The Tower — XVI

Winter Wonderland Tarot - by Joshua Franklin and Aaron Franklin

The Tower represents a force of nature. The heavier the building material used to build a tower and the higher it is built, the more potential energy is stored. The kinetic energy of the decent, avalantze "descent" in Romansch(Swiss) [from which we get the word avalanche by way of French], will be greater the more grave the material involved and its gravity. Towers are justifiably built for protection. They are focal points of walls or castles, towering over the other structures. They can provide defense against invasion and offer a long view of possible encroaching threats. However, they can only be built so high and so strong. Towers themselves are not immune to destruction. Towers are always at risk of being struck down or toppling over. When this occurs, that which was intended for protection, itself becomes its own very instrument of calamity. 

When a tower collapses, anything on or in the tower must also come down. There is no escape from the falling (hence being "towed" to the earth from the sky by the force of gravity). The tower is a force of nature like the water that flows is said to tow a thing by its flowing, 

Cochem, Germany, Dec. 7, 2022, photo by Julie O.

like an undertow forces objects out to sea, or the drag of a waterfall can lead a person over its edge. Tow is said to be from PIE *deuk- "to lead".  In this way a tower is a tow-er. Or it is a lead-er, often with a ladder, or stairs, or elevator. You can be lead or driven all the way up or all the way down.

Whether it is bringing you up or down the tower is making a difference because of its relationship to the earth. The Tower is impactful. When you are up in a tower you are elevated. You may be up very high, even in the clouds like Jack in the story of Jack and the Bean Stalk; up with the mighty ones, the giants, perhaps even the Elohim/El (God).

In Hebrew migdal or migdalah is "tower," from gadal "grow up, become great, increase"

The Hebrew verb "gadal" primarily conveys the idea of growth or increase in size, importance or significance. It is used in various contexts to describe physical growth, such as a child growing up, as well as metaphorical growth, such as the increase in power or influence of a person or nation. It can also mean to magnify or glorify, often in the context of exalting God or His works. Strongs Lexicon, Bible Hub

For this reason the tower can represent what happens when we attempt to grow up(ward) ⬆️, to rise above ourselves. Like the construction of the infamous Tower of Babel, which tower, we could say, was attempting to be a tow-er from earth to the heavens/sky/god, 

Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the earth." Genesis 11:14, ESV

in the city of Babel[which name became a shem "name" of shame], called Βαβυλών by the Ancient Greeks (from Akkadian Bab-ilani/Bab-ilim "gate of the gods/god") 

𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠

[babilim- Babylon]

and Latinized as Babylōn. But its all very confusing and confused due to the different transliterations and translations. There, in this city, the language of one people is said to have become "confused" (balal /בלל) deliberately by YHWH in order to frustrate their plans. However, this sort of thing naturally happens due to the interactions of different people with diverse languages and writing systems as in this great metropolis of its time, Babylon.

During the 3rd millennium BC, an intimate cultural symbiosis occurred between Sumerian and Akkadian-speakers, which included widespread bilingualism. The influence of Sumerian on Akkadian and vice versa is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a massive scale, to static, morphological, and phonological convergence. wikipedia/Baylonia

City of Babylon 

In the Hebrew Book of Genesis the city is called בבל/Babel and is said to be named from the the word בלל/balal "confusion." However, the Biblical Hebrew, Babel, is similar to the Akkadian name Bab-ilim, which is said to mean "gate of god," and the meaning in the Sumerian rendering is also literally "gate of god," Kadingir, from ka "gate/door" digir.ra "of god". The same sort of connection can even be made in Hebrew with the words בבה babah  and אל el.  El is a word used to refer to God in the Book of Genesis and babah according to Strong's Hebrew Lexicon is:

feminine active participle of an unused root meaning to hollow out; something hollowed (as a gate), i.e. pupil of the eye:—apple [of the eye] -Strong's

A Babah/Apple of the Eye/Window to the Soul

So, for example, a place "hollowed out" in a wall surrounding a city is a "gate," it is an opening, and the hollowed out place in the eye, then, would be, the "gate" in the eye, therefore the "gate" is the pupil. . . sometimes called the "apple of the eye," the history of which idiom itself is ripe with babel. But if eyes are the "windows to the soul"(and windows['wind eyes"] are themselves places "hollowed out"), then indeed this "gate/window" is very special. Apart from this, according to Brown-Driver-Briggs this word, babah, relates to the Aramaic בבא "gate". So that would be Baba-el "gate of god," therefore even in Hebrew, the meaning of "gate of god" is not totally lost. In some sense this city, Babel, was a place to meet or encounter God, i.e. El "the mighty one, the Almighty".

There is a difference between 1.) hearing something in a strange language, knowing its a language that you don't comprehend, yet having the understanding that the speaker is making proper sense, not just "babbling",  . . .  and 2.) hearing something and thinking that you understand it because you are "apparently" both speaking the same language, yet the meaning of the words, that is, the image[eidōlon] you form, from said words, is off or in vain[idle] from what the speaker intended, . . . however neither are necessarily aware of this. . . The second case is where the real confusion(balal) lies. Is babble incomprehensible meaningless speech like gobbledygook? Or is babel speech that somehow becomes confused due to wrong understanding and differing assumptions? Things can get lost in translation, or misunderstood, or misheard like in a game of "Telephone"? Who's on first? Who is on first. That's what I said. . . 

THE TOWER [OR: WAR]

Thoth Tarot Deck, Aleister Crowley, 

"The dominating feature of this card is the Eye of Horus. This is also the Eye of Shiva, on the opening of which, according to the legend of this cult, the Universe is destroyed" -The Book of Thoth, pg. 108

And if misunderstanding causes division, and division causes war, then this kind of confusion is a big problem. It's actually the root of all evil. War is: 

said in Watkins to be from PIE *wers- (1) "to confuse, mix up," suggesting the original sense was "bring into confusion." -EO

Well, isn't that interesting? Crowley thought the name "War" suited this Atu(Trump) XVI. And the Eye is prominent in the artwork. And we could say the eye, given that it is the Eye of Horus or the Eye of Shiva is a Baba-El, or Gate(pupil of the eye) of God, or Babel/Babylon, the place where God "confused[balal] the language of all the earth." Gen. 11:9  So to balal "confuse" a people can be the cause of bella "wars"/bellum "war" in Latin. And when you mix up people's language you also mix up their worship and this can be a cause of idolatry.

For the worshiping of idols not to be named[άνωνύμων "unnamed" anonymon]  is the beginning, the cause, and the end, of all evil. Wisdom 14:27 KJV

Is idolatry the worship of a false God/gods or is idolatry the worship of "God", but falsely? Isn't this a great Confusion/Babel? No one says they are worshipping a god who is an idol. People say they are worshiping the true God/gods, so if they are in fact idolaters, their idol is not named as such, or is an unnamed idol. So how can anyone know if their God is truly God and not an unnamed idol? A true God should be known by Their works, and not only by Their works, but also by Their effect on Their worshipers. If the "God" is idle("vain, worthless, useless"), then it is an idol. Are the worshipers acting in evil ways? Then they are in effect idolators regardless of whom they call "LORD, LORD." For, "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit."Mt 7:18 DRB The form[eidos] they(evil persons) are portraying of God(all persons being an image of God) is a false "incorrect, mistaken" image; an idol. It is abominable, it is worthless. 

For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles["nations"] because of you. Romans 2:24

Whoever is not careful in their worship, that is, where they place their worth(worth-ship), is building upon unstable ground and cruisin' for a bruisin'.

Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great." Luke 6:47-49

And isn't it in fact a good thing for a house to be destroyed if it needs to be destroyed in order to allow for a better, more stable house to be built in its place? God is not shy about knocking his houses down. 

In the Tarot de Marseilles, The Tower is, La Maison Dieu, "The House of God." It is a lofty place. Not to be trifled with.

Tarot de Marsailles

Change in a complete and sudden manner, abandonment of past relationships, unexpected events, termination, adversity, downfall, disruption, loss of stability, loss of money, loss of love and affection, terrible change, annoyance.

Like Phaeton, the higher you dare to fly the further you have to fall, but then again, only those who dare mightily can ever succeed mightily. Phaeton himself was remembered for just that reason;

Here Phaeton lies who in the sun-god's chariot fared. And though he greatly failed, more greatly he dared.

The preceding card to The Tower was The Devil XV, representing the "barely anything" bond/chain that binds us when we strive after the good/beautiful/pleasurable, but stray too far from the middle, from our firm foundation, i.e. Temperance. It is a terrible trap to always want more and more, to seek higher and higher towards the unfathomable infinite goal which is equality with God or perfection. It is not that the goal is so wrong. We are in fact gods. Like Phaeton, we are children of God, made "in [His/Their] image according to [His/Their] likeness"[Let *Us*] The problem is that a creature[any created being(who is inherently laking or imperfect due to this very fact, i.e. they are created [they move/change/grow]) who is striving to become God by ever expanding higher is engaging in a loosing battle, because God has no beginning nor ending, so it is not possible to expand sufficiently to encompass the unfathomable. A person would forever be seeking, yet always lacking. In reality, our perfection, our heaven, i.e. ouranos ούρανός is not "out there," rather it is within. The house/dwelling/temple of God is within. God is in [έν /en] us. To realize the futility of striving to become God by expansion; being the top, the best, the brightest is the true beginning of wisdom. 

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give to you, if you will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. Mt. 4:8-11, ESV

However this truth doesn't always naturally dawn on us until we reach the point of futility and collapse.  

And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will be impossible for them. Genesis 11:6 ESV

In other words, the citizens of Babel would have kept endlessly striving outward and upward, straying from wisdom in their attempt to be great. Sometimes the best thing that can happen to a person is to have someone knock them off their block. If going up is leading you down, what is there left to do? The only way to move forward from this trap of the devil is a fall from grace, a reversal, something gone topsy-turvy, a shake down, a break down; which is a disruption of the mighty structure, the tower, or temple(dwelling place/house of God).

Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking of the temple of his body. John 2:19-21 NRSV

 and declared, "This man said, 'I am able to destroy the temple[naos "dwelling"] of God and rebuild it in three days.'" Matthew 26:61 BSB

Reliquary Monstrance with a Tooth of St. John the Baptist, metalwork German 1433 CE, on display at The Getty Museum, December 2024, photo by Julie O.

Jesus hanging on a stauros on top of a tower.

In this way the Tower can manifest as a point of futility, distraction or stagnation like Rapunzel stuck in the tower. She was kept "safe" from the world below. She was up high, close to heaven, but was not allowed to grow up on her own. Growing up can be harsh, but we all need these experiences in order to mature into [true]adulthood. And, in any case, being locked away, did not ultimately save Rupunzel from being discovered by a man, the prince, and getting herself "into trouble." Nature always finds a way.

The story begins with Rapunzel's expectant mother wanting to rapere "to seize" the "rapunzel"(a type of herb) in her neighbor, the sorcerer's garden. The woman(out of her zeal[zel] for the rapa) has her husband rape the rapunculus(rapunzel) from the garden of the witch, and the witch in turn seizes their daughter(Rapunzel) from them after her birth and locks her in the tower at the age of puberty(her time to grow up)."

The sorcerer/adoptive mother who keeps Rapunzel in the tower is named Gothel, which is similar sounding to gadal. Gothel did not want Rapunzel to gadal "grow up"  or "become great" in this way. Instead she attempts to keep Rapanzel separate and "safe" from the world. Perhaps we could say not "mixed" with or "confused" by the world. However, because Rapunzel is imprisoned in the tower she is not grown up on her own, and is left in a vulnerable state. As it turns out Rapunzel's downfall, not unlike the innocent Eve in the Garden of Eden(who also was not "being allowed" to grow up), comes from a "snake" of sorts. In this story it is Rapunzel's long hair that is snakelike and allows for the witch, and ultimately the prince, to have access to her reality. The prince sneakily(snakily) climbs up her hair and brings her knowledge of the world. The two "know" each other and Rapunzel becomes pregnant. When the witch discovers this, Rapunzel is banished to the woods, and the prince ends up falling from the tower, and being blinded by thorns, after he is deceived(snakily) by Rapunzel's long hair which the witch had cut from Rapunzel's head in order to trick him. They both are forced, by this calamity, to grow up (gadal) in a way that wasn't possible when Rapunzel was safely hidden away in the tower in the garden. And ironically Gothel is the cause of this by placing Rapunzel in the tower to begin with, even though she never meant for Rapunzel to gadal "grow up" in this way.

Shaddowscapes Tarot - Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

Catastrophe, sudden change, crisis, releasing all emotion, suffering a blow to the ego, revelation, and seeing through illusions. A necessary disruption to the status quo— violent and explosive upheavals the only way to break through the long-established patterns. Fantasies shattered by the harsh and brutal hand of reality. Making a clean and utter severing from the past. It is time to re-examine belief structures and opinions. 

The leaving/falling from the purgos  πύργος "tower, fortified structure" in Greek (from a root meaning "to tower, to rise"), ended up being a purge by means of the purgatory the two experienced before they were once again reunited. Purgatory is from Medieval Latin purgatorium "means of cleansing," from Latin purgare "clense, purify," from (purus "clean, clear, unmixed" + agere "to set in motion, drive"). So a tower could be said to be, metaphorically, a structure which drives(tows) purification or pyr/pur(πύρ/πύρός "fire") -ification through its destruction.  

We're building it up

To break it back down

We're building it up

To burn it down

We can't wait to burn it to the ground - BURN IT DOWN, Linkin Park

A tower is a building which is drawn out(upward) and which drives (agere from PIE *ag- "to drive, draw out to forth, move"), or moves people up(i.e., it raises), or down(i.e., it razes), but  figuratively it is a force of nature that has the ability to make people to be "moved" inwardly. 

The Halloween Tarot - by Karin Lee, Art by Kipling West 

The Tower (Haunted House): Disaster or catastrophe that ends in enlightenment and liberation. A dramatic overthrow of some major aspect of your life. A shattering of false premises.

However, regardless of any unintended folly, the person who is building or utilizing a tower is aiming for what is perceived to be a good. People in a tower, i.e. those who are towered, might be those who are seeking, inclining, i.e. toward "aiming, intending to reach" upward, those who are to-ward "turned toward" the sky/heaven. Whereas someone who is NOT in the tower, who is un-towered, does not see the enemy approaching because they are not elevated or seeking in this way. The effect of which may be untoward "adverse, unpropitious."

So, which is worse? To never be elevated and so never risk a fall, and in fact never to fall (because it is not possible without first being elevated), or to just do it, go for it, shoot for the moon, fall and then see what is redeemed in the process?

O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the death of Christ! O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer! -Exultet—Easter Proclomation

We are mortal! If we fall we die! We crash! We burn! . . . yet we are sons of God! We are "built" in God's image and after his likeness, . . . therefore after the fall. . . God really had to. . . was required to, even, pull some magic out of his hat and make something extraordinary occur that wouldn't have occurred unless it needed to[some divine alchemy]. . . How is a CREATURE who is so daringly made to be in GOD'S image(made an idol / pesel / eidolon) redeemed? He must first be brought low, humbled, and proven in purity and obedience to the one true God, so as to not forever traverse a path of futility(like the Devil). This is a kind of tempering "mix or work up into proper condition[*i.e. mixing for the good, not simply to confuse or destroy], adjust or restore to proper proportions." Only then can he be properly exalted "raised up" by the Creator.

In your relationship with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his advantage;

rather, he made himself nothing[empty, void]

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father. 

 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but 

now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,

for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, "children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation." Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky . . . Philippians 2:6-15

Perhaps this is the point, we were never meant to reach equality with God by being entowered. Towers have limits. Striving is vanity. We must allow ourselves to be limitless through the indwelling presence of God. We were made to reach for the stars. . . However, the destruction of the tower raised up by human hands and not by God is an important step along this path.

The Devil — XV

In the preceding card, Temperance XIIII, we discussed how temperance defines a space in-between the extremes. To the one side we have the adverse, Death XIII. But death is just a certain ending. What comes after an ending isn't nothing, but rather, something different, a new beginning. When death loops, it loops to its opposite, life/rebirth. A cycle of growth is created. Like the sun which symbolically dies each day and is then reborn in the glory of the morning. The morning isn't simply daytime, it is something new; something that has been tempered. It is the daytime specifically that is following the experience of the darkness of the night. It lands differently than a daytime experience of eternal daylight.

To the other side of Temperance, lies the experience of the good, which when taken to its extreme lands us in the territory of The Devil XV. The Devil speaks to the difficulties that can arise due to temptation, because the opposite of the adverse/evil is the good/beautiful, the experience of which can easily lead toward excess because it is pleasurable . . . , desirable, which eventually causes it to become evil/bad/darkness, i.e., the devil, due to excess of "the good." And if the light (the good, or the "light bringing" Lucifer) itself becomes the darkness (evil), what hope is there? There's no hope in hell!

I AM THE WAY INTO THE CITY OF WOE.

I AM THE WAY TO A FORSAKEN PEOPLE.

I AM THE WAY INTO ETERNAL SORROW.

SACRED JUSTICE MOVED MY ARCHITECT.

I WAS RAISED HERE BY DIVINE OMNIPOTENCE,

PRIMORDIAL LOVE AND ULTIMATE INTILLECT.

ONLY THOSE ELEMENTS TIME CANNOT WEAR

WERE MADE BEFORE ME, AND BYOND TIME I STAND.

ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE.  - Canto III, 1-9, The Inferno, Dante Alighieri, John Ciardi translation, 

Tarot de Marsailles - Subordination, decay, bondage, malevolence, weird experiences, seeming inability to reach one's goals, violence, shock, frailty, selfishment, temptation to evil, self-destruction, lack of principles.

Temptation is ultimately from Latin temptare "to feel, try out, test; attempt to influence,"a variant of tentare "handle, touch, try, test"[OE] (notice the connection between certain words beginning with *ten- and *temp-[an extension of *ten] both coming from the same apparent root meaning "to stretch").

Who is the one "feeling, trying out and testing"? Even though the person who is being tempted is being influenced to feel, try out, and test what is on offer, the tempter is equally feeling, trying out, and testing the temptee. Will they succumb to temptation? Such as Jesus being tempted by the devil in the desert. The devil was feeling him out and testing the boundaries of Jesus' commitment (how far he would stretch), seeing if Jesus wanted try out what he was offering him. Jesus was in a vulnerable state, having fasted for many days. His ability to say no to what he viewed as illicit (to "die" to himself) proved (he passed the test/temptation) that he was not a slave to (bound by) his passions (holding onto an inordinate light). Jesus didn't choose the path that would be seemingly desirable in the moment, the path he was being tempted to take, in which his powers would be used for his own gratification (satiating his hunger), worldly influence and star status/glory. Imagine the life of luxury and fame he could have pursued with his same abilities.

Jesus is Tempted in the Wilderness, The Children's Bible, copyright 1965, Western Publishing Co., photo by Julie O.

Like Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings if she had accepted the ring from Frodo, Jesus could have gone very far. But he chose to "kill" that version of himself (as did Galadriel), and instead submit himself to insult, abuse and death by a cross in order to save the Day.

We aren't tempted in the same way by the adverse, i.e., that which is "turned against" us; that which is hostile, unfavorable. We don't normally get caught up in wanting to indulge excessively in the experience of adversity, as we do with pleasure. But we can have the desire to "try out" the adverse. In fact without the experience of the adverse, enjoyment ceases to have meaning. You have to get uncomfortable, such as getting tired, hungry, cold, sick, etc., to enjoy things such as sleep, food, warmth and health. We wouldn't want to never experience anything in the category of "the adverse," we just don't want it to go too far; to be too much. Too much darkness. Too much heat. Too much suffering. That is, we don't want it to be EVIL! But, in the same way we don't want our experience of the pleasurable to go too far and turn to evil either. Whereas death leads to life, like the seed of a plant that falls to the ground after its growth cycle, and a new plant grows in its place, 

life leads to death, or we could say "the good," "the beautiful," "the pleasurable" has the ability to lead us to death, or a death trap if it is not tempered, because there is a such thing as "too much of a good thing," or "a good thing at the wrong time." Even something that we think of being really fun, like a roller coster ride would very quickly become hell on earth if it didn't end, or if we were forced to ride it when we were sick. And if we went to the same amusement park every day and did the same things and ate the same food, we would come up against the problem of diminishing returns. It wouldn't be as fun as if we only went sometimes. The more we strive to engage solely in the polarity of pleasure, the less pleasurable we are able to access (the pleasure starts to die / loops towards death). Chasing after pleasure ends up becoming a vicious trap.

A certain tension between the good (what we turn to) and the adverse (what we turn away from) must be maintained in order to have the experience of pleasure at all, in the same way that a string on a guitar has to be plucked under tension in order to create a pleasing sound. Without the tension, there are no good vibrations. It is the movement between the polarities that creates the tension which is temperance.

So, it's not that a person can't do what they want to do. We don't need to glorify the Devil, fetishized objects of temptation, and forbidden fruit, as if pleasure is a bad thing. You can do whatever you want to do! It's not like God is a prude who can't stand to look upon people enjoying themselves. It's just that there are consequences to seeking pleasure. And sometimes the consequences are quite bad. If pleasure seeking isn't tempered with an appropriate willingness to also abstain for the sake of balance and health, then pleasure turns to pain. It's just a natural consequence of experience. Eating a piece of cake can be pleasurable, but eating more and more cake becomes less and less pleasurable, and at some point it becomes painful and feels evil. Eating too much cake may also make a person gain undesired weight and take the place of getting proper nutrition. These consequences are not intended as punishment, they are just the result of imbalance, that is, the experience of straying too far from the middle, too far from equilibrium, too far from justice.

  

 

Religion might attempt to save people from this trap by enforcing rules and discipline which  steers a person towards moderate behavior and purposeful engagement with suffering (i.e., engaging with the opposite of pleasure). Sometimes this is accomplished with the use of guilt and scare tactics, such as the threat of eternal damnation. This may be effective in saving some people from the evils which arise due to overindulgence, but does not necessarily create temperate people (although practicing temperate actions can be a way of learning temperance, if it is pursued with integrity), rather religion/rules just fetter the natural urges. And for those  who are not religious, these types of imposed rules might not even hold sway at all. But even in this case, the frustrating reality of the impending doom of dissatisfaction still looms, because even if a person says they they don't believe in God and they don't feel the shame of not following the proposed rules, they STILL cannot find happiness in simply just doing whatever they are inclined to do.

Even this person is somewhat dependent on the excitement that they derive specifically from NOT FOLLOWING THE RULES, or in engaging with the taboo. What fun would Aleister Crowley have had if there were no taboos? The very fact that something is forbidden can make it an object of lust, because when you haven't had something for a long time, or are forbidden from having it, and then you have it, this produces an experience of great pleasure, more so than if you were "allowed" to have it.  And let's not even mention the enjoyment that can be derived from acting salaciously! What would these people do if no one cared that they were doing? Therefore a person who has a lot of rules and restrictions placed upon them has ample ability to know that they could experience pleasure if they were only allowed it. They are not up against a dead end for experiencing pleasure. Whereas, on the other hand, someone with no rules or restrictions, and no imposed social norms might be bored with everything they have. For example, if you are forced to be out in the freezing cold all day and then get inside in front of a fire, you enjoy that warmth more than the person who was allowed to be inside all day. It becomes harder and harder for the person who is only indulging in what is pleasurable to even enjoy anything after a while. When this happens there are two choices 1.) turn away from pleasure (suffer a type of death) and regain balance or 2.) continue to indulge and seek enjoyment in more and more extreme ways in order to create novelty and tension, which leads toward perversion / corruption / distortion and  inability to experience pleasure [in normal ways]. Like King Midas who desired that everything he touched would turn to gold, but ended up not being able to enjoy anything because of his excess. He found a living hell in the fulfillment of his wish.

Dissatisfied King Midas

In order to be freed from his curse he was told to submit to an act of obedience, which is an act of humility and a type of death (death to oneself). Dionysius told Midas to rinse in the waters of the river Pactolus; which is a baptism "immersion," so, it was symbolically a death/rebirth, like the evening sun when it is "immersed" (sets) in the waters of the sky at sunset, thus symbolically dying before it is reborn, reemerging from the same waters at dawn: reset. A sun (a great light) that refuses to "die" in this way, is not part of "the Day" as we know it. A Day consists of "day, night, morning: one day," not eternal daylight.

This gift/curse of the Golden Touch is analogous to the gift/curse of a created being, being made in the image and likeness of God. To be like God is to be capable of creating or having whatever is wanted when it is wanted. But what happens when you can do whatever you want and you don't have a mature sense of balance? You find yourself in a hell of your own making. And if you yourself made that happen while only wanting what is good for yourself (the pleasurable), then what hope do you have to remedy your predicament? How does one get out of this hell?

Our life on Earth in the flesh creates the illusion of separation from God and veils our power as creators. So we don't encounter this problem of being gods in this way. Instead we are generally forced to some semblance of moderate behavior (experiencing the adverse as well as the pleasurable) by circumstances of life and being in a body. Such as people of antiquity, or people living in remote places without a lot of resources who have to work hard every day just to get their survival needs met, and don't have or can't afford the luxury of a lot of leisure time. As things are, we have to daily battle bodily discomfort and illnessl. In this way life usually forces us to experience a lot of adversity, while enjoyment, in contrast, is harder to come by. In modern society, a person needs money and so will work many hours doing things they don't necessarily want to be doing, which then creates this great thing called "days off" and " weekends." And their available income puts a cap on what they are able to buy and do, so they are kept in a state where enjoyment is readily accessible because they are so often not doing or getting everything that they want. Just the mere act of getting off work or out of school for the day brings a feeling of joy.

However, people are always wanting to get away from these limiting circumstances without understanding that when a person succeeds and gets to a place where they easily have access to an abundance of everything they desire (resources, time, etc.), this doesn't in an of itself automatically give rise to the happiness that they dream of. Because it isn't the mere state of not working that is enjoyable, but rather the movement or dance, back and forth, between the different polarities, such as between work(toil/effort) and leisure(pleasure/rest) that is satisfying and creates happiness. So, as in the case of retirement, a person must create some sort of disciplined routine for themselves to maintain balance in their lives or risk becoming sick and depressed. They have to actively choose to create the tension between the so called, "good and evil," for themselves rather than having it inflicted or forced upon them. They have to create a work/leisure balance and adhere to it. Whereas, once, they were forced by weekly grind and raising children to work hard and not have too much leisure (and thus appreciate it), now they may begin to see life as evil or cruel joke because they have reached the so called "golden years" but yet they are not happy. They can become trapped here again, not with the iron chains of responsibility, but with a bond that is even harder to break because it is really nothing. In their freedom do do whatever they want, they can become restricted from enjoyment by this very same openness. 

This is an interesting idea considering the story in Old Norse mythology of the bond that was made by the Svaltárfar "Black Elves" to to bind the wolf Fenrir (which we could say is representative of our animal appetites, desiring nature, or avarice/ greed). This fetter was said to be made out of six things 1.) the noise of a cat's footfall, 2.) a woman's beard, 3.) mountain roots, 4.) the sinews of a bear, 5.) a fish's breath, and 6.) the spittle of a bird, that some say are things that "don't exist" or are "impossible," since the text reads, 

. . . thou must have seen that a woman has no beard, and no sound comes from the leap of a cat, and there are no roots under a rock; and by my troth, all that I have told thee is equally true, though there be some things which thou canst not put to the test. [ch. 34, p.44] 

but from looking at them, we might say instead that they are things that are rather just "barely anything" or are "unseen," or are "of no consequence," things that are very subtle and so make a most subtle chain, and not simply that they don't exist.  This chain, called Gleipnir, was described as being like a soft smooth silken ribbon, unlike the two chains of metal that were first made, both of which Fenrir was able to break free from in a great exposition of raw strength. Some sources say the meaning of Gleipnir is "open one" and some add "lissom" as well, but others give such meanings as "entangled one," and "the deceiver." One possible etymological origin given is that it is derived from the verb gleipa meaning "scorn, sneer." It's not clear where the meaning of "open one" is sourced from, if it is an accurate etymology, however, being "open" does seem to have something to do with being lissom "thin, supple, graceful," in the sense that being lissom allows for some freedom, i.e., "openness" of movement compared to a thick, clanky chain made out of heavy metal links, and this would also make it more frustrating to not be able to break free from it, so it might appear to "scorn" in this way and be a "deceiver,"

Try and Fenrir, Illustration by John Albert Bauer (1882-1918), for Our Fathers' Godsaga by Victor Rydberg published 1911.

which would make Gleipnir similar to such words as gloat, glower, and  glare, which words are said to come from, "a large group of Germanic gl- words having to do with shining and glittering and, perhaps sliding. . . from PIE *ghel-" [OE]. So maybe we could say it is slippery, but not like Sleipnir the eight-legged horse of Odin whose name means "sliding one" or "gliding one," who was named such presumably because his swiftness of foot. And, we would also say it is "slippery" not just because it is smooth and perhaps glistening like a silken ribbon (or perhaps we could say,  rue-band, like Fenrir's "band of rue".),

Gleipnir looking like a glistening ribbon / rue-band,  Fenrir by Istrandar 

but we also could say that Gleipnir is "slippery" because it is like the snake in the garden of Eden who was a deceiver, a smooth talker, who perhaps we could say was a glib (archaic meaning "smooth and slippery") one (so a we could say,  glibnir [one who is glib]), and tricked Eve into eating the fruit, telling her she was open to do it, as a result putting the animal nature of man in a bind.

A gleaming glamorous ripon-like snake, Eve Tempted by the Serpent, William Blake

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desireable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Gen. 3:6

This serpent in Genesis is described as arum (aw-room') "crafty, shrewd, sensible, prudent, subtle"/ arom (aw-ram') "to be shrewd or crafty," which we could say would make him a "smooth" character, and this smoothness has a connection to arom (aw-romé) "naked," which would be something that is smooth as well (not covered with fur). He was very open in telling Eve the truth, but he was very crafty because his words had double  / diable / devil meaning, so his words were deceptive and ensnared her. He didn't force her to eat the fruit, he instead tricked her into thinking it was the right thing to do. Remember Eve/Chavvah "life" was perfectly innocent and without sin when she ate the fruit; she was lured into a trap. 

A snakey finger trap

Adam and Eve, in this story, represent innocent states of a polarized masculine and feminine perspective They are the two sides, ish "man" and isha "woman, wife, female," of adam "man." The tsela, translated as "rib," taken from the man, ha adam, Adam, was not one of his many rib bones, rather, it was one full side of man, it was one of a set of of two as the word is used in this passage from Exodus to describe the sides[ribs] of the tabernacle,

"Also make crossbars of acacia wood: five for the frames on the one side[rib] of the tabernacle, five for those on the other side[rib], and five for the frames on the west, at the far end of the tabernacle.  Exodus 26:26-27

and the tabernacle itself is a representation of the human body [which is a fitting place for God to dwell].

From the one side, the feminine perspective, the woman understood that since the fruit was good for food (nutritious), it was pleasing to look upon (looked healthy and appetizing), and was beneficial to gain wisdom (a good desire) making one to be like God (a seemingly good desire, since they were in fact made in God's image and likeness) that it couldn't be bad to eat it. Why would God make a good, and beautiful fruit that would kill them? Why would God create a tempter? Eve trusted in the goodness of God and did not believe God would make anything to harm her, therefore the fruit that God made was good and would therefore be good to eat. Why would an all good loving God make an evil fruit? She was trusting in the absolute goodness of her Creator and his love for her. It is the reasoning and faith of a child. And, in fact, when she (the feminine) ate the fruit in this state of innocence, nothing bad happened. She remained innocent. It wasn't until he (the masculine) ate it, that any negative consequences then appeared. 

Innocent Eve & Adam

Eve clearly was the one who decided the fruit was good to eat and ate it first. It doesn't go into detail about what happened after she ate it, but there was definitely a time when she had eaten the fruit and Adam had not eaten it yet, and nothing bad had occurred yet. Eve felt fine after eating it and this is why she offered it to her husband. Her conscience was clean at this point. However, here Adam was secondarily tricked by the devil's ruse. Adam had not reasoned to the same conclusion for himself as Eve had. He, in fact, acted without permission from his own authority and simply did what she had done, because she had done it. He mistakenly thought that since Eve had done it and nothing bad had happened that he could do it too. But this action upset the hierarchy of his own internal masculine and feminine, that is the "husband," his head, was not acting as the head (leader). Eve was tricked into to reasoning out [that is, HER head said] that it was OK to eat the fruit. Her conscience was clean. Adam was tricked into foregoing his reason [his head] by doing what his wife had done, simply because SHE had been able to do it. But Adam should not have subjugated his own reason to the reasoning of his wife when it went against the authority of his own conscience [his own voice of God]. Adam himself believed it was forbidden by God to eat the fruit, and that if they ate it they would die. Eve didn't know that her reasoning was not sufficient reasoning for her husband to follow for himself. Eve had the right innocence and purity of conscience to eat the fruit and not have it be a sin, believing wholeheartedly that her Father in heaven who loves his creation is all good and only made good things, so he wouldn't have made anything to be in the garden that would harm her. But Adam did not share this reasoning; rather, he knew it to be wrong to eat the fruit. So, it was after Adam ate the fruit that they BOTH began to feel shame for what they had done. When Adam (the head) felt guilty for eating the fruit, then Eve too felt shame (in her head) and believed she must have done something wrong. 

This is a very clever trick indeed! When Adam felt guilt for what he had done because he had not let his reason rule [he had not respected the voice of God in the form of his conscience], his action came to the light as a sin for him, and when Eve saw his shame and experienced his regret and disapproval of their action of eating the fruit, she felt guilty for of having given him the fruit to eat and being the cause of this darkness, and also felt the shame of her own seemingly deficient reasoning. Their eyes became *weid- ("to see") open. 

Eating the fruit in this story would be equivalent to the sun going to sunset (going to darkness) in the ancient Egyptian mythology, when Nut "Sky," who was also associated with Hathor/ ḥwt-ḥr "House/temple of Horus (the mother/consort of the reborn morning sun/Ra, rising from the horizon )" and Isis / [Egyptian] ist / ꜣst "seat, place," of the sun, (who were) the mother of the living [Eve/Chavva] or life [Ankh], this goddess swallows ["eats"] the sun(Ra) in the form of Tem /Atum, thus beginning his journey through the hours of the night (adversity), 

Nut as the Night Sky shown ingesting, gestating, and giving birth to the Sun [the red disk], Papyrus copy based on late Egyptian temple at Denderah, Getty Images

before he defeats the forces of chaos, aka, the world serpent Apep/Apophis, and is reborn as the morning sun, as discussed in the preceding card, Temperance XIIII. 

From this ancient Egyptian story it is more clearly illustrated, than in the biblical story, how it is proper for the feminine to be seeded (to eat the fruit) because a woman as woman is able to give birth and a man as man is not able to give birth . . .  unless his head is smashed open like Zeus. 

In the story of Zeus,  Zeus swallows his wife Metis, literally meaning "advice, wisdom, counsel; cunning, skill, craft" (who had already "eaten the fruit," that is she was already seeded, i.e., she was pregnant), and so Zeus is then secondarily seeded through his wife (which bears some resemblance to the story of Adam taking the fruit from his wife who had listened to the "metis[cunning]" snake). Zeus then is in great agony until giving birth to Athena (gaining the goddess of wisdom) through his head. 

Illustration from D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, p36

So, if we compare Eve "mother of the living" with the ancient Egyptian sky goddess (Nut/Hathor/Isis), when she eats the fruit she is brining upon sunset and the experience of darkness immanently just as when the sun sets, it is "swallowed" by the sky and this brings upon darkness. When the woman (Eve) ate this fruit she was impregnated with the seed of wisdom which then necessitated the experience of pregnancy and birth/labor as a result of the seeding. When the man ate the fruit that the woman had eaten, he had to journey (a toil/labor) through the perilous hours of the night like the sun/Ra, or the son of God, which is a death and rebirth experience and is definitely a real headache! Meanwhile the sky (the goddess, Mother of God, the new Eve) gestates and gives birth to the sun, the new Adam, the new man, the savior of the world, the Christ, the son of God at the dawn of the new day (that is, she provides a place by being a place [a seat/throne/tabernacle for wisdom] for this internal journey to take place, the night sky, the underworld, the realm of the subconscious). This is not just a story about the literal and physical phenomena in the sky, but also an archetypical story explaining the inner processes of a human being transitioning from the innocence of spiritual childhood through to spiritual adulthood within the course of the Day of life.

In the same way a child is naked but is not aware of their nakedness, Adam and Eve at first were not aware of their nakedness. The first knowledge that came to them after eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was the knowing (yada) that they were naked.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made covering for themselves. Gen. 3:7

Arom (aw-romé) "naked" is from ur (oor), "to be exposed, bare," which is similar in sound to or (ore) "a light"

And God said, "Let there be light, and there was light." Gen. 1:3

So, perhaps things that are exposed / bare / naked [ur] are things that are in the light [or], or they are not covered. And this would connect these naked/shrewd words from Hebrew with the Germanic gl- words, from *ghel-, meaning "to shine," like Lucifer is the shining light, and he is also the smooth(arum) talker, the deceiver, and he does this not by force or chains of iron, but by cunningness, or a glam/glamour, like light silken ribbon, talking with openness which we could say is talking with nakedness. He got Adam and Eve to step out into the light 👁👁 💡🧠 and they saw that they were mere creatures (created beings) made in the day (the cycle: light, dark, light) and therefore subject to change, which they thought made them less than God and they were ashamed.

Shadowscapes Tarot - Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

Loosing independence, addiction and enslavement, caught up in the material realm, overindulgence, choosing to stay in the dark, pleasures, lust, and desire. Feeling hopelessness close in and limit he options. The Devil plays on your desires with a masterful touch. Break free from the puppeteer's strings by looking beyond the material blockades and temptations.

It's really a smooth trick because simply by having the experience of bad/evil, Adam and Eve became sinners due to their interpretation of the experience. They thought that the experience of adversity was a punishment for disobeying God, and they willingly took on the silken ribbon bonds of shame. The "barely anything" of their transgression became the source of forever damnation; a bond stronger than the strongest metal chains. They lost trust and faith in the love of their creator when in actuality nothing can separate any of us from the love of God.

"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. Is. 43:25

I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. Is. 44:2

All they had to do was believe in the love of their creator as Eve had initially done in her innocence. Instead, they saw their nakedness as something to be ashamed of, rather than seeing their smoothness as a sign of their light: their intelligence. This led them into a fall from grace which spiraled out of control and still binds us to this very day. It is entirely understandable how this could happen since it is perplexing to think why, if God loves us, he would create a world where we all experience evil. It doesn't seem like a loving thing to do. However, when we realize that we were made to be like the one who made us, that is, we were made to be like God, then it is makes sense that we must also have the knowledge of evil to be like God, because God HAS knowledge of both good and evil.

So the the deception of the devil, like the smooth rope, Gleipnir, holds our animal/wolf (creature) nature in bondage until the gloaming of the Gods, Ragnarok, the "destined end of the gods," when we will take on the responsibility of our own divinity, that is, Christ Consciousness; the birth of Christ in us, and conduct ourselves accordingly, not by being bound by imposed rules and regulations, guilt or shame, but instead by enlightened self mastery (spiritual adulthood).

The name Devil, is from Ecclesiastical Greek diabolos (from dia "across, through"+ ballein "to throw") meaning "accuser, slanderer," which is from "a scriptural loan-translation" of the Hebrew satan," which has the meaning "adversary." That definitely sounds like someone who would throw you under (the bus, or into hell) as well. 

Spolia Tarot - artwork by Jen May, design by Tara Romeo, written by Jessa Crispin

The Devil as the Devil is not interested in liberating, even if succumbing to temptation can end up being a great teacher and a catalyst for liberation. There is nothing benevolent about the Devil's motives. When he seduces you to the fall he is hoping that you never get back up again. He only exists as the ruler of the dead end, eternal darkness/damnation. In the day he has no place because the darkness which is part of the day(day☀️ [night 🌚] ☀️morning) is surrounded by the light, so is not eternal darkness and therefore not evil. When the lights come back on to complete the day(the sun rises / morning), it's lights out for the Devil. His reign over eternal darkness comes to naught and evil vanishes like a mist. 

The Devil is alarmed by the first signs of daylight. Fantasia, Night on Bald Mountain, 1940

The devil is only the product of the fact that when we get too out of balance in any direction we cease to enjoy anything. We abhor becoming limp (too little tension) . . . yet we also abhor pain and love pleasure. The state of pure bliss we desire is hard to hold on to, it is ephemeral like the aroma of orange blossoms in the breeze on a perfect spring afternoon. Scent is very alluring and magical, yet if you try too hard, if you try and seize the beauty and cling to it, it escapes you. The longer you smell something the less your brain registers the smell, or in the extreme, smell can turn to evil; more is not always better. For example, one drop of essential oil can smell amazing and produce a magical bliss of emotions, but a whole handful placed to the nose produces nausea, and extreme aversion. The quantity of the scent must and needs to remain small, and the duration of smelling fleeting in order to be most profoundly enjoyed. When it remains so, it is a beautiful thing ,. . .  otherwise it becomes unsatisfying or even evil. We have to recognize it, breath it in, love it and then let it flit away like a butterfly.

Salvador Dalì Tarot

In this way we could say that aroma is arum "subtle," so then perhaps too it is arom "naked," that is, "smooth" like the serpent in the garden. Aroma is alluring as are the temptations of the devil. Aroma is odor, originally meaning "sweet smell, scent, fragrance" which is from PIE *hed- "to smell," which is similar to Greek hēdys "sweet," and hēdone "pleasure, delight, enjoyment." It's frustrating to want pleasure but not be able to own it. Instead the hēdone can own us. Instead we must trust the pleasure to come and go as it does. We have to enjoy it for  just a moment, a time, or a season and then let it go /die to it (for a time). We have to be OK with change and movement. But for some, it is so uncomfortable to not be in control that they are willing to forego goodness, just to have a firm placement. That would be hell. In hell you don't have to worry about being better, you don't have to work hard at anything, you don't have  the constant push and pull between pleasure and pain. Instead you can just sit and wallow in your misery eternally. There isn't anything complicated about that. . . And you can hate. You can hate God. You can be be the victim. And it won't ever stop . . . 'til you wise up.

We can only manifest what we believe is possible. If we are fooled into thinking that we are a prisoner with no means to ever escape we can exist in a kind of eternal hell. We are bound there until we believe we can be free, and this can stretch on eternally. We have this idea that we suffer because we are sinners. But what if we instead we say that we suffer because it is an experience. It is an experience which gives us the knowledge of evil.

A new Eve had to come along who would have such innocence of faith that she would view any darkness that she had suffered in her life, not to be the result of her own personal sin. She is the immaculate conception; she is she who is born without sin, and therefore she is she who allowed herself to believe that she was worthy to give birth the son of God because God had made her so, despite the fact that she was a mere mortal. Due to this acceptance, fiat, on her part of God's will, the "sun" (son) had a place to gestate and be born from creating the cycle of the day which turns the experience of darkness to light and envelops it in the safe confines of the Day: evil and Eve's ill being defeated.

The savior that is born, God made man, then, incarnates to show us how to get out of our own way. It isn't this savior who heals us, but it is God in us who heals us through our own faith. Jesus attests to this when he says, "Your faith has healed you." Mk 5:34, Mk 10:52. However it is Jesus/Yeshua, the Christ, who gives us reason to believe that we can be healed. It is Christ who allows us to believe again that God actually loves us and that we don't need to continue in a state of separation. This is what he died for to prove to us.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery. Gal. 5:1

Freedom, however, is never the purpose of the Devil.

Lost in the valley of the night

It is the music of the people who are climbing to the light

For the wretched of the earth

There is a flame that never dies

Even the darkest nights will end and the sun will rise

They will live again in freedom in the garden of the LORD

They will walk behind the ploughshare

They will put away the sword

The chain will be broken and all men will have their reward!

Will you join in our crusade?

Who will be strong and stand with me?

Somewhere beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see?

Say, do you hear the distant drums?

It is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes! - Les Miserables, Finale