THE DEVIL (XV) REDUX

The Devil (XV) in The Ohtori Tarot (used by permission)
design(s) by Bara no hitomi
image(s) provided by Arkady

I think this is a fabulous interpretation of The Devil card, even without being familiar with it's setting in the anime/manga story of the Revolutionary Girl Utena (see Resource link below for more information on this story). Do visit The Ohtori Tarot page (link above) to see some intriguing and unusual designs for other Majors, and her conceptions of the suits.

I also really resonate with what Bara no hitomi says about her interpretation of The Devil:

"....One traditional meaning is greed, lust for power, temptation, and folly; another is the figure which guards the way to the underworld. In The Elevator, we see these meanings fused, for it is this elevator which allows people to access their inner feelings of selfishness, jealousy, and despair.... The Elevator thus symbolizes both temptation and despair, and access to the underworld of these emotions...."

And this puts me in mind of a recent dream haiku of mine:

the sudden free fall
of the elevator
surviving bottom

LOL! Especially given The Devil is one of my family of cards in The Tarot. XV usually has Capricorn assigned to it, and that's my astrology sun sign.

I have addressed The Devil in a previous post and will only add this meaning:

As the "Guardian of the Underworld" or "Guardian at the Gate," The Devil can keep us from dealing with what it guards until we are ready and able to. I.e., our fears are sometimes self-protective in a positive way.

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Resource: Wikipedia: Revolutionary Girl Utena.

Please see the top of the sidebar for my background with the Tarot and a recommendation to beginners.

‘til next time, keep respecting that Guardian at the Gate and enjoying The Tarot,

Roswila
[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm for some articles about Tarot.****

POEM WRITTEN IN A DREAM WITH A DRAWING & TAROT REFERENCES

[This is a recent post from my dreams and poetry blog, that references two Tarot cards....]

no balance here,
but a forging
in fire and water:
a battle
of balancing

This post is a total self-indulgence, in the sense that my editor self says the poem especially is not all that good. However, an old part of me stepped to the fore in my dreams last night [January 5] and she wants to be seen and heard. So, here she is.

I did this drawing in December of 1992, when I was (yet again) losing a great deal of weight. I have been a fantasy fan since my teen years and when I did this drawing I was envisioning a costume I would be proud to wear soon. (It never came to pass, either staying that slim or the costume.) The sword seemed the most important aspect of it. I used the Ace of Swords in The Thoth Tarot as inspiration:



but obviously didn't do a very good job. I can't imagine how anyone could actually hold, much less fight with that sword in my drawing. :-)

Then last night I had a series of dreams in which there were many struggles and fights. The last dream I had ended with images of The Ace of Swords (no particular deck) and in that dream I composed the above little poem.

When I awoke I immediately associated the "forging in fire and water" in the little poem to the traditional Temperance card in The Tarot (Rider/ Waite/ Smith version below):



as that is one of its many meanings -- the way blacksmiths temper swords. Further supporting this association: in one of the preceding dreams was a woman named Iris whom I was struggling to relate to -- those are irises in the lower right. (I should also add that Temperance is one of my "family" of cards in The Tarot -- determined by numerology -- and as such, is said to be a further evolution of The Hierophant, my basic numerological card.)

All of this raised the idea of a warrior woman, and I recalled the drawing above.

So there you have it, the genesis of this post. I'm delighted to have this strong, determined spirit in the foreground again, stepping into the New Year with me.

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‘til next time, keep dreaming,

Roswila
[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****My other blog: ROSWILA’S DREAM & POETRY REALM.

HAIKU ABOUT THE MANGA TAROT'S THREE OF SWORDS

swords earthed....the cold rain passes

I pulled the above card -- the Three of Swords in The Manga Tarot* -- at random, with the intention of using whatever card I got for inspiration for a 'ku. BTW, the Japanese glyph in the upper left is "winter." And although we're not having much cold weather here on the east coast of the U.S. (to say the least, with some folk wearing shorts LOL!), the card certainly captured some feelings I was having.

Click here to read my previous post about The Three of Swords.

*by Riccardo Minetti and Anna Lazzarini, published by LoScarabeo/ Llewellyn.

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Please see the top of the sidebar for my background with the Tarot and a recommendation to beginners.

‘til next time, keep enjoying The Tarot,

Roswila
[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm for some articles about Tarot.****