Bohemian Gothic Study - The Devil

swimming in tarot

Surja, thank you for that interesting post! And your English is just fine.

I never saw the owl's face until you mentioned it, and I do believe those could be poppies on the Devil's dress, which would make perfect sense. And following those observations, you make a good analysis. Thank you for this post, and I hope you will write more.

By the way, welcome to Aeclectic Tarot!
 

Surja76

swimming in tarot said:
Surja, thank you for that interesting post! And your English is just fine.

I never saw the owl's face until you mentioned it, and I do believe those could be poppies on the Devil's dress, which would make perfect sense. And following those observations, you make a good analysis. Thank you for this post, and I hope you will write more.

By the way, welcome to Aeclectic Tarot!

Thank you for your kind words and invitation. :) It is realy nice forum.
 

Thirteen

Surja76 said:
Thank you for your kind words and invitation. :) It is realy nice forum.
Wonderful observations, Surja! I hope you post more such observations on the other studies we've done on this deck. I'd love to know your thoughts.

I will take your word on the owl in the dark-haired woman's dress, though I'm not yet seeing it. But I'd like to point out that the "feather" part of the skirt (I think that's the part you're pointing out), seems to belong to the devil.

I could be wrong, but the woman in the blue/purple dress seems to be leaning in over the knees of the Devil man/woman--or perhaps she is leaning over something else. In any case, that scalloped part that looks like feathers does not, I think, belong to the sleeping woman or her dress.

I *think* that the Devil man/woman is wearing a red-green outfit that splits and reveals an undergarment, flowing over their knees--or maybe that is the Devil's body. Our Devil, after all, does have wings. I suspect we're going to have to beg the deck's creators to clear this up for sure, but the way it looks to me, the "feather" part down there belongs to the devil. It is part of what the sleeping woman is resting on as she embraces the devil.
 

Surja76

Hi, Thirteen!
Nice to meet you too.

Yes you are right I was wrong with skirt. its Devil's knee.

But first sight glanced to this card made me OWL outlook. I even had not any hesitation when I told about owl. I misunderstood with things they belong to but is not it miracle? it is illusion made by artist in form structure.
I saw eyes and beak of this bird on girl's breast, blue wings and body ...that I mistakenly draw out of Devil. Combined together they gave me the picture of the owl. :(

Realy I do not know what to say because I made a picture in my head and I was sure in logic sequence of my thoughts due to this card. It was seemed like all pazzles made on their places. :( :(

The only explanation can be in Owl nature that belongs to the Moon origin. Two sides of the moon - wisdom and death.
Wisdom is belong to the Blue dress girl and she dies on the Devils knee.
 

baba-prague

No, you're right, Surya, it's possible to see an owl's face in the girl's dress. I am not sure if Alex put that there deliberately - he likes to hide things in images sometimes. Edited to add - no, I don't think it's deliberately put there, I think it just happened.

The dress is actually patterned with peacock feathers - to me, it was about vanity and pride leading one towards the devil. But yes, this card is also very much about love, and the kind of unhealthy passion that lures you into giving up self-control. The devil's wings seem to be shielding and protecting the sleeping girl (or has she passed out in a drugged stupor?) But there is a hard claw at the end of the wing-tip. The wings are not really protecting the girl - in fact, they are enclosing and trapping her, but she has not realised the danger as she's lost in some false dream.

By the way, welcome, it's nice to see someone from the Ukraine here - Alex is from Yalta.
 

Thirteen

baba-prague said:
The dress is actually patterned with peacock feathers
Ah, yes, peacocks! The colors of both dresses reminded me right away of peacocks. Not that there's any red in peacock feathers, but there is gold and green along with the blue/violet, so not only was I reminded of peacocks from the sleeping woman's dress pattern, but also from the mix of colors.

Very fitting for the Devil card. Pride. Vanity. It's interesting the re-occurring wings we see among the majors. The Chariot, Strength, Temperance, Judgement also feature wings.

And you never answered the question, Karen! Is that a feather pattern of cloth over the Devil's knees? I'd like to be sure :)
 

baba-prague

Thirteen said:
And you never answered the question, Karen! Is that a feather pattern of cloth over the Devil's knees? I'd like to be sure :)

Sorry, forgot to mention that. No, the black and white (well, dark and light grey) feathery pattern is the woman's dress. The peacock fabric is her top. The Devil is wrapped in the red and green cloth only.

We have also been asked several times if the Devil is a man or a woman in this picture. We deliberately left that a little ambiguous. After all, the Devil is a fallen angel.
 

Thirteen

baba-prague said:
Sorry, forgot to mention that. No, the black and white (well, dark and light grey) feathery pattern is the woman's dress. The peacock fabric is her top. The Devil is wrapped in the red and green cloth only.
Whoops! I was completely wrong! Surja, you were right. Our woman in blue/violet is Owl and Peacock, including feathers. Good call.

Thanks for answering that, Karen!
 

Surja76

baba-prague said:
By the way, welcome, it's nice to see someone from the Ukraine here - Alex is from Yalta.

Thank you I am glad to greet you too!

Thirteen said:
Whoops! I was completely wrong! Surja, you were right. Our woman in blue/violet is Owl and Peacock, including feathers. Good call.

Thanks for answering that, Karen!


You are great! Your point is right!
We have just seen two sides of this card.
Really you have seen, if it is correctly to say due to such card like Devil, you have seen the BRIGHT side of this card.
I have seen the DARK side.

Peacock is the symbol of the Sun, the day, immortality, life, light. (It was considered Peacock meet never spoilt.)
Owl is the symbol of the Moon, death, darkness.
It is Dual nature of this card and the Deck in the whole.

I think in each card there will be the same dual symbols.

Actually in this card the border between Life and Death is looked like illusion. The edge between of these two concepts is too thin and sharp.

Addict person can not be considered like Dead person but she/he is Dead for real life. Such person does not life full life, she/ he is always on the edge.
 

ncefafn

To me, this card is about succumbing to addiction, to deception, to obsession; willfully closing your eyes to the danger that surrounds you; surrendering your soul in exchange for escape and release.

I wonder about the connection between this card and The Moon.