The Wild Unknown Tarot - The Devil XV

stone_lotus

The goat's eye and the set of its mouth give me chills.

Its goal is destruction -- destruction of self! It knows the flames coming up from its feet will eventually engulf and painfully destroy itself -- AND THAT IS THE GOAL.

Self-destruction, spiritual suicide.

Embracing an addiction. Allowing it to destroy you because you don't care enough about yourself to combat it.

The Devil card in other decks strikes me as more harmless -- kinky sex, a drug binge taken a bit too far, etc. This one is more serious, requires more urgent countermeasures.
 

Sulis

Water Lady said:
I like some of the comments on the fire - feet....I had another thought.
when we are doing things we should not, too much-addiction...of chocolate, coffee, drugs, sex, alcohol, or....you know it and you keep doing it -do we have the will power to stop?
the goat knows his feet are on fire, does he have the will power to put it out before it destroys him?

The goat's eye and the set of its mouth give me chills.

Its goal is destruction -- destruction of self! It knows the flames coming up from its feet will eventually engulf and painfully destroy itself -- AND THAT IS THE GOAL.

Self-destruction, spiritual suicide.

Embracing an addiction. Allowing it to destroy you because you don't care enough about yourself to combat it.

The Devil card in other decks strikes me as more harmless -- kinky sex, a drug binge taken a bit too far, etc. This one is more serious, requires more urgent countermeasures.

Ooh I like this a lot.. Self destruction.. .Of course, now that you've said it, it's obvious to me and explains the flaming feet so well..

What an excellent insight into the symbolism of this card.. Thank you so much for this stone_lotus and Water Lady :).
 

Pixna

The goat's eye and the set of its mouth give me chills.

Its goal is destruction -- destruction of self! It knows the flames coming up from its feet will eventually engulf and painfully destroy itself -- AND THAT IS THE GOAL.

Self-destruction, spiritual suicide.

Embracing an addiction. Allowing it to destroy you because you don't care enough about yourself to combat it.

The Devil card in other decks strikes me as more harmless -- kinky sex, a drug binge taken a bit too far, etc. This one is more serious, requires more urgent countermeasures.

I agree on all points -- especially how other decks portray the Devil. In this deck, this seemingly uncomplicated Devil conveys so much more about other (and sometimes less overt) ways to self-destruct.

Excellent, powerful insights, stone_lotus and Water Lady. Much appreciated!
 

DarlingTarot

Red Hot shoes of the Devil

Hi - This is my first post! I have been really enjoying the Wild Unknown Study Group - Great insights and profound interpretations from all!

I am interested in the Devil's burning feet as well - it made me think of a story in Clarissa Pinkola Estes book, "Women who Run with the Wolves". It is an old tale that has been called "The Red Hot shoes of the Devil" and "The Devils Dancing Shoes". Hans Christian Anderson wrote a version of it and Called it "The Red Shoes".
It is an analogy of the process of the trap of addiction. - Essentially, the young girl who is in a state of soul starvation gets a beautiful pair of red shoes that make her dance beautifully. At first it is magical and freeing - and then she becomes a slave to the shoes, and can't take them off. In the end, she has her feet cut off and the shoes and the feet dance away!

The Devil card is so deep and rich and full of different angles for interpretation, but this version of the card seems to simplify it to say - where is my soul starved? Have I been feeding myself creatively? Have I become desperate for freedom/expression/authenticity? Is my desperation leading me to choose self destruction in some way? How have I chosen to separate myself from my true nature?
 

Pixna

Hi, DarlingTarot. Welcome to the study group. I love your comments about the red shoes. I hadn't heard that before, and it gives me a wonderfully fresh way to view this Devil now and his "hot feet." I will remember that every time I look at this card. The questions you posed are excellent ones for me to bear in mind whenever the Devil appears in a reading. Many thanks!
 

stone_lotus

Thanks for your insights, DarlingTarot! The red shoes..... Of course...... Not an easy image to shake away, now.

The phrase "soul starvation" intrigues me. I think it very much applies here and it's given me something to think about in other areas, too. Thanks again!
 

BreathingSince72

Feet Aflame and Initial Responses...

I cannot explain why but this image of the Devil was very disturbing to me. So I took this and every other card whose imagery I found disturbing out of the deck and studied them all one by one. Why does this disturb me? What feelings does this imagery evoke from me? Why? Does this remind me of a painful past/present issue? A fear perhaps? In doing so, I felt less fear and apprehension because my questioning allowed me to understand where my response was coming from and also desensitized me to the image. They are, after all, just images.


When I look at the burning feet of this goat, I am reminded of a phrase about when, "money burns a hole in your pocket." Essentially that means that the person in question, with the money, can't wait to go out and spend every dime. They spend their resources so quickly that those resources seem to burn a hole in their pocket. I look at those burning feet and I think of a person whose feet are just burning to walk on the wrong path. They are just on fire to do the wrong thing, to walk in the wrong direction, and then to stand still in their situation wondering why they feel trapped.


The only aspect of this card that implies movement are those burning feet. Other than that the card seems completely still...stuck if you will. So, in this sense, I think this is a good rendering of the meaning of the Devil: our own feet (choices) lead us to a place where we feel stuck or trapped. This could be an addiction to drugs, alcohol, overspending, sex, or any other thing that helps us get out of the feelings we feel at the time we make the choice. But ultimately, even though we have free will, we choose to do things which make us feel trapped.


I enjoyed the idea of Leeza Robertson, who referred to the Devil as the great liberator and posed the question, "what if we were 100% responsible for all of our actions?" Sure makes you think.