My hands down favorite card from the Tarot of the Sidhe is the Devil,
which she calls, Pan. In my mind, to use Pan is perfection for this
supposedly oh so evil card. Some of the most common, associations of the
card The Devil include obsession, addiction, and incarceration with an
underlying meaning that passion is evil. In the tarot, there are
positive associations with every card, even The Devil. Pan is the god of
mirth merriment and debauchery. He is a happy fun guy perhaps because
he is living his passion and enjoying life. This is the very positive
side of The Devil. In the positive aspect of The Devil, he represents
someone who has released him/herself from restrictions that have been
self imposed. They are now free to live their lives with freedom from
self judgment. In the traditional tarot depiction of The Devil, it is
not the Devil that is holding the people in chains, it is themselves.
Their hands and legs are free to unhook the chains that bind them. The
Devil has a belly button, making him man made. As far as the aspect of
obsession that this card represents, again, obsession can be taken in
two ways. Michelangelo and other great and now famous artists, are
examples of people who had an obsession, or passion for their work. If
there is a lack of passion and intensity about anything, life would
indeed be bland. If we were to substitute the word "passion" for
"obsession" how would our outlook change? Obsession is an overly
dramatic word. It implies extreme and unhealthy. There is no doubt that
such emotion and behavior does exist and is not that uncommon, it also
holds that passion is equally common if not more so. People who fear
their feelings, who fear change, and letting go of control, would
automatically come to the most negative conclusions when seeing The
Devil pop up in a reading. These people often see others as having the
negative qualities of The Devil, never realizing that almost always the
Devil is pointing back at them. In relationship readings that I do, The
Devil often comes up for the missing person. I interpret that as the
other person restricting themselves from coming forth and owning their
feelings towards the client. Past events and perhaps current ones as
well are preventing this absent person from returning, but what they
don't realize is that it is only their fear that is stopping them.
Circumstances do not restrict us. We restrict ourselves. If there are
obstacles in place, they can be removed. There are solutions to every
problem if we have the desire to find them and to follow through with
them. I also counsel my client when seeing this card, that given the
position her loved one is in, there is nothing to be done but to hope
that love will conquer fear. To continue to push the issue, to reach out
when there is no response, becomes the negative quality of The Devil
because it shows the lack of belief in oneself and all of the beautiful
qualities they possess. When a person feels that they must constantly be
in pursuit of the unresponsive person, I like to use the analogy that
continuously banging on a closed door will only bloody the hand. while
there is nothing weak or obsessive about loving another person and
believing in them despite what is shown, it is not for any of us to try
to persuade another about how they feel or should feel, we need only
concern ourselves with our own beliefs and passions. Giving way to our
true feelings, and embracing our passion will allow us to banish the
negative qualities of The Devil and instead embrace the lusty fun side
of this card.
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