Arrangement:


Double loop in the Zodiac


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XV

ע The Devil
Blind impulse, irresistibly strong and unscrupulous, ambition, temptation, obsession, secret plan about to be executed; hard work, obstinacy, rigidity, aching discontent, endurance.
ע

ATU XV

The Devil

The Lord of the Gates of Matter.
The Child of the Forces of Time

Pronounced Ayin (with a slight nasal twang) and means an "Eye" - referring to the Eye of Shiva, said to be atrophied into the pineal gland.

Astrologically, it is Capricornus, the mountain goat leaping forwards and upwards, boldly without fear, yet remaining close to the hilltops.

Its symbols, again, are both the Yoni and the Lingam, and its gods are emblematic of the creative forces of Nature. Khem is the Egyptian creative principle, almost always shown with the head of a lustful goat. Priapus is the Greek God, insofar as he was the God of sexual fecundity and fruitfulness. Pan, when represented as the goat of the flock "raving and raping, ripping and rending everlasting", is attributed here, too.
Bacchus, the jovial representative of the reproductive and intoxicating power of Nature, is another correspondence.

Hemp, from which Hashish is a derivative, is attributed because of its intoxicating and ecstasy-producing qualities. Ayin represents the spiritual creative force of Godhead, which, should it become openly manifest in a man, makes of him AEgipan, the All. This Path is symbolical of the Man-god, eager and exalted, consciously aware of his True Will and ready to set out on his long and wearisome journey of redeeming the world.

The Tarot card is XV - The Devil, showing a winged goat-headed satyr, with a pentagram on his brow, pointing upwards with his right hand, and his left hand clutching a flaming firebrand pointing downwards. To his throne are chained a nude male and female figure, both having the horns of a goat.

The jewel appropriate to the twenty-sixth Path is the black Diamond; the animals the Goat and Ass. It will be remembered that Jesus is pictured in the Gospel as riding into Jerusalem astride an ass, and if my memory serves me correctly there is reference somewhere of Dionysius, too, riding an ass. Its title is "The Renovating Intelligence"; its perfume Musk, and its colour Black.