Follow Your Bliss or The Devil Made Me Do It!

The Devil

I celebrated my birthday last week - a New Year, a New Beginning. Since the past year was pretty crappy, it can only get better, right? Still, I wanted to know: Where do I go from here? And the Universe answered: Follow your bliss! I happened to meet with my Dream Circle on my actual birthday (I brought delicious vegan, gluten-free cupcakes made from Pamela's chocolate cake mix). Since the majority of us have June birthdays, we decided to pull tarot cards as a portent of the year ahead for each of us. We used the Thoth tarot cards, a beautiful deck with multi-layered, cross-cultural symbols. I held my intention in my mind (where do I go from here?) as I chose a card from the deck. I pulled The Devil! The central image on the card was a smirking goat with long, curly horns and a third eye. We passed the card around the circle and each person gave me her impressions from the images on the card. But I still wasn't sure how The Devil pertained to me and where to go in the year ahead.

So when I got home, I consulted a reference book on the Thoth deck by Angeles Arrien called The Tarot Handbook. Arrien's interpretation of The Devil is: Mirth/humor at what "Bedevils" us. The smirking goat is also a symbol of Pan, that cheeky Greek God of Merriment and Sensuality, who unfortunately was demonized when monotheism took over paganism in the Middle Ages, thus becoming the Devil. He represents the "need to hold onto mirth, stability and centeredness to face our problems so we won't be thrown off balance."

Well, I've certainly faced plenty of things that bedeviled me this past year, and it has definitely thrown me off balance. I lost part of myself in the process as well as lost track of who I really am - a creative, vibrant, powerful woman! Luckily, there's another clue on The Devil card to help me regain that balance. Underneath the smirking goat are two testicles/ovaries that represent the "creative power within us that wants to be expressed with mirth and tangibility." It is important to follow what we are drawn toward or what inspires us in order to evoke unlimited creative energies within us that want to be expressed. Which reminded me of reconnecting with one of my favorite aritsts, Wolf Kahn, during my visit to Vermont for the Strolling of the Heifers. After my trip, I pulled a book of his postcards off my shelf that had just been gathering dust. I decided to frame them and hang them on the wall where I can be inspired by the lusciousness of his colors and the peace of his joyful landscapes. Being inspired and surrounded by Kahn's art will stir the creative energies within me to be able to express my own art!

Arrien says that The Devil represents "the reclamation of joy and the recommittment to that which inspires and uplifts us." Well, I am reclaiming Joy, both myself - Joy with a capitol "J" - and my happiness - joy with a small "j" - and I am recommitting myself to all that inspires and uplifts me.

So, when you are bedeviled by something, remember the smirking goat and try to find the humor in the situation. And if you do get thrown off balance, just follow your bliss and you will regain yourself once again.