Liber T: The devil XV - Capricorn.

From the LWB "With the right eye create your every situation and with the left absorb everything else created."

I'd like to add my observations: One of the biggest symbols that I see is the Vesica Piscis, wikipedia says about it: "The vesica piscis is a shape that is the intersection of two circles with the same radius, intersecting in such a way that the center of each circle lies on the circumference of the other. The name literally means the "bladder of a fish" in Latin. The shape is also called mandorla ("almond" in Italian)."

Now, from the occult perspective I understand the Vesica Piscis is a symbol of the womb, in Christianity is represented by the virgin womb http://www.whale.to/c/vesica70.jpg could we agree it is a birthing symbol?

We see the goat (Baphomet) under the Vesica P. perhaps giving birth to physicality, after all some occult ideas about it is that Baphomet is king of physicality, some would even say the creator of the "prison" of the soul (physicality) so it is easy to think of it as all things pleasure mixed with traps, let us not forget that it is also represented as the binder that will make you regret making any kind of pact with him and following this leads us to the two spheres at the bottom.

Baphomet's face is also a reversed pentagram which according to Crowley: "an adverse or inverted pentagram represents the descent of spirit into matter"

Each has I-ching symbols, persons trapped in it, along with a square in each which I would not dare say it's a representation of the cube (the hexagon is the representation of the cube) but maybe the autor is not aware of it, hence a mistake? It would make sense (hexagram, I-ching) because the cube is the representation of any kind of matrix which in turn is also another representation of a womb.

It also has a very big sacral chakra (fire), it's another aspect of physicality/sexuality, very big as it being the one energy center maybe powering the energy of the card.

I will continue further some time with the I-ching (gotta research it as I have no idea about it, just that it fits with the cube 'hexagon' idea), and the Egyptian solar disc. One thing that I can't still fit in is the third eye...

I guess it would be a womb where if you made the wrong pact or deal it will keep you turning in circles aided with distractions from what is really important keeping you from growing enough to burst out of the womb, maybe the third eye? A representation of being very aware of what you create and what you take in. "With the right eye create your every situation and with the left absorb everything else created."

I hope I did a decent work in my first attempt at studying a card. Cheers.

I missed another symbol, the spider web which further validates being a trap if one is not aware (third eye).

I can't see what are the grape like balls over the goats head, if it is I don't know the meaning of it, neither the meaning of the winged solar disc.

The squares at the spheres or circles are made up of two pyramids which represents the male aspect (upwards) [method] and the female aspect (downwards) [wisdom] of the androgynous property of Baphomet that furthers reinforce the creative force attributed to this being.

I invite you to help better define what is missing, the winged solar disc which I'm not very familiar with, the hair (or should I say grapes?), the I-ching and what else I missed.

Card scan:
http://multiply.com/mu/strangerealm...0.jpg?et=ROSU59O9vhRnaeukSZMs3w&nmid=59814287

My own take on the Devil is this, coming first from Crowley:

"The formula of this card is then the complete appreciation of all existing things. He rejoices in the rugged and the barren no less than in the smooth and the fertile. All things equally exalt him. He represents the finding of ecstasy in every phenomenon, however naturally repugnant; he transcends all limitations; he is Pan; he is All."

And here's an interpretation I got from Jan Shepherd of www.angelpaths.com - "The Devil is the personification of the animal, instinctual and even bestial parts of us. Pre-occupation with matters connected to the Devil can lead to degradation and sheer ugliness, but by identifying and accepting the darkness within we learn to discover that it is simply the dark side of our light.

in some ways, this is a misunderstanding of the principle the card truly represents in life. Certainly it can appear to indicate evil acts, trouble, strife and conflict - but on most occasions we have more control of events than we might at first believe. And it is our lack of belief that causes most of the problems."

If I put these thoughts together and use them in my life, the Devil is not to be feared because it really resides within us ... otherwise, the principles or universal laws of balance would not exist -- good and evil, right and wrong, day and night, and so on. The devil inside us can be a given -- and it may not just be dependencies alone but also how we respond to situations in everyday life ... the problem comes in when we tend to behave more in the "devil" ways - not being able to restrain of exercise control over ourselves, and not taking care to prevent what could be prevented --

The amusingly annoying thing about the Devil is that he promises freedom, knowledge and power -- freedom because he tempts you with the very things you desire and yet recognize as "unacceptable" or "sinful" - he says that if you do accept what he offers, then you would have gained more wisdom - the second aspect which is Knowledge of Good vs. Evil - the very thing the Serpent in the Bible warned Eve about eating the forbidden fruit. With knowledge comes wisdom, but also the loss of innocence. Then the third is Power - the very capacity to act... the power to actually choose because you now realize we have options to consider ... we are capable of more. And for every choice we make, there are consequences - both good and bad.

We need to look at our own source of why we let the Devil in us come out -- perhaps, it is fear of loss, fear of change, anger, and so on, or great ambitions and goals which drive us so much that we may be setting ourselves up for our own extinction -- as much as the Devil card still causes me to be uncomfortable, I also am struggling to see it as a "good" card - reminding me of my own vulnerabilities and pitfalls and to take caution.

I am reminded of a quote which I got from another website while researching on this fellow -- www.corax.com - "Baudelaire once wrote that: "the devil's best trick was to convince us he doesn't exist". It could certainly be said that the devil has done a good job when we recognize that there actually isn't one...