Tarot Energy: Week 9.19.21
From the Edmund Dulac Tarot
Major Arcana The Devil makes his presence known this week, just in time for our descent into the darker part of the year that begins on Autumnal Equinox, September 22, 2021. Summer ends this week with the alignment of day and night at equal proportions on Wednesday, which is what the equinox denotes. After this alignment, those of us in the Northern Hemisphere move into autumn, the time of the year when the daylight hours become fewer and the nights become longer. In many myths around the world, this was the time for a hero or heroine to be taken from the sunlight of the physical experience into the darkness of the Underworld, a place filled with shadow and challenge. In perfect synchronicity, The Devil appears in our weekly reading to remind us of the shadow side of ourselves that must be acknowledged in order to emerge once again into the light. The Devil symbolizes bondage to the lesser aspects of ourselves that we tend to hide: our bad habits, our addictions, our negative thought patterns, our unhealthy relationships, our pains that we cannot release, our pasts that we cannot forgive or forget. The Devil reminds us that we are all human, and that we all have a shadow side that cannot and should not be ignored. What in our past have we buried without really dealing with it? What wounds do we have that still fester even if we try to avoid them? The energy of the Equinox reminds us of the inherent balance of nature, and The Devil tasks us with releasing what keeps us from that state. We are challenged to go to our own Underworld, the deep recesses of our Self, to excavate our shadows, to acknowledge them, to embrace them as an important part of ourselves, and to learn from them what we can do to become better, more well-adjusted people. The Devil can be scary, yes; but The Devil does not control us. We always choose our path, and we can choose to walk in darkness without fear so that we can emerge into light once more.
May we all love our shadow into light. May our devils be quieted, and our autumns be blessed.
