The Devil – Lo Scarabeo Deck
Associating a story (whether myth, fairy tale or personal experience) with each Tarot card is a wonderful way to both remember the meaning of the card and also to add depth to your readings. This article of “Telling Tales” was inspired by a dream I had the other night, in which I was trapped within a labyrinth made of books. Once I had awoken, I began to ponder what the dream could mean. Labyrinths tend to come with Minotaurs, don’t they? And as I thought about it, something clicked in my mind – the Minotaur looks awfully familiar. In fact, he has a lot in common with the Devil…
Once upon a time, King Minos was the ruler of Crete. All was well upon the island, until the King angered the God Poseidon with his avarice and greed. Furious, Poseidon convinced Aphrodite to curse Minos’ wife Pasiphae with an unnatural lust for one of the King’s sacrificial bulls. The Queen consummated her desire and ultimately gave birth to the Minotaur – a creature half man, half bull.
To hide his and his wife’s shame, Minos had a labyrinth built in which he locked the Minotaur.
At about this time, King Minos went to war with Athens and won. As the victor, he demanded that every nine years the people of Athens would offer him seven young boys and seven young girls as tribute. These tributes were then trapped within the darkness of the labyrinth and devoured by the Minotaur.
When the year of the third sacrifice arrived, Theseus – Prince of Athens – volunteered to go to Crete and slay the Minotaur. He took the place of one of the tributes and journeyed to Crete.
Upon his arrival, Ariadne – daughter of Minos, sister to the Minotaur and Priestess in her own right – fell in love with Theseus and promised to help him kill her monstrous brother. To do this, she gave him a ball of thread and a sword, with instructions to tie the thread to the entrance of the labyrinth so that he could use the cord to find his way out again. She escorted Theseus to the entrance of the labyrinth, where he promised her that – should he survive – he would take her with him when he escaped.
Down and down his footsteps took him, with the thread trailing behind him like the tail of a comet. Deeper into the darkness and the heart of labyrinth, where Theseus found the Minotaur and beheaded him.
Gathering the surviving Tributes around him, Theseus followed the thread out of the labyrinth and found Ariadne still waiting for him.
Together, they fled to the harbour, stole a ship and sailed away from blood-soaked Crete.
What does the story mean?
The labyrinth represents our subconscious, the place where we often hide our “shadow selves” – the socially unacceptable aspects of our personalities that we’re too afraid (or ashamed) to face. The Minotaur which lives within the labyrinth is the personification of our shadow self – note how the Minotaur was a punishment for Minos’ greed and Pasiphae’s – albeit involuntary – adultery. So Theseus’ quest is that of our conscious Self, journeying into the underworld to face his shadow and put an end to the destructive force of the Minotaur. Whilst pursuing this quest, Theseus meets Ariadne who is very similar to The High Priestess: she represents our knowing-self who can act as a guide; she gives us the tools we need to succeed, but she cannot make the journey for us. The tributes within the tale symbolise the sacrifices of potential we make so that we don’t have to face the darkness within us – a path un-followed, a choice not made, a friend never know. Ultimately, by facing his inner darkness the hero is able to stop the unconscious destruction of his shadow self and so can channel his energy into more positive pursuits.
Rider-Waite deck
What does the card mean?
- Power and energy imprisoned; feeling restricted or fixed on a destructive path.
- An inability to face our own shadow self, leading to a debilitating fear of the Devil.
- A toxic love affair (point of interest: this card is seen by some readers as the shadow side of The Lovers).
- Ego triumphing over moral compass.
- Addiction.
Imagery within The Devil
- The Devil: the personification of our shadow self (anger, fear, unhealthy passion/sexual appetite, envy, greed, etc.). In this case, the Minotaur.
- Block/altar: our ego-led attitude about the material/materialistic world.
- Chains: the ties that bind us to our unhealthy way of thinking. Note how the chains are loose, indicating that with a little conscious effort, the people could release themselves and walk away. In the context of our tale, these chains put me in mind of Ariadne’s thread.
- Darkness: ignorance/the subconscious, represented by the labyrinth.
The Devil in a Reading
When the Devil appears, don’t fear him – welcome him. He is a powerful messenger of work that needs to be done. Ask yourself: where are you stuck? What’s keeping you in this place? You have the power to break free – what action do you need to take? The cards in the spread around the Devil will help you to find your answers.
The Devil in this Spread is from the Thoth Deck
Spread: Dancing with the Devil
Place your Devil card in the centre and build the spread around it as follows:
1. The labyrinth: the darkness you are avoiding.
2. The Devil’s chains: what’s holding you captive.
3. Escape: what waits for you outside the labyrinth.
4. Ariadne’s thread: the path you must take.
5. Tributes released: the positive aspects to aim for.
6. The darkness beneath: negative aspects to watch out for.
Ariadne by Lavery
Epilogue – Positive aspects of the Devil
In this retelling of the Minotaur myth, I deliberately ended the story at the moment of escape. This is because from this point, the story fragments dramatically and it’s tricky to discern which is the best – or truest – conclusion.
However, there is one ending variant that I feel elegantly expresses the positive aspects to be discovered within the Devil.
While sailing away from Crete, Theseus and his crew of escapees came upon the empty island of Naxos, where they spent the night. At dawn, Theseus abandoned the sleeping Ariadne and sailed on home to Athens.
Dionysus, the God of divine madness and religious ecstasy, discovered Ariadne and fell in love with her. In time, Ariadne came to be his bride and shared in his revelry. When she eventually died, Dionysus cast her crown into the sky where it became the Corona Borealis constellation of stars.
Pan by Rackham
Moral of the Epilogue
Getting in touch with our inner devil doesn’t have to destroy us: if we can love and accept our shadow side, we can transform it from the beastly Minotaur into the divine Dionysus (Dionysus is closely related to Pan – the God of wild behaviour and unbridled desire – whose physical attributes were commandeered by early Christians and bestowed upon their depictions of the Devil). So if we can face our darkness, we can learn not to be overcome by negative emotions; instead, we can express them safely. We can also release the burden of “sin” and the guilt it engenders, therefore freeing ourselves to express and enjoy the wild and sensual aspects of our psyches.
The Mythic Tarot
Go the Extra Mile
- Try your hand at the ritual I wrote for the Devil last Halloween.
- Read “The King Must Die” by Mary Renault for a realistic retelling of the Minotaur myth.
