Better the devil you know?

In my daily card draw today, the Guardian appeared. This is the Greenwood version of the card more often known as the Devil, and shows a huge skeletal bear lurking in a cave entrance. He is the threshold guardian, challenging you to see if you are worthy to pass, if you have the strength and will to make the journey into the underworld and ultimately to rebirth. The Guardian asks you to look to your boundaries, to your inner power, and to look to your past, to deal with those things which hold you back.

The Devil is one of those cards that people do not like to see in their readings. The more well-known RWS version shows a squatting goat-like devil holding a man and a woman in front of him in chains. The traditional meanings speak of being enslaved to the material world, concerned only with ambition and wealth, trapped like so many in western society in an endless spiral of conspicuous consumption. This Devil is often linked to the zodiac sign of Capricorn, symbolising social status and achievement. There is also an element of Plutonic symbolism, issues of power, control and manipulation. The key to this card is the chains, which are actually very loose, so that the man and woman can lift them off and walk away,  choosing to focus their Capricornian ambition on a more authentic way of being.

In the Druidcraft deck, this card is called Cernunnos. It shows a couple sleeping in the forest, whilst Cernunnos, the spirit of the forest, looms over them. Cernunnos, an aspect of the green man, represents the power and virility of nature. He asks the couple to awaken, to become aware and conscious of how they live in the world and how they use their energy. This image always reminds me of the Forest God in the film Princess Mononoke, who has the power to restore life in his light, day aspect, but can destroy the whole forest in his dark night aspect.

All three of these devils, despite their seemingly differently challenges, make the same demand - get real. They ask you to acknowledge your power, to be honest with yourself about how you use it. Denying, repressing or manipulating our power leaves us at best asleep, and at worst keeping ourselves and others in chains. By looking to our shadows and the parts of ourselves we deny, we can access our own deep creative power, like Cernunnos in the Druidcraft card. The cave bear Guardian is challenging, but only if we deny the truth or give in to fear. If we face our shadow with honesty and courage, he will let us pass. On the Greenwood wheel of the year, the Guardian stands at Samhain, gateway to winter and to the dark time of the year. But it's only by passing through the deep dark that we can find rebirth.