In the Tarot pack, Card fifteen is often referred to as Force Majeure but is more recognizably noted as the Devil’s card. Half man, half goat. This chimera god has the wings of a vampire bat, and an entrancing powerful gaze. Above him is an inverted pentagram — the indicator of the dark arts of magic and occultism. At his feet stand a man and a woman, naked and chained to his throne upon which The Devil sits. They appear to be held there against their will — but they are not, rather they sport budding horns like their master and even have residual tails, also laden with other symbols that imply animalistic tendencies like pleasure and lust.
For those of you familiar with the term in insurance, you will know that it has come to mean also a common clause in contracts which essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties, such as a war, strike, riot, crime, epidemic, or sudden legal change prevents one or both parties from fulfilling their obligations under the contract. It’s the perfect get out of jail card for realtors as much as the rentier class.
In and of itself, the Devil here does not literally mean the Devil but rather the darker side of our nature -those negative forces that constrain us and hold us back from being the best version of ourselves. You will undoubtedly recognize some of those in yourself as I do too– the habit of obsessing over things or people or ideas that don’t serve you, harmful habits that you know will lead to suffering, an addiction to violence, whether verbal or physical, a failure of empathy that blinds you to the suffering of others.
Whatever your particular set of hang ups. As Bob Dylan once sang, ‘you’re gonna have to serve somebody’.
But if you ever were to receive this card, it’s not entirely doom-laden — it can be an opportunity to recognize your shadow self and bring it into the light, act and to free yourself from the Devil’s hold. The responsibility to do this is yours, and yours alone and accepting the burden is a moment of true reckoning.
I had one such epiphany this week at the result of the US elections. I purposefully chose to ignore coverage on the day preferring to get a good night’s sleep before settling into the new reality, whatever that was by the next day. It had a similar texture in my mind to the start of the Ukraine war, but with no shots fired. A bloodless coup as it were but needless to say, the silos are filling up to flowing with liberal tears as I write, and a new dawn is beckoning.
My wife, ever the keen interpreter of human nature had already called it for Trump back in the summer but like so many others, I had high hopes that Harris could make it past the dead cat bounce of Biden’s disastrous debate with him and convince enough Americans to follow a moral compass, rather than a venal, self-serving and all-too-human instinct to harken back to a cruder, meaner and simpler version of America. The medium is the message as ever, and in this instance, the message is one of nostalgia, red meat and retribution, and the paying of long overdue debts.
One thing is for sure — this is the democratic mandate of the majority of the US population, both the popular vote and those of the contested swing states. Whatever election interference there was, it was minimal (if you except Musk’s and let’s also add Rogan’s outsize influence on certain people through powerful platforms).
Also, there will be no January 6th disruption to proudly commemorate here — this will be the peaceful transfer of power as is bid in the Constitution. Nobody will die — yet.
Now, the question arises, what can or should be done to somehow make peace with this remarkable volte face to the progress of humanity as I, and many others perceive it? I think the first thing is to recognize the powerful emotions that govern such societal changes. In my second to last blog, I wrote about the choice between love or fear, and hoped, like so many others that love as a motive force would prevail over the fear narrative that has proven itself so successful. I was wrong to hope but that should not mean the end of hope for the planet or even us as a species — there is still so much to salvage and so much to do yet.
Love is stronger than fear, but it also requires courage.
And let’s not forget, this is not the end of democracy in America either; it is, however, a very dark turn in world affairs, which certain pundits better qualified to comment than me, have suggested will lead us to a more irrational, transactional place by 2030, not just in America, but everywhere that democracy is the default, as well as those places where it is not.
Will the next US president fulfil his election promises, expel or otherwise intern illegal immigrants in their millions, shut down women’s rights across the States and use the army as a tool of order and oppression? Could be. For all the bluster, there are still many democratically enshrined checks and balances but receiving the full mandate of the people might lead to radical changes that many Americans, even those who voted him in, may not be at all comfortable with. We are truly living in uncertain times and the tense silence we are experiencing in this post-election refractory period is deafening.
Now, I am equating Trump with the devil? No, but this much I will say — his call to ridicule, spite, division and the erosion of civic values will lead to no good, no matter how successful it was for him to regain power. He embodies the spirit of the id, a wellspring of liminal desires, fast gratification and the enticement of raw power. It’s very satisfying to the lizard brain to Komodo dragon-like feast on your enemies before they are even dead. But I digress.
Reading back over many of my blogs, I have come to realise that I have already devoted far too much time to pondering the wall-eyed weirdness of events in the US over the last decade or so. I’ve decided that I am drawing a line underneath and will choose instead to address universal issues that connect and uplift in my writing. Whether anybody chooses to listen or not, it means a lot to me to be able to offer breadcrumbs back to the civilized world we are fast exiting.
Presently, the shadow self, regrettably for many in service to their basest desires, is blocking us from being the best version of ourselves and this came to me resoundingly in my epiphany on Tuesday. Everybody of conscience should, or rather must now strive in this world to act with focus and good intention, to help themselves, but also others on the journey. It’s going to get crunchy, of that I have little doubt, but to what extent is still to be seen. Much depends on every one of us as individuals, communities and keepers of the flame.
Yes, the writing is on the wall but as the Marshall McLuhan embodied AI I consulted about our parlous times reminded me: it is not just the medium that shapes us, but how we choose to interpret and engage with the message. The future remains ours to shape — if only we can find the wisdom to listen, reflect, and act.
Remember, love conquers all but it works in long cycles and requires everyone’s participation. May it be so.
