CARD FIFTEEN: THE DEVIL
The imagery depicted in the Fifteenth card, known as "The Devil," is a synthesis of various themes introduced earlier. Central to the design is the Horned Goat of Mendes, bearing bat-like wings, positioned atop an altar. Notably, the sign of Mercury adorns the pit of its stomach. The right hand is raised and extended in a gesture contrasting the Hierophant's blessing in the fifth card. Conversely, the left hand grasps a large flaming torch, directed downwards towards the earth. A pentagram, inverted, marks the forehead.
Before the altar lies a ring, with two chains extending from it to bind the necks of two figures, one male and one female. These figures mirror the Adam and Eve narrative post-Fall, symbolizing the entrapment and inevitability of material existence. While portrayed with animalistic tails, their faces convey human intelligence. However, the figure presiding over them is not their eternal master; rather, he too is enslaved by the evil within, blinded to the freedom found in service.
In his characteristic disdain for the arts he professed to understand, Éliphas Lévi equates the Baphometic figure with occult science and magic. Another interpretation suggests its significance lies in predestination within the divine realm, yet such notions find no parallel with the brutish realities below. Instead, the Devil represents the Dweller on the Threshold outside the Mystical Garden, embodying the expulsion of those who have tasted the forbidden fruit.
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