The Tarot of Eli, LLC-Major Arcana: Thoth Tarot-ATU XV-The Devil & The Arcane Tarot -Key 15-The Devil

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Above all things, know thyself!

The Lord of the Gates of Matter; The child of the Forces of Time.

The Path of Ayin (The Eye): The Devil as the Solar Gate of Illusion and Awakening

On the Qabalistic Tree of Life, The Devil—ATU XV corresponds to the Path of Ayin (ע), the Eye. This is the Twenty-sixth Path, a formative path that links Tiphareth (6)—the Solar Logos, Beauty, the True Self—to Hod (8)—Splendor, the Mercurial intellect, language, symbol, and rational cognition.

This path does not descend into the abyss; rather, it mediates between Solar Identity and mental interpretation. In terms of Self-structure, Ayin is the interface between the Soul and the constructed personality, between the Original Individual (Solar Self) and the false ego formed through conditioning.

The error of popular religion and modern psychology alike is to misidentify the ego as the Self. Hermetic Qabalah corrects this mistake. The Solar Self is primary. Personality is secondary. The Devil is the test of whether the intellect serves the Sun—or replaces it.

The Solar Self: The Divine Child Beyond Gender

The Solar Self, centered in Tiphareth, is not a moral construct, nor a theological “Son” bound to gender or doctrine. It is plasmic consciousness—a radiant, self-aware emanation of the Divine Creative Principle. It is a Star-being, an individualized sun whose light streams outward as intelligence, imagination, and will.

In Hermetic terms, this is Adam Khadmon individualized—not fallen but extended.

Each solar emanation becomes a living soul-spark—an “I AM”—that descends into manifestation, passing through the filters of mind, emotion, body, and time. This descent is not a punishment; it is the experiment of individuation.

The natural circuit is simple and flawless:

Self → self → Self

Emanation, experience, reintegration.

This is the Solar Mysticism of the Tree of Life, and it functions perfectly until interference is introduced.

The Merkabah and the Stellar Human

Each incarnate being carries a personal Merkabah—not as metaphor, but as a subtle, plasma-based configuration of consciousness. This Light-Vehicle is the interface between worlds, allowing the Solar Self to traverse the realms of psyche, dream, imagination, and death.

The “other side of the mirror” is not elsewhere—it is beyond reflected light, beyond the mind’s projection of reality.

You are not born into the universe.

You are born as a star within it.

Ayin and the Birth of the False Ego

The Path of Ayin governs how reality is seen.

Ayin is the Eye—but not vision itself. It is interpretation.

When the intellect (Hod) loses its alignment with the Solar Center (Tiphareth), the Eye no longer transmits light—it distorts it. The result is the formation of a parasite-ego: a mimic consciousness constructed from fear, language, imitation, and external authority.

This is the true “Devil.”

Not an external demon—but an internal inversion, where symbols replace direct knowing and authority replaces inner light.

In Qabalistic terms, this is the adversarial illusion: the intellect crowned instead of the Sun.

The Devil as Initiator, Not Villain

In the Thoth tradition, The Devil is not evil. He is Pan, Capricorn, the Goat-God, the tester of instincts, desires, and survival consciousness. He governs the raw life-force and the question:

Who commands the Light—desire or will?

Ayin asks whether the intellect will:

• Serve the Solar Self
  or

• Enslave it through fear, guilt, and abstraction

The chains on The Devil card are loose.

They always have been.

The Hijacking of the Solar Mystery

Historically, the Solar Logos was not a dying god—it was an eternal radiance expressed through cyclical descent and return. However, this mystery was inverted.

The Solar Child became a martyr.
The Feminine Creatrix became suspect.
Life-force became sinful.
Authority replaced gnosis.

The Divine Feminine—Binah, Sophia, Nuit, the Cosmic Womb—was split into extremes: angel above, demon below. This was not theology; it was political metaphysics, designed to control reproduction, imagination, and spiritual sovereignty.

This inversion fractured the inner union of Sun and Moon, Will and Form, Fire and Water.

And the fracture lives inside the psyche until healed. Here the house of the intellect has been divided, and it will always fall.

I. Ayin — The Eye That Laughs

The Hebrew letter Ayin (ע) means Eye, yet it also carries the connotation of mirth, delight, and playful revelation. This double meaning is not accidental. It is deliberately initiatory. Ayin teaches that what is seen depends entirely upon the condition of the seer.

On the Thoth Tarot Devil card, Ayin appears at the base—not as a mark of damnation, but as a signature of conscious perception. The Devil is not the enemy of light; he is the gatekeeper of interpretation. Here lies the great difficulty for the Western mind, which has been trained through centuries of dogmatic Christian overlays to equate “Devil” with moral evil rather than misaligned sight.

This is corrupted eye-dentity—identity formed by distorted vision.

Ayin is the path where seeing becomes believing, or believing replaces seeing. It is therefore one of the most challenging paths on the Tree of Life, precisely because it dismantles inherited definitions and forces the aspirant to confront how reality itself has been mentally constructed.

II. The Central Pillar and the Starborn Ascent

Through the Central Pillar, the Merkabah ascends from Malkuth through Yesod, Tiphareth, and beyond—rethreading the incarnate self back into alignment with the Solar I AM. This ascent is not symbolic alone; it is a lived psycho-spiritual realignment in which fragmented identity is recollected into unity.

The Starborn Soul is the Divine Child: an individualized ray of the Great Creative Sun, projected into manifestation not as exile, but as exploration. Each soul descends to gather experience, to refine awareness through form, and to return—not diminished but enriched as Wisdom.

The tragedy is not the descent.

The tragedy is forgetting the ascent.

III. The Corruption of Light and the Birth of the False Ego

Upon incarnation, few are taught how to see.

Instead, the Eye is conditioned.

Religious dogma, linguistic inversion, political ideology, and fear-based cultural hypnosis accumulate layer upon layer of distortion. These forces are not random; they are systematized. The Military Industrial Complex functions as a modern outer expression of an ancient mechanism of control—one that thrives on fragmentation, polarity, and perpetual threat.

From this environment emerges the false ego: a parasitic mimic of true selfhood. Hermetically, this is not the personality itself, but a Qliphothic shell—a defensive construct formed from fear, shame, and externally imposed identity.

This is the true “Devil within.”

Not an invading demon, but a self-generated inversion, whispering separation where unity exists, weakness where radiance is native, fate where freedom is inherent.

The false ego survives by misdirecting the Eye/"I".

In Hermetic terms, this false ego is the caul of the Devil within—a veil that obscures the radiance of your Celestial Light. It is woven from the raw material of the survival mind, the fear-based subconscious which, when untamed, becomes a realm of inverted imagination—a hall of mirrors where false definitions are accepted as truth. This body-bound ego, obsessed with safety, status, and social approval, is not the true inhabitant of your soul, but the jailer of it.

To awaken the Real “I” is to pierce this veil, reclaim authorship of your mind, and realign your identity with your Solar Origin—as a Star, not a slave.

IV. The Hijacking of the Solar Mythos

In the great inversion, the Solar Logos—once the symbol of eternal radiance, cyclical renewal, and conscious return—was recast as a dying god bound to guilt, sin, and sacrifice. The Sun became a symbol of suffering rather than self-illumination.

This was not merely theological error; it was metaphysical strategy.

To sever humanity from its Solar identity, the Divine Feminine had first to be broken. The womb—the Graäl of incarnation, the matrix of worlds—was vilified. Woman was split into extremes: angel above, devil below. Sacred when obedient, dangerous when sovereign.

Thus, the Solar Mystery was stripped of its lunar counterpart, and the inner marriage of Fire and Water was dissolved. Humanity was divided against itself by losing the memory of its androgynous wholeness.

V. The Restoration of the Divine Child

The Hermetic Path is the path of repair.

By purifying the Eye (Ayin), re-centering the Sun (Tiphareth), and restoring the intellect (Hod) to its rightful role as servant rather than ruler, the false ego dissolves. Through ritual, contemplation, and conscious reintegration, the Merkabah awakens.

What returns is not the naïve child—but the Radiant Child, balanced in Solar Fire and Lunar Water, Masculine Will and Feminine Form.

This is the Child of the Aeon: not born of dogma, but of direct knowing. The reconciler of opposites. The one who rides the Chariot not away from the world, but back into the Sun.

Let the aspirant remember:

As above, so below.
As within, so without.
The Star is within you.

The Arcane Tarot – Key XV: The Devil as Medieval Mask and Psychological Snare

In the Arcane Tarot, Key XV – The Devil is rendered through a distinctly medieval lens, drawing upon the Baphomet archetype as it emerged during the era of the Knights Templar. Here, Baphomet is enthroned upon a pedestal, crowned by an inverted pentagram—a symbol that, in later centuries, would be stripped of its initiatory complexity and reduced to a sign of fear.

Historically, Baphomet was not a horned demon in the Christian sense, but a syncretic, androgynous figure, often depicted with both masculine and feminine attributes—including breasts—symbolizing the union of opposites and the secret wisdom accused of heresy. In this sense, Baphomet represents not corruption, but what orthodoxy could not control.

Traditionally, Devil imagery includes two human figures—one male, one female—loosely chained to the pedestal, emphasizing voluntary bondage through ignorance or desire. In the Arcane Tarot, however, these figures are absent. Instead, the background erupts into fiery chaos, suggesting that the bondage depicted here is no longer personal alone, but collective, systemic, and atmospheric. The chains are no longer visible because they have been internalized.

Divinatory Surface Meanings

Upright keywords associated with this card include:

• Addiction

• Materialism

• Lust

• Compulsion

• Loss of agency through attachment

Reversed keywords include:

• Release

• Independence

• Conscious choice

• Freedom through awareness

These meanings are valid at the psychological and practical levels—but they are not the whole truth.

The Devil as Illusion, Not Entity

Qabalists, Kabbalists, Gnostics, Shamans, and Western Magick practitioners—particularly those versed in the Thoth Tarot—recognize that the Devil is not an external metaphysical ruler. Rather, it is a constructed archetype, weaponized through superstition and fear-conditioning to enforce obedience.

The “Devil” functions as a psychological proxy: a fabricated adversary onto which responsibility for suffering is displaced. Hunger, poverty, illness, and homelessness are not the works of infernal beings; they are the products of human greed, systemic exploitation, and institutionalized imbalance. Yet the myth of the Devil allows these realities to be reframed as moral failures or cosmic punishment—thus obscuring their true origins.

This is the shadow architecture of control: a system in which fear of imaginary evil blinds the collective Eye to real structures of domination.

In Hermetic terms, this is a corruption of Ayin—the Eye—where perception is inverted and authority is externalized.

Evil as Inversion, Not Power

From the Hermetic perspective, to live is to evolve—to expand awareness through experience, refinement, and integration. Consciousness is meant to move forward, not stagnate.

To devolve—to retreat into fear, unconscious repetition, or willful ignorance—is a reversal of this sacred motion. It is no accident that the word evil is live spelled backward. This linguistic mirror encodes a deeper truth:

Evil is not a force—it is inversion.

It is entropy of the soul.
It is consciousness turned against itself.
It is motion arrested and life denied.

The Devil does not create this condition; he merely reveals it.

Liberation Through Solar Reorientation

True liberation begins when the illusion is recognized.

When the aspirant withdraws belief from fear-based mythologies, reclaims authorship of Self, and restores alignment with the Solar Light of Tiphareth, the Devil loses all authority. The chains fall away because they were never locked.

In this light, Key XV is not a card of damnation, but of awakening through disillusionment. It is the moment the Eye sees clearly again.

And when the Eye is purified, the Sun resumes its rightful place at the center of the soul.

Eli's Hermetic Teaching Scroll

Title: Starborn: The Merkabah and the False Ego

Opening Axiom: "Every man and every woman is a star." — Liber AL vel Legis

I. The Birthright of Stars

We are not born merely into a physical world—we are born as Stars within the vast body of the Divine. Each soul, a radiant spark of the Solar Logos, descends into the lower realms through the veil of reflected light. We carry within us the Merkabah, our chariot of Light, formed of plasma and subtle matter. This living vessel moves between dimensions and serves as our vehicle of ascension across the veils of the invisible worlds.

Through the Central Pillar of the Tree of Life, the Merkabah ascends from Malkuth to Tiphareth and beyond, reconnecting the lower self to the greater Solar I Am. The Starborn Soul is the Divine Child—an individualized beam of the Great Creative Sun, sent to gather experience and return as Wisdom.

II. The Corruption of Light

Yet few remember their origin. Upon incarnation, we are subjected to layers of programming—religious dogma, linguistic deception, political ideology, and fear-based social conditioning. These distortions are orchestrated and perpetuated by the Military Industrial Complex (MIC), which engineers division, consumerism, and spiritual amnesia.

From this arises the false ego: a mind-virus, or parasitic identity, forged by the will of external "authorities." It is not who you are, but rather a mask made for you. This surrogate self becomes an inner saboteur, a self-victimizing mechanism designed to keep you small, reactive, and bound to systems of fear and obedience.

In Hermetic terms, this false ego is the caul of the Devil within—a veil that obscures the radiance of your Celestial Light. It is woven from the raw material of the survival mind, the fear-based subconscious which, when untamed, becomes a realm of inverted imagination—a hall of mirrors where false definitions are accepted as truth. This body-bound ego, obsessed with safety, status, and social approval, is not the true inhabitant of your soul, but the jailer of it.

To awaken the Real “I” is to pierce this veil, reclaim authorship of your mind, and realign your identity with your Solar Origin—as a Star, not a slave.

III. The Hijacking of the Solar Mythos

In this inversion, the Sun of God—our ancient Solar archetype of Divine Consciousness—was transformed. What was once symbolic of the radiant Self became the figure of the dying god, nailed to the myth of sin and sacrifice. This distortion masked a deeper agenda: the subjugation of the Divine Feminine.

The natural power of the womb, the Graal of incarnation, was vilified. Woman became both angel and devil, a bifurcated being in service to patriarchy. Thus, the solar mystery was emptied of its feminine balance, and humanity was divided against itself.

IV. The Restoration of the Divine Child

The Hermetic path restores what was divided. By awakening the Merkabah and dissolving the false ego through ritual, contemplation, and self-integration, we reclaim the Radiant Self—the Divine Child—balanced in both solar fire and lunar water. This is the Child of the Aeon, the reconciler of opposites, who rides the Chariot back into the Sun.

Let the aspirant remember:

"As above, so below. As within, so without. The Star is within you."

V. The Devil and the Inversion of Self

Qabalists, Kabbalists, Gnostics, Shamans, Western Magick practitioners, and serious students of the Thoth Tarot all recognize this for what it is: illusion and control through superstition. The figure of the "Devil" is not an external entity of power, but a patriarchal construct, a psychological weapon designed to manipulate fear and obedience. It is part of a larger mythos engineered by those who seek dominion over the collective mind—a shadow architecture built to ensure the many submit to the will of the few.

This false devil becomes a scapegoat—an archetypal distraction—so that human suffering (such as hunger, poverty, illness, and homelessness) can be blamed on a metaphysical adversary rather than on the very real forces of greed, corruption, and systemic exploitation. Thus, the masses are taught to fear an imaginary evil while remaining blind to the hands that pull the strings from behind the curtain of "created sin."

From the Hermetic perspective, to live is to evolve—to move forward through experience, expanding mentally, emotionally, and physically. To devolve—to regress into unconsciousness, fear, or willful ignorance—is a reversal of this sacred motion. It is no coincidence that the word evil is live spelled backwards. In truth, “evil” is not a demonic power, but stagnation, inversion, and entropy of the soul.

Liberation begins when one sees through the illusion, reclaims the authorship of Self, and reorients toward the Solar Light of conscious evolution.

In Barbra G. Walker's Book [ THE WOMAN'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MYTHS AND SECRETS] which has been honored by the London Times Educational supplement as 1986 "Book of the Year", the provenance of the word devil is noted as Persian. She states." The Words "devil" and "divinity" grew from the same root, Indo-European devi (Goddess) or deva (God), which became daeva (devil) in Persian. Old English divell (devil) can be traced to the Roman derivative divus, divi, meaning "gods".

Thus, it seems that, from the beginning, gods and devils were often confused with one another. She goes onto explain such enlightening scholarship that I highly recommend this book to anyone who seeks an honest education as opposed to a dishonest indoctrination.

This confusion of gods and devils is also why the Devil card, ATU /Key 15 is a gematria 1+5=6; which is the Christ-Buddha consciousness the 6th Sephiroth-Tiphareth. Hence, it is the "unseen" or shadow side of the Sun of God/ Child of the Divine Creative that mimics life in the subconscious and/or instinctual planetary mind.

It is well noted in Hermetic Qabalah, Gnosticism, and metaphysics, that the Gods are creations of the Created and so are the Devils. In other words, they are Imagined as are the boogey man of many cultures.

The I AM, imagines the ME. The Consciousness of I AM, is what we call our "waking consciousness" which many people call the "personality" which is an error, for the personality is created by the combination of subconscious reactionary programing and indoctrinated waking consciousness. The ego is the Subconscious-the Nephesh-. This is easily understood if you know that the word personality came from the Greek root of "persona" which means "mask".

In the context of psychology and metaphysics, both the personality and the ego are significant concepts, but they refer to different aspects of an individual.

1. Personality:

   • In psychology, personality encompasses a set of enduring traits, patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make each person unique. It's the way an individual consistently interacts with the world.
   • Personality is shaped by a combination of genetic factors, experiences, and environmental influences. Psychologists often use various theories, such as the Big Five personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism), to understand and categorize personality characteristics.

2. Ego:

   • In psychology, particularly in psychoanalytic theory developed by Sigmund Freud, the ego is one of the three parts of the mind, alongside the id and superego. The ego is responsible for mediating between the instinctual, impulsive desires of the id and the moral and social constraints of the superego.
   • The ego operates based on the reality principle, seeking to satisfy the id's desires in a way that is realistic and socially acceptable. It helps individuals navigate the external world and make decisions that balance their internal needs with external demands.

In summary, while personality refers to the overall pattern of characteristics that define an individual, the ego is a specific part of the mind responsible for managing conflicts between internal drives and external demands. The ego is a component of the broader personality structure. Understanding both concepts can provide insights into human behavior and thought processes.

The idea of ego, id, and the super-ego are not new concepts. The Ancient Egyptian philosophy of the triple soul (Pysche) has been known for thousands of years.

In ancient Egyptian philosophy, the soul is viewed as comprising several aspects, each with a distinct function or role in the spiritual life of a person. While there are variations in interpretations over time, the three most commonly cited aspects of the soul in Egyptian thought are:

1. Ka: The Ka represents the life force or vital essence of a person. It is often described as the spiritual double of the individual, present from birth and continuing after death. The Ka requires sustenance, which is why offerings were made to it in the afterlife. The Ka is often seen as the essence that gives life and needs to be preserved for the individual to continue to exist beyond death.

2. Ba: The Ba is the personality or individual character of a person. It is often depicted as a human-headed bird, symbolizing its ability to move freely between the earthly and spiritual realms. The Ba is associated with the soul's ability to retain its individuality and is believed to travel between the body and the afterlife, sometimes needing to return to the tomb to reunite with the Ka.

3. Akh: The Akh represents the transformed, immortal aspect of the soul after death. It is the "effective spirit" or the "shining one" that results from the successful judgment in the afterlife. The Akh is the result of the union between the Ka and the Ba, and it represents the person's continued existence in the afterlife, often as an enlightened, powerful spirit who can influence the world of the living.

These three aspects—Ka, Ba, and Akh—work together to maintain a person's existence, both in life and after death. The Egyptians believed that the balance and harmony between these aspects were essential for achieving immortality and peace in the afterlife. The "divide and conquer" deception of the Military Industrial Complex Patriarchy, completely divides communication between these triple aspects of self and thereby, weaken the individual "will to be" and become the weakness of " I seek to be".

There is another fact here that may hide from reason, and that is the combination of the words Devi (Goddess)and Lingam (Male phallus), is Divya Linga (Sanskrit word for Divine- lingam) and has also been interpreted by propagandists of Christian past, as the word Devil, which bespeaks of the "Son of God" (Apollo son of Zeus) as the Solar Phallus.

Hence, the Christian Devil is always shown with a metaphoric erect phallic tail and often female breasts to become a besmirched image of the Divine Androgyne. However, becoming the Divine Androgyne manifested is the goal to achieve for the enlighten aspirant.

There is also an accompanying Trident, which is a symbol of the "3" aspects of the Whole Self, and/or Spirit-Mind-Body, Also Shiva the Hindu destroyer god is often shown with a Trident. Much to study here as most of our "knowledge" is propaganda-based misconstructions!

Imagination is the True Mind/Will of Formation. When your Imagination is under the control of outside authority, due to fear of punishment and/or fear of death (fear of sensation), you are bedeviled throughout life and become a "Mind divided", which is a living hell that destroys its solar immunity to darkness and/or invites evil and is too weak to fight off the parasitic false ego. In reality this is dividing the left side of the brain from the right side, intelligence is only half of what it should be.

Most human personalities are profaned by a mind-virus—a hidden construct embedded within the subconscious that manifests as the false ego. This parasitic entity is a form of anti-motion—a force of resistance that suppresses authentic growth and diverts conscious will into loops of illusion and unfulfilled longing.

If you wish to truly act, to will with clarity and power, your “I GO” must arise from the True Self—the Original I AM—not from the programmed ego that says “I want to be,” or “I wish to go.” The former is the radiance of Solar Being; the latter is the shadow-play of personality, ever chasing definitions authored by others.

The ruling elite—the architects of the Military Industrial Complex and its patriarchal extensions—understand a hidden truth: the personality is imagined. It is not the Real You. Their control lies in ensuring that this false identity—this mimic self—becomes your primary interface with reality.

This is the secret of the Wetiko, as described in Native American metaphysics: a psychic virus that convinces you it is you. It is a trickster, a shapeshifter, a deceiver that operates from beneath conscious awareness. Its power lies in remaining unseen—hidden behind the masks we wear, the names we inherit, and the cultures we conform to.

Thus, many wander through life lost in a forest of language, trapped in definitions and roles that obscure the living truth of their Being. We mistake these scripted “ME’s” for our I-dentity, unable to perceive the true Light within because we are buried under the accumulated weight of words, customs, and belief systems.

To awaken is to pierce this semantic fog, shed the false masks, and reclaim the Solar “I”—the eternal witness and architect of Being.

The "Shadow side" of our mind, is the survival mind -virus greed and its fear-based perspectives. It is always telling us, "You need this, or you won't survive" and/or "happiness depends on getting this, that or the other thing"...greed/fear of not surviving, is its fertile ground for this special and most destructive pandemic... an infection that is millennia's old and non-local. Hence, it is not of "time/space" for it is a copy of universal entropy and/or chaos.

This is the action of true Evil in this world. However, this "mind virus" of the "false ego", is easily dissolved under observation. When you observe this mimic in your subconsciousness, by "lucid dreaming" and/or meditation, you can simply weaken its hold on you by observation. When light looks at shadow, shadow is gone! The True Light of Your Solar Self will banish the "false ego" just by knowing it exists and observing its operation in the brain.

Remember, a virus has no life of its own, it "multiplies" and mimics life by attaching to a living cell, in the case, of the "devil within"- a living being's subconsciousness emotions. Then your own emotional-mental forces, multiply the "anti-life" within. This amplification shows up as addiction, (smoking, alcoholism, drug use etc..) emotional dysfunction, phobias, psychosis, and all self-destructive behavior---even self-harming. This means we are being "evil" to the very body we cause to be alive as our Celestial "self-awareness".

You are Life/Breath, and you create lifetimes by manifesting dreams of Self!

Three Paths lead directly into Tiphareth (your Solar Psyche): THE DEVIL (ATU/Key 15), ART (ATU/Key 14 called Temperance in Traditional Medieval Tarot decks), and DEATH (ATU/Key 13). Now each of these paths represents a special trial for the aspirant; However, each person is not required to travel all three inner Paths.

One way to experience Path Travel is the Devotional Path of the Middle Pillar or Pillar of Mildness, where one need only experience the Path of Samekh (meaning- Prop) or the Art Card-Key14 (Temperance in other decks), leading from Yesod (Foundation) to Tiphareth (Beauty). This is more of a gentle path of the Mystics and demands less mental and emotional introspection from the aspirant.

The Magi's way of following each and every Inner-Path; The Serpentine Path-means, a process of condensing our light that has come down by the Lightning path and/or the I AM going down the Tree of Life, (alchemical-coagulation). The Serpent path is going back up the Tree of Life (Alchemical Solve et Coagula); Hence, the acquisition of control over Intelligent Forces which each Path symbolizes, as every Path confers a unique power/ability ("magical abilities" that are Alchemical solution and coagulation).

The Magus as Active Creative Intelligence

A Magus is not a passive observer of existence, nor one who fears the terminus of time by refusing to contemplate it. A Magus is an active force of Creation—one who consciously engages Time and Space, Alpha and Omega, beginning and return, as tools rather than threats.

To fear the end is to misunderstand the nature of cycles. The Magus does not flee dissolution; they command transition.

The Traveler of the Middle Pillar learns to balance the forces of the Thirty-Two Paths of Wisdom within the Self. Yet it must be clearly stated: intellectual comprehension of the Tree of Life is not mastery. One may map the Paths flawlessly and still lack the ability to operate within them.

True mastery requires something more demanding than understanding.

It requires intimate experience.

Mercury and the Art of Conscious Manipulation

The development of a discerning Mercurial Personality—a Hod refined enough to serve Tiphareth—comes only through lived engagement with each Sephirah and each Path. Not as abstractions, but as states of being entered, endured, and integrated.

This is why the human body exists.

The body is not a prison.
It is not a fall.
It is a measuring instrument of Time/Space, engineered precisely so consciousness may encounter limitation, sensation, resistance, and change.

And it is connected directly to the Inventor of Time:

Imagination.

Imagination is not fantasy nor is it the emotional female false identity. It is the interface between the unmeasured Infinite and measured form. It is the womb in which idea becomes image, image becomes sensation, and sensation becomes identity.

From Information to Knowledge

Data is information.

Information alone is inert.

The Infinite cannot know itself as information without embodiment. For information to become Self-knowledge, it must be sensualized—experienced through form, emotion, desire, struggle, and joy.

This intimacy with information is called experience.

And when information is experienced, it becomes knowledge.

Knowledge is true mental power. It is neither moral nor immoral. It is capacity. Power arises not from belief, but from direct familiarity with cause and effect within consciousness.

There is no other way for the Infinite One—the Divine Collective of All—to experience itself as individual data, as in-form-action.

When Spirit inherits a body, it does not mourn the loss of infinity.

It celebrates.

It has its Party On.

The Purpose of Incarnation

Therefore, the purpose of life is not to seek Life.

It is to be Life.

To create it.
To shape it.
To experience it in measured form as a lifetime of self-generated ideas.

You are not here to discover meaning as though it were hidden.

You are here to author it.

Each life is a spell.
Each identity is a work of art.
Each experience is the Infinite tasting itself through you.

This is Magick.

And this is why the Magus creates—rather than waits for creation to happen to them.

Power, Authority, and the Trial of the Occult Aspirant

It must be said plainly: not all who enter the study of the Occult—the hidden mysteries—do so in pursuit of wisdom or self-knowledge. Some seek raw power, authority over others, and the illusion of invulnerability. Their motive is not initiation, but avoidance—the avoidance of pain, humility, and inner reckoning.

This impulse mirrors the psychology of the Patriarchy and militarized authority structures, whose unspoken creed is: dominate first, lest you be dominated. It is fear masquerading as strength. Such a path does not lead to mastery, but to interior collapse.

In Hermetic understanding, hell is not a place of punishment imposed from without. It is a mindscape—a closed circuit of consciousness where fear, control, and separation endlessly reinforce themselves. Likewise, heaven is not a reward, but a state of coherence. Each is self-generated.

Those who pursue power to escape their own wounds do not avoid suffering—they institutionalize it within themselves.

The Seduction of Evil and the Failure of Discernment

A further correction must be made for the aspirant:

Evil does not appear as evil.

If it did, no one would consent to it.

No one bargains with a grotesque caricature of corruption. Such a transaction would be absurd. Instead, inversion arrives beautiful, seductive, and persuasive. It offers certainty instead of inquiry, dominance instead of responsibility, and shortcuts instead of transformation.

What is surrendered is rarely perceived as the soul itself. Capitulation is framed as empowerment, and decay masquerades as authority. Thus, the individual does not recognize the moment of self-betrayal as tragic—but as advantageous.

This is the true danger of the Devil archetype: not terror, but attraction.

Narcissism is a term used to describe a personality trait or disorder characterized by excessive self-centeredness, an inflated sense of self-importance, and a lack of empathy for others. The concept of narcissism has evolved over time, especially in psychology, where it is understood in both a general and clinical context. Here’s a breakdown of the concept:

1. Narcissistic Personality Trait (Normal Narcissism):

• Self-focus and self-admiration: People with narcissistic traits may display a strong sense of self-importance, enjoy admiration, and often seek validation and recognition from others. This can be seen in a healthy, non-pathological form in people who are confident and value their achievements but still maintain a sense of empathy and connection with others.
• Healthy narcissism: A certain level of self-esteem and self-love is important for mental well-being. In this case, narcissism can help a person set boundaries, maintain their self-worth, and assert their needs in a balanced way.

2. Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) (Divide and conquer-Profaned Narcissistic persona):

• This is a more extreme and pathological form of narcissism that is classified as a personality disorder in psychology. Narcissistic Personality Disorder involves pervasive patterns of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and a lack of empathy, which significantly impair a person's relationships and social functioning.
• Key characteristics of NPD include:
  • Grandiose sense of self-importance: Exaggerating achievements and talents, believing they are superior or unique and should only associate with other special or high-status people.
  • Need for excessive admiration: Constantly seeking praise and validation, feeling entitled to special treatment.
  • Lack of empathy: Struggling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.
  • Exploitation of others: Using others to achieve their own goals or desires, without regard for the harm caused.
  • Envy and arrogance: Feeling envious of others or believing that others are envious of them.
  • Interpersonal difficulties: Often having troubled or shallow relationships because they fail to empathize and are overly self-centered.

People with Narcissistic Personality Disorder often have fragile self-esteem, which can lead to feelings of insecurity and vulnerability despite outward appearances of confidence. They may react with rage or withdrawal when their ego is threatened or when they don't receive the admiration they believe they deserve.

3. Cultural and Social Factors:

• In modern society, narcissism is often linked to social media culture, where there is a constant need for validation through likes, shares, and comments. People may become more self-focused, seeking attention and approval, and less concerned with the well-being of others.
• In popular culture, the term "narcissist" is often used more casually to describe someone who is overly self-centered or self-absorbed, though this doesn’t necessarily mean they have the clinical disorder.

4. Origins of Narcissism:

• The term "narcissism" comes from the Greek myth of Narcissus, a young man who became infatuated with his own reflection in a pool of water, eventually losing his life because he could not stop staring at it. This myth illustrates the dangers of excessive self-love and obsession with one's own image.
• Psychologically, narcissism is thought to develop from a combination of genetic, environmental, and developmental factors, such as childhood experiences, parenting styles, and societal influences.

Conclusion:

Narcissism is a complex and multifaceted concept. In its mildest form, it refers to healthy self-esteem and confidence, but in its extreme form, it can lead to significant interpersonal and emotional challenges. When it becomes a personality disorder (NPD), it can cause profound difficulties for both the individual and those around them. Treatment, such as psychotherapy, can help those with NPD develop more empathy and healthier relationships.

NPD is another example of the "devil within" and/or mind virus that is a destructive plaque infecting humankind.

Discernment as the Mark of the True Initiate

The Hermetic Path does not promise immunity from pain. It promises conscious engagement with it. Any system, teaching, or figure that offers power without self-examination, authority without accountability, or control without integration is not initiatory—it is predatory.

True power does not coerce.
True authority does not intimidate.
True mastery does not fear vulnerability.

The Magus does not rule others.
The Magus governs the Self.

And that governance begins with discernment—
the clear seeing of motive, desire, and consequence.

For the Eye that has been purified by truth
cannot be seduced by beautiful lies.

THE DEVIL represents Raw Power/Passion (Mars/Aries) without empathy, it is the Force that brings about the transmutation of THE TOWER (key16) and is in the sign of Capricorn also shown as the Goat or Goat like image on the Thoth Tarot, Medieval Feathers, and Traditional Tarot like-Rider-Waite-Smith. Also, the symbol of Capricorn is where Mars is exalted. Capricorn is a weighty, even blind sign of earth and symbolizes the highest and lowest states of individual personality.

Yet, Capricorn is considered a sign of initiation, or release from matter-formed limitations. These material limitations are suggested by the astrological rulership of Capricorn by Saturn, the Planet of Binah (Cronos), The Great Maid- Mother-Crone, which governs the limitations of form, produced by the measurement of Time/Space. These limitations are of the enclosure of matter and/or timed by using the artificial system by which we meter and enclose all activities. Here it is known that one must know darkness, to know light. By observing our inner darkness, we become the Solar-Spotlight of Observation, which banishes darkness just by focusing on it.

The Eye That Smiles: Identity, Imagination, and the Goat of Ayin

The so-called “third eye”—the True I-denity, the first “I”—is subtly displayed on the smirking Goat of the Thoth Devil card. This smile is not mockery; it is knowingness. The Goat smiles because it understands a secret long hidden from fear-based consciousness:

It is another face of you.

The Goat is not an external demon. It is an identity-form, imagined and animated through your inherited creative wealth. Whether that wealth manifests as health or profanation depends entirely upon the condition of the Imagination—the inner womb with a view, the image-making faculty through which consciousness gives itself shape.

The Devil is therefore not a being to be expelled, but a mirror—revealing how identity is fabricated from belief, image, and emotional charge.

Fear as the Architect of Misconception

The card implies not evil, but misconception.

Specifically, misconceptions of life rooted in fear.

Chief among these is the subconscious terror of death, a fear cultivated and intensified through centuries of indoctrination, ruler-sanctioned violence, and mythologies of punishment. This fear does not arise naturally from the soul; it is installed.

From this installation emerges the dark boogeyman of the psyche—the imagined adversary lurking in the labyrinth of the subordinated mind. This specter is sustained by the belief that death is a sentence, a failure, or a divine retribution.

Hermetically, this belief is a profanation.

Death as Transformation, Not Punishment

In truth, death is not an end.

It is a transition of state—a transformation of energy, a shedding of one configuration for another. Just as waking follows sleep, and sleep follows waking, death follows life and life follows death in an eternal rhythm of exchange.

For the immortal Self, there is nothing to fear.

Fear belongs to the constructed personality—the identity that mistakes form for essence. When the soul remembers itself as energy, consciousness, and continuity, the threat dissolves.

The Goat smiles because it knows this.

And when the Eye of Ayin is purified, the labyrinth loses its terror. The imagined devil collapses back into creative potential, and the Self reclaims authorship over its own images.

Thus, the Devil card becomes not a warning of damnation—but an invitation:

See clearly, and fear will no longer create your gods.

To perceive justice as punishment is a profane misunderstanding—a projection of ignorance, not a decree from divinity. As Divine Creators inhabiting avatar bodies, we have become intimate with our own thoughts, and thereby subject to the illusions they produce. We have become enmeshed in the realm of Mater, or matter, and its corresponding Lord: the Nephesh, the subconscious animal mind.

Prior to embodiment, we had no such intimacy with fear, pain, or limitation. But in entering the experience of incarnation, we also entered the labyrinth of sensation. Here, we find that self-awareness becomes cluttered with phantasms—pain, doubt, and fear—intensified by the presence of the false ego, the mind-virus that feeds on division and emotional reaction.

Those who seek to rule the masses through semantic sorcery—by controlling definitions and perceptions—have long exploited this fear. The fear of death, stoked through propaganda, media, and trauma-conditioning, becomes a tool of control. Threats of poverty, discomfort, loss, and annihilation are used to enslave the minds of the masses through emotional manipulation.

Thus, only those still in bondage fear the judgment of their false masters and seek a savior, rather than realizing the Savior-Self within. The Soul does not tremble before punishment; it sees through it. Liberation begins when we cease identifying with the body’s reaction to pain and instead reclaim sovereignty from within.

Forget-Me-Not: Fear, Memory, and the Measurement of Life

Upon the forehead of the Goat in the Thoth Devil card appears a small cluster of blue forget-me-not flowers. This detail is subtle, yet profoundly instructive. It reveals the true foundation of survival-based consciousness within the physical body.

The message is simple and devastatingly honest:

Do not forget me.

At its root, survival thinking is driven by fear of rejection, fear of abandonment, fear of being erased from memory. The body fears disappearance. The personality fears invisibility. This fear is not separate from the fear of death—it is a branch of it.

In Hermetic psychology, fear of death is the trunk, and all other fears grow from it.

Fear of Rejection and the Theater of Personality

Fear of rejection gives rise to exaggerated identity performance—what modern culture parades as drama, spectacle, and manufactured importance. The “Drama Queen” archetype is not accidental; it is the inevitable expression of a psyche attempting to secure remembrance through emotional display.

Media culture, peer pressure, and performative outrage thrive on this branch of fear. Attention becomes currency. Validation replaces gnosis. The personality screams “See me, remember me, choose me”—not from vanity, but from unrecognized mortality anxiety.

The Goat smiles because it sees this clearly.

Death as Concluded Measurement

Hermetically, death is not annihilation.

Death is a concluded measurement.

It is the completion of a particular rhythm of Time/Space—not the end of creation, but the end of that specific configuration. Measurement concludes; creativity does not.

To mistake death for extinction is to confuse form with source.

Children of the Divine Hermaphrodite

We are not the offspring of loss.

We are the Children of the Divine Hermaphrodite—the unified Creative Principle that eternally generates, dissolves, and regenerates form. Our inheritance is not survival.

Our inheritance is Creation itself.

To remember this is to free the Eye from fear.
To free the Eye is to end the tyranny of rejection.
To end the tyranny of rejection is to dissolve the false drama of identity.

And so the forget-me-nots are not a plea of desperation, but a final irony:

The Soul does not need to be remembered.
It never leaves.

The Goat smiles because it knows
that what fears being forgotten
was never the Self to begin with.

WHEN THE THOTH ATU 15 or THE ARCANE TAROT-KEY 15 CARD IS THROWN DURING A DIVINATION, IT IMPLIES:

• Materialism. 
• Material Force. 
• Sometimes obsession. (Especially if thrown with the Lovers card). 
• Upside down thinking, where the illusion of fear rules your thought, and one thinks that "everything bad happens to me".      
• Not seeing the forest through the trees.  
• Living in your own illusion of suffering and being obsessed with pain or fear thereof. Such as a hypochondriac.  
• Needing mirth in your understanding, as you are too serious. Time to laugh at your assumptions. 
• Needing more action and less reaction in your life.
• Perception of the true, complete self. 
• Suffering from the veils of word hypnosis.
• Having an emotional concept of a 9-year-old self-absorbed child.

If ill defined by the surrounding cards, it implies:

• Fateful entanglements.
• Self-destructive drives.
• Dark powers.
• Collective hysteria.

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