the devil came again sooner than i expected. but what good timing, to appear when it did!
i watched the first few episodes of the chilling adventures of sabrina this weekend, and it’s got me thinking about choice, especially when it comes to the devil. after all, it wouldn’t be temptation if there weren’t a choice. it’s usually not just any choice, either, but one between following the rules and giving in to what you want. eve’s options are the classic example: do as god says and remain ignorant or eat of the fruit and gain knowledge. eve heard a convincing lie and gave in to her temptation.
the devil wants you to come willingly, even if you have to be tricked into doing so.
this card, with its open hand and loose grip on the chain, reminds me of a different devil: luci from the wicked + the divine. (spoilers for “the faust act” and sabrina to follow.)
for all the charm and seduction that set her apart from the dark lord of sabrina, though, she’s still the devil. luci lies to laura, promising things she cannot make happen in order to get her assistance, and her final message to the world is “do as thou wilt.” the high priest told sabrina the lie that their religion would bind her to nothing but her own free will and allow her to do only as she pleased, to convince her to go through with her dark baptism.
now, i am frequently an advocate for being a little bit selfish, but we are bound to more than just what we want. there is also the question of what do we owe to each other. (yes, obviously i am also bringing the good place into this newsletter.) i don’t know the answer to that question, but i know it’s not nothing.
there’s no tidy ending to this newsletter, i’m afraid. my sympathy is frequently with the devils in the media i consume. i don’t think that eve made the wrong choice, but i probably think that because i would have made it, too. i think it’s all more complicated than the binary of good and evil.
so this week, my darlings, watch out for temptations that seem too good to be true, and remember that we do owe each other something. be well.
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this week’s deck: mesquite tarot
this week’s rocks: snowflake obsidian, hematite, black obsidian