That moment when you see exactly where someone’s limit is. I mean this in the context of romantic relationships. You see where someone’s limit is and you can go no farther. Because they won’t go. You can’t make them. Holding your breath won’t make them. Screaming and yelling won’t make them. Kindness won’t make them. New shoes won’t make them. You have met the limit. Pay attention to that moment. It’s not a fluke. It has happened before and will happen again and, poor you, you looked the other way, didn’t you, towards the limitless.
The next card in the Major Arcana for us to discuss is the Devil. These blog posts of mine are not the final word on these Tarot cards — not even my final word. Just wanted to say that. That I’m giving you a shard of meaning here. So, again, when you push up against someone’s limit, pay attention. They are showing you who they are. They are saying, quite clearly: this here? This is all I got!
The Devil card is often associated with the astrological sign Capricorn, which is ruled by Saturn. What is Saturn? Limitation. Structure. Discipline. Work. Effort. Patience. Persistence. Delay. Sorrow. And on down the line of dreary keywords and dewy keywords: time, wisdom, karma, integrity, maturity, the 10th House of the Zodiac Wheel: status, honors, fame.
The other day I saw someone’s limit. I said to myself, the next day: this is exactly how far she can go. She can go no farther in this friendship. This is it. The buck stops here. Do not pass go. This is THE MOST she has, the most she is, the most she can give, THE MOST. The crystallization of her soul.
But Aliza (you may say): crystallization (another Saturn keyword) implies that the crystal can be shattered, correct? Correct! Shatter at your own risk.
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I had a Tarot reading once with someone I liked, someone I trusted, and he pulled the Devil card for me and another person, a romantic interest. The reader (I think) was a bit baffled. Didn’t want to give me a dark reading. Wanted to give me some bright and shiny news. Maybe.
Sex, the Tarot reader said. The Devil is sex. The Devil could be sex! Sex sex sex sex!!! Ooooooh sex!
How I feel: if the Devil card IS indeed sex, it is problematic sex. Could be any number of scenarios though — simple incompatibility (is it ever simple?) or partners consciously (or unconsciously) withholding (i.e. using sex as a weapon), refusal to “own” one’s desire, not even knowing/learning what one desires, addiction to pleasure, temptation, desire without expression of desire, bondage (and not in a good way), adultery, obsession, materialism (worshipping the body rather than the soul), careless seduction, gluttony.
Tarot books and Tarot readers (myself included) are fond of saying: SEE THOSE TWO PEOPLE THERE? THE CHAINS ARE LOOSE! THEY CAN SET THEMSELVES FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
But let me ask you this: Have you ever been chained? To someone else? How easy was it to set yourself free?
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Here’s my advice, for when you see the Devil card:
Get dressed!
Because what you think you have in your hot little hands is not what you have in your hot little hands. What you have is limitation, and I am writing this under the assumption that you want MORE than no. I am writing this under the assumption that you want YES.
Furthermore, Devil dude in the Rider Waite looks pretty unappealing. His beard? Surely not soft to the touch. His eyes? Unblinking stare. His wings can’t compare to Temperance’s gossamer rack. Moderation never looked so good, eh? And the feet — I mean claws — can you imagine him scuttling across your floor, scratching up the refinished pinewood? You’ll never get your deposit back now, dear renter 😉
Dear Readers, what do you see when you see the Devil card?
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