hippiewitchie said:
I understand some of the concepts of the Devil in traditional tarots: Bondage to materialism/ greed/ addictions/ excess...I cannot wrap my head around those same concepts when confronted with Pagan decks where the "Devil" is the "Horned One"
I'm in agreement with Pasara that even the Devil isn't always bad. Even in traditional decks, he can be a message to those who are too much the aesthetic that they need to enjoy and experience life more. Certainly, there is a toned down feel when he's Pan or the Horned one. But all three: Devil, Dionysus/Pan, Horned One, are male avatars. They represent that one side. Not the controlled authority of the Emperor, but the wild, in rut side. Also the ambitious side; the Horned One usually involves the story of the young stag who kills the older one to take his place and engender a child. And the Devil is a mountain goat climbing high as he can.
So the message of all these half-animal men is that this side of the masculine is good and should be honored, even enjoyed. Which is that side of us which wants to enjoy and live and reproduce. That side of us ambitious to succeed and be the winner. That side of us, even, that likes to, well, be on top. BUT, the message warns us, it's very easy to end up enslaved to that side. Wicca is very yin-yang in that way--and so is Christianity even if it assigns that yin to male figures. Both urge followers to remember the female, and not worship only the aggressive, dominating, ambitious, side. To think as much about love as sex, peace as much as fighting, about the spiritual as material.
Devil and Horned god cards remind us that it's easy to go to excess and enslave yourself to only one part of yourself, especially when that part involves pleasurable feelings. If you do enslave yourself, however, the chains were ones you chose to wear and freeing yourself from them, if that is what you wish, will also be your choice.
Obviously, the Devil is a problematic card because it carries all the baggage of that name. But like every other card in the deck--the Devil is neither good nor bad, simply a message. It urges one to be and do certain things, but not to let oneself become enslaved to such things.
Enslavement is the key here. To learn how to enjoy, use, and gain wisdom from this part of ourselves without ended up addicted to it and failing to realize that it is only half of a whole.
Does that help?