The Devil

The Devil: Evil and Warmongering 

     The Devil card in Tarot 

 “The hideous figure in this Arcanum typifies the spirit behind the dark forces which have sought to control and subjugate our planet since the beginning of human evolution…” Corinne Heline “The Bible and the Tarot,” DeVorss Publications 1993 

     We will begin this discussion right away by discussing the meaning of the word “Devil:” In Webster’s [old] Dictionary (1873) “The evil one, Satan; … is the father of lies, tempter, an evil spirit or false god; a very wicked person.” Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary: “Gr: diabolos, the devil is the slanderer. In Jewish and Christian theology, it is the personal supreme spirit of evil and unrighteousness.” 

     The Anonymous author of “Meditations on the Tarot,” states that there are two principles of evil: 

(1) the seducing principle and (2) the hypnotizing principle. In discussing the Rider- Waite Tarot card of The Devil, he says that the ideas evoked by the beings chained to the Devil represent the slavery of those who “forfeit their freedom and become slaves to a monstrous entity.” He talks about Tibetan lamas who created painted demon figures and then destroyed them as lessons for adepts in order to realize that those monster figures were only creations of the mind— “illusory egregores of the imagination,”— false beliefs. 

        Seeing demons doodling around may not make much sense to modern mechanistic thought, so it’s probably better to refer to it as an ideological group think. Nazism grew out of this kind of thinking, especially as they were promoting so-called “white supremacy.” Whereas today, a lot of us just get hooked on “doom-scrolling.” We go on demonstrations and marches to put an end to things that don’t seem to be going right. 

            In a Tarot reading, all of this Devil-like and demon evil-doing can be metaphorically shoved down the “black hole,” a symbol of self-destructive action. The Devil is depicted in the Tarot of Cosmic Consciousness as an

The Devil TOCC

immense whirlwind sucking unscrupulous behavior down a black hole. 

 “Evil deeds, our own and that of others are being drawn into a powerful tornado that is cleaning up harmful and unhealthy behavior. Such wickedness and evil is caught in a ‘sewer siphon’ like a tornadic centrifuge and dissipated into space.” 

Tarot of Cosmic Consciousness © 2008 

    "Usually “The Devil” is restricting people from moving or acting freely, a trap, unable to make sensible, reliable choices” 

Gail Fairfield, “Choice Centered Tarot” (1984)

     Modern Tarot interpretations of the archetypal meaning of The Devil card say this is a fictitious satanic character representing a demonic, malicious evil spirit who is opposed to the archetype of Good, or God. Some misguided humans manifest these forces of darkness as wickedness and conjure up the lies of liars on the “Dark Side,” which are counterfeits of the truth. And there are other descriptive words that indicate such a diabolical presence: being hateful, devious, divisive, malicious, immoral, criminal, and/or destructive. 

    In past centuries, especially in Medieval times, certain artists painted society’s evil intentions as ugly, malevolent, devil-demons (which the Anonymous author calls “artificial beings”) doing obscene things. These grotesque renderings covertly exposed the cruelty, violence, death, and destruction of misinformation, and malfeasance, including corruption within the Church, as bizarre abominations (See the works of Hieronymous Bosch and Pieter Bruegel). 

Bosch, St. Anthony, demons

 St. Paul’s biblical admonition applies to any time period: 

  “For we wrestle not against Flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world; against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12) 

 This current ongoing war of 2026 between Israel, Gaza, USA and Iran is nothing new. It’s been going on and off over the last 2,000 years in the Middle East. We can still read a complicated biblical narrative about Samson and Delilah in “Judges 13-on,” or better yet, watch Cecil B. DeMille’s 1949 Hollywood blockbuster movie: “Samson and Delilah,” and contemplate today’s Israeli destruction of Gaza.

      Nevertheless, in all time periods, wars fought or won still mean the same thing —they are the opposite of the momentous presence of PEACE. (No rest for the wicked) The list of wars around the world since 750 BCE, when Jerusalem was sacked, is long and each war has been more destructive than the last one, especially with the development of weapons of mass destruction.

 Warmongering: 

     The meaning of warmongering is described in the dictionary as “one who stirs up war; to strive violently.” Warmongering means to constantly promote war as a solution for solving conflicting differences. Warmongering men always want to invade or attack another country that opposes their beliefs but inevitably, there is a lack of ethics and a lack of empathy followed up by a catastrophic war of murder, cruelty and destruction. Today, as they see no other options to settle their differences, warmongering men are at it again. 

    Now we have another war in the Middle East. It started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas Palestinians attacked an Israeli celebration and killed 1,200 or more people and took hostages. On September 17, 2024, the Israeli Army attacked Gaza, and thousands have been killed, displaced and most buildings have been bombed and destroyed. On February 28, 2026, Israel and the USA attacked Iran and killed its leaders and now we have an ongoing war of bombs and devastating missiles from both sides, with Iran closing the Straight of Hormuz to deter the shipping of oil. 

     Over the centuries, for the military men in charge, the urge for war hasn’t changed much. It’s still the same premise: “destroy the enemy,”— only the weapons have changed. They have moved from swords, spears, axes, knives, chariots, bows and arrows, to machine guns, deadly bombs, missiles, cannons, jet planes, drones and tanks. One nuclear bomb can destroy a whole city as in the WWII destruction of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Now its “bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” again, the chant we heard in the 1970s under the Carter Administration during that Middle Eastern war. This is pure madness gone amuck and a lot of other really bad swear words. 

On top of all the destruction and death, because of USA involvement, this war is using up millions of our tax payers’ dollars to pay for this ongoing insanity. 

 “The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones.” 

Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

What we all hope for is the time and ability to appreciate the beauty, grandeur and glory “across the fruited plain” in the flora and fauna and elemental wonders of “Life on Earth”- in the celebration of PEACE. Where is the gratitude for the oxygen and water and crops and forests that keep us alive provided by Mother Earth? It’s not found in the all-consuming Ferengi greed for oil and profit that will eventually destroy us and the earth. Once again, we are faced with the death and destruction of war and evil intentions promoted by war-mongering men who are hell-bent on killing everyone out of hate and distrust of each other. What happened to the biblical admonition “Love one another?”  

 

“It is an Orwellian vision which says that we must be in a constant state of fear, that we must always have an enemy and that we must always be at war. It is a vision which says that we have unlimited amounts of money for bombs and guns for killing, but never enough money to feed our children, provide affordable housing or enable our parents to retire with dignity.”

         Bernie Sanders at the march on “No Kings Day,” March 28, 1926, in St. Paul, Minnesota

 

Will the power of truth and the light prevail over the power of darkness? 

What can we do to help alleviate this situation?

1.    Resist those trying to divide us. 

2.    Expose the misinformation and lying.

3.    March with others of like mind to protest all the things going wrong 

4.    Advocate for groups and those in power who can change things for the better.

5.    Protect and campaign for the rule of law in overturning lawlessness.

6.    Vote - don’t accept authoritarianism, dictatorship and thuggery

7.    Keep on with “we the people” and help make things right.

The Star 2026

The Star TOCC

The Star: Hope

 

“When you wish upon a star … anything your heart desires will come to you.”This song by Leigh Hartline, was the beginning of a 1940 Disney film: “Pinocchio.” Its intended meaning was filled with the essence of hope. In Tarot, the hope of accomplishment is the most important aspect of The Star card. It signifies the hope you must have to achieve your dreams and the hope of successes to look forward to. The good omen of The Star card in a Tarot reading inspires us to seek betterment of ourselves and can motivate us to look toward a bright future. Hopefulness implies time and patience. We may be reaching for greater success outside of our daily routines, so we hope for something better beyond our immediate trials and tribulations. Are you expecting a visit from a friend, or to patch up a relationship with a loved one? Finding a home? Adopting a pet? To meet the love of your life? Do you hope for a win at the casino or the lottery? A chance to travel? Do you hope for something bigger in life? What are your aspirations and goals you hope to achieve?

“While there is life, there is hope”

Cicero 43 BCE 

A spiritual sense of hope in Tarot Art:

    In Tarot of Cosmic Consciousness, the painting of The Star card contains a river-like flow of organized

The Star TOCC

gold dots emanating from a large 7-pointed star. The dots signify a never-ending “Life-force energy ” streaming abundantly from the Universe. Let’s assume that you and I, and all other living beings, are animated by this life-force. The art represents the living, breathing energy rooted in our bodies that can be best described as “aliveness.” Some would even say “consciousness.” It’s important to acknowledge this sense of aliveness every day as we often tend to overlook the obvious — the continuous perpetual motion of our breath and heartbeat that keeps us alive. We may not be consciously aware of this all the time, but when we get out of bed each day, we should look forward to filling that day with hope and gratitude. Even in our simplest actions and chores, or prayers, we need to remind ourselves of the positive affirmation of “things going well.”

 When we hear people say the overused statement “Have a good day,” let’s be grateful for the opportunities of a new day. Feel the beat! Have 

“Faith in the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”(Heb.11:1)

 

In The Star card of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck, illustrated by Pamela Coleman Smith, and also the BOTA deck, an uncovered woman is pouring a liquid into a pond from a jug in her right hand, and also onto the land from a jug in her left hand. Tarotists have interpreted this as referring to the never-ending life-giving source continuously replenishing the earth. Medieval artist Giotto (1267-1337) painted Hope (Spes, Latin for hope) as an angel reaching toward Heaven in the frescoes of the Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy. The angel is shown reaching upward, perhaps hoping to receive a small crown from the hands of a smaller angel—a gift from God?

 

BOTA The Star

“Like the star that guided the Magi to the manager, The Star card announces the presence of imminence of grace, beauty and fulfillment.” Brian Williams, The Minchiate Tarot (Destiny Books 1999)

Hopeful expectations today: 

Over the past 250 years, immigrants have been coming to the USA with hope in their hearts —hope for a better life, hope for work, hope for a better future.  Some are escaping persecution, violence, chaos, war, or other disasters, occurring in their former countries. Currently, as so-called illegal immigrants are being sought out and arrested by unscrupulous masked government agents, so concerned citizens are marching and demonstrating against the inhuman violence going on. We are also seeing that our rights: “freedom of speech” and the right to express dissatisfaction, are being trampled. And yet, on the other hand, there are still those in government who have high hopes for achieving world-wide peace on earth and the elimination of endless wars. Through peace talks, negotiation and compromise, they still uphold the banner for freedom —“liberty and justice for all.” Luckily, that kind of hope carries a degree of optimism for peaceful solutions achieved through hard work in overcoming the anger and hate of war-mongering men who are determined to put an end to the lives of people unlike themselves. We remember Barack Obama said this in his Presidential inaugural speech in 2009: 

 

“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, 

unity of purpose over conflict and discord.”

Overcoming fear:

The biggest obstacle to overcome in achieving one’s hopes—is fear. All of us at some time or other have struggled with conquering our worst fears. Recently, an extreme example of hopefulness was set for us all by a person who literally climbed the “highest mountain.” In 2017, we watched a young man, Alex Hannold, publicly demonstrate his mastery of fear as he solo climbed the impossible 3,000’ face of El Capitan, a granite monolith in Yosemite National Park, with no climbing gear — just his “fingertips and two thin edges of shoe rubber.” (See the film “Free Solo” documenting the climb inch by inch and the article, “Ultimate Climb,” by Marc Synnott in the National Geographic, February 2019).

 

Freedom from fear:“Fear is one of the greatest problems in life. A mind that is caught in fear lives in confusion, in conflict, and therefore must be violent, distorted and aggressive.”

Krishnamurti, Freedom from the Known (HarperCollins, 1969)

 

In a Tarot reading, the message of The Star card is to have hope for accomplishing your purpose in life and of overcoming your fears in order to be optimistic about finding the best outcome. The late primatologist, Jane Goodall (1934-2025) included the word hope in most of her lectures and books and today, her legacy stands alone in accomplishments: 

 

“The necessity of hope against the odds, against the trends, was among her most insistent themes. She understood that hope is a duty, not a prediction or a mood” 

David Quammen, National Geographic, December 2025

 

“Act knowing we are not alone and live with Hope.”

Jane Goodall, The Ten Trusts (HarperCollins 2002)