interesting way of looking at 'evil,' which he also believed to be necessary for the development of free will. He basically divided 'evil' (which is often personified by the Devil) into two camps, the luciferic impulse, with the belief that we are the gods, and ahrimanic, which is more nihilistic in that this (life on earth) is it, and that's all folks. In order for light to exist, darkness must also share the stage. We live in an interesting age, where alchemy has become a reality through the innovations of our modern science, and to much of the world, science has become the new religion. (I expect at any moment, JMD, a Waldorf Teacher [which was developed by rudolf steiner] will parachute into this message from his busy schedule, and correct me! lol.)

Karenwhe	10 Jan 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Ophiel We live in an interesting age, where alchemy has become a reality through the innovations of our modern science, and to much of the world, science has become the new religion. Does that mean I should start praying now to the Web Master ?? :) :) :) hehehe. Oh no, no, no the Web Master is just my local priest but the CTO is the pope probably........... just trying to figure out this new religion...... :) :) :) hehehe Now I think I figured out the saying "Plug and Play" when it turend to "Plug and PRAY".

Ophiel	10 Jan 2003
Wouldn't it be the best of both worlds if somehow technology and spirituality were so compatible, they supported one another?

Kaz	11 Jan 2003
lol, look at the siliconvalley tarot................ ~kaz

Karenwhe	11 Jan 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Kaz lol, look at the siliconvalley tarot................ ~kaz I am……. this is why I opened the other thread. I am trying to understand the Silicon valley tarot, I am not with it yet. Maybe this is Ophiels' connection between spirituality and technology, though I find it hard to actually call this a true connection, maybe that is because I am still having a problem understanding the deck and it's use.

The Modern Meaning for the Devil thread was originally posted on 09 Jan 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.