©By Joanne Matthew
Personally, I do not believe in the devil, Lucifer, Satan, or hell, as depicted in the Christian bible. However, I do believe there is a devil within each of us. I also believe that we create our own hell here on earth by our actions and by our thoughts. We are beings of love, but how often do we get angry, say we hate something or someone, or nurture a bad habit?
The Devil card in tarot is all about addictions—drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling---many people can associate some part of their lifestyle or personality to a devil within. When a young child acts up, we say he is a “devilish” little one! When we get angry, we say to another person, or to ourselves, “go to hell”. We sometimes make decisions that may hurt ourselves or others---and we feel regret after the fact.
We fight an internal battle to break the chains that the devil has wrapped around us, whether we realize that or not. We try to live an honest life—one with kindness and integrity. But we will sometimes slip up and say or do something without thinking clearly, or in the heat of the moment, not realizing until it is too late that we have hurt another person’s feelings. If we are truly a good person, we try to make amends—we try to repair the emotional damage that has been done. We vow that we will not do whatever it was that caused the wounds again. We make a conscious effort to be a better person.