TAROT

The Devil § The Page of Pentacles § Six of Cups

The Devil lives for the pleasures of mischief and mayhem. We can expect him to be the first to arrive at the Twelfth Night party and the last to leave the fray at the strike of midnight on Mardi Gras night. Of course, The Devil has many sides. At his best he is a beast of the party scene and a connoisseur of simple delights. At his worst, The Devil creates chaos just to watch it burn through our lives. He is keenly aware of exactly how to corrupt every one of us to our core. Those who think themselves immune are the easiest among his targets. The Devil reminds us: Don’t let the benefit of your doubt cloak the ill intentions of those whose merits are unproven. Put your confidence into whomever you choose but don’t tell them secrets that don’t belong to you. We must rely on our wisdom because order itself has no jurisdiction over chaos. The Devil offers us misrule with a wink because it is precisely the antidote we require. If we should learn anything from him, it is to recognize the power and responsibility inherent in our personal choices. The Devil is the most legendary trickster throughout all of time, and while he is amused by the rising of empires, he is equally giddy watching them fall.

The Page of Pentacles will cross our path in the coming weeks. Though she is young and, as yet, inexperienced, she is laser-focused on taking clear steps toward her goals. The Page of Pentacles has been to school—she knows the ways and means of The Devil’s work. She says: You may prefer it otherwise but you can not begin from a place that does not exist. When we come to a fork in the road ahead, we must freely choose a stance and commit to taking action that aligns with it. While you may take either direction, both mark a point of no return. Whichever way we choose becomes fate. There is a long and rocky stretch of road ahead no matter which direction you pick, trepidation is to be expected. We all know that fear clouds judgement and this is where The Page of Pentacles will be of great service to you. She asks: Though what lay ahead is unknown, what if the solution is different than anything you already know, anyway? The Page of Pentacles will assist you to face what scares you and to enthusiastically embrace what is of moral necessity so you can build your strategy.

The Six of Cups represents the conscious act of protecting the dignity of others, especially when a power dynamic exists. You cannot create trust by force. You cannot demand that others behave as if they know they can rely on you when you don’t offer them assurance and consistency. Accepted apologies do not return relationships back to the exact pattern that led to a breach in the first place. As cultures around the world struggle through derailing the concentration of imperial power, our personal demands and expectations will shift accordingly. In the parable about Abraham, his god tests his faith with the requirement that he kill his own son to prove he believes the sky is his true home. The religions that praise Abraham’s willingness to do so are those that dominate our Western subconscious. Only an idea as poor and cruel as capital would adopt a spiritual identity that divorces us from our own instincts. May we believe in ourselves completely.