Bedevilment

Traditionally designated as XV The Devil card in the Tarot , I have renamed it in my own deck as Bedevilment.  This card indicates, much as a line from an old song goes, being "bewitched, bothered and bewildered" by our own obsessions. 

©2011 L.Ciacco, XV Bedevilment, Tarot Series, acrylic on paper, 7 x 5 in.

A dictionary definition of the word "bedevil" states: to harass or torment; to throw into confusion.  When this card pops up in a Tarot reading we'd best ask just what is it we're tormenting ourselves with or are confused about.  Those shoes that we simply have to have?  A lover we can't let go of?  A particular fantasy wherein we save the day or become an overnight sensation in some way?  What illusions, delusions, or substances are we using for false comfort?   Relationships that are keeping us bound in some way must be shed.  The Bedevilment card lets us know that it's time to stop taking our obsessive desires so seriously; to laugh at ourselves (I mean, look at this creature's get-up!), get a grip on reality, and to lighten up.

It's time to examine how we are bedeviled by boundaries and limitations created by our own fear-based beliefs and admit the ways in which we hold ourselves in bondage to physical or material desires.  This card indicates the need to bring light into the darkness of desire and obsession, whether it be through the sobering light of day, the light-heartedness of humour, or the soothing light of Spirit.

We must shed our false identities (illustrated by the mask, gloves, perverse attire) and free the bonds of our limiting beliefs and obsessions (shown in the rope not being actually knotted or tied).