Why the Devil card is not as scary as you think

The Devil Upright Meaning

This card expresses the realm of the underground (taboo) — the culturally rejected wildness and undigested shadow side that each of us carries in our subconscious. This shadow is actually a part of us and at the core of our being, which we cannot get rid of and will never succeed in taming.

From its earliest versions, which portrayed a vampire-demon, The Devil evoked the church-fueled fear that a person could “lose their soul” to wild and passionate forces. The Devil image evolved in the mid-1700s gives us a more sophisticated rendition — that of the “scapegoated goddess,” whose esoteric name is Baphomet.

The meaning of the card is possibly that you have volcanic reserves of passion and primal desire to empower your efforts and overcome the pressure of stereotyped roles and experience true freedom of soul.

The Devil Reversed Meaning

The Devil card reversed suggests that you are enjoying creating chaos and resistance for no particular, positive reason. Your sense of humor could be a bit twisted. Your motive may be vengeance or you are simply being an irritant.

The juvenile prankster streak in you must be corralled and changed before it gets you into further trouble. Suppress those impulses until you successfully engineer a shift away from this careless behavior. Such antics will cost you in the long run even though they seem amusing in the moment.

The Devil Advice Position

The Devil card advises that you break free of your programming and let your deep thoughts come to the surface, exert what is on your mind. There may be nothing to be gained by trying to be subtle or strategic in this situation.

Assert your agenda, express yourself honestly, and let the chips fall where they may. Your best bet could be to express your true emotions, possibly even including anger. Acknowledge that you have whatever feelings you have. While it may not be necessary to act out what you feel in every situation, accepting the power and depth of your inner experience enables you to remain true to yourself.

Shrinkflation – Did my coffee cup get smaller?

Have you noticed your coffee cup getting smaller?

What was the last thing that you bought and you had a feeling that something was not quite right, and then you swear that the item was larger the last time you remember it?

This happened to me today as I was buying an iced coffee from 7-11 in Australia. Things just didn’t seem right. I took a second look and low and behold – the cup was actually smaller.

And if that was not all – i felt that the coffee was also weaker after my first sip. The coffee wasn’t as sharp as i remember it. The taste was a bit weaker, more milky or watery.

This is no suprise as the 7-11 iced coffee (354ml), and the standard coffee is $2 and $1 respectively. The people who are buying these coffees are price concious and with arabica beans up 60%, some thing had to give – and it wasn’t the price.

The price has increased due to supply chain issues (the same as everything else) and also the growing cycle is in a 2 year low cycle. Increased demand and reduced supply makes prices go up!

I am sure that this will not be the first instance of shrinkflation and I will post more as I notice it. The food manufacturers can be sneaky and the first thing you will look to is the price!

One good thing about this is if this shrinkflation keeps on going – then your myfitnesspal entries will actually be higher and you are consuming LESS calories. A small consolidation prize.

What does the Temperance card mean for you?

The card is flipped upright

This card is a reference to your soul. Classically female, the woman or angel on the card is mixing up a blend of subtle energies for the evolution of your personality. One key to interpreting this card can be found in its title — a play on the process of tempering metals in a forge.

From the ground we find ore – mined from the earth. These ores must must undergo the forge; extremes of temperature, folding, and pounding, to become the end product which is metal. Pure and strong.

In this image, the soul volunteers the ego for a cleansing and healing experience, which may turn the personality inside-out, but which brings out the gold hidden within the heart.

Your card is reversed

The Temperance card reversed suggests that you are in danger of giving up on yourself. Something is making you feel apathetic and ignore what you deeply want and need.

You may be morbidly overemphasizing the chaos and disruption that would come with change and growth rather than focusing on the regeneration and liberation that could be yours. Try to carve out a day in which you do only activities that make you happy. Stop reading the news, get some sun, eat well and get some rest, then take another look at your life. If you do not gain a better perspective, seek help.

What should you do?

The Temperance card advises you to identify and seek the missing ingredients in your life. Marshal your known skills and abilities and do what needs to be done to complete your mission.

Prepare to use spiritual practices, studies, or lifestyle changes that can assist you in your quest. A tremendous amount of benefit is available if you can organize yourself and be disciplined at this time.

So you picked up the Death card, it isn’t as bad as you think

Death Upright Meaning

The Death card is not about the literal death of any person. It represents the death of something else, like a project, plan, or relationship. This card also points to a time of harvest, symbolized in classical decks by the reaping skeleton.

Unless the fruits of summer are harvested, they are lost to winter’s harshness, and the people do not eat. As the scythe cuts the cords that link us to the past, it liberates us to go forward without fear, because we have nothing left to lose. Everything being pruned away is recycled for the fertility of the future, so that nothing is really ever lost, despite seasonal cycles of gain and loss.

In more modern Tarot decks, we see Death mounted on a horse and wearing black armor. The emphasis in these decks is on the punishment of sin, as in the way the medieval Plagu (which the Death image was based on) was used to explain the wrath of God. Luckily, in modern times, we are not so encumbered with such a guilt-ridden philosophy.

Death Reversed Meaning

The Death card reversed suggests that you might long for the cord to be cut, but unfortunately you have to persist and endure without the relief of an ending. It is not time for termination and closure yet.

Be patient with the current circumstances without resigning yourself to a negative outcome. Coming changes may alter the way you feel about the status quo. Remember that harvest isn’t started until the fruit is ripe. Work at becoming wiser and more mellow, sweeter and more nourishing, and your time of release may happen sooner.

Death Advice Position

The Death card advises you to break free from the old order. You may want to close accounts, complete unfinished tasks, and gather your harvest. It is time to move on. If you cut the cords that have bound you to old ways and outdated conventions, you could free yourself to join the sweep of incoming light. This is not an excuse to reject others or hurt them in any way. It is simply a time to move toward your ultimate interests.

Do not allow nostalgia and outworn loyalties to hold you back. Be willing to go through whatever it takes to get to where you really want to be.

Visual Intelligence – sharpen your perception

A few cliff notes that i remember about the book

• When we describe a scene, we should aim to be thorough and use objective language and not leading (subjective). For example, when looking at a picture of a older lady and baby, we should not jump to the conclusion that she is the baby’s mother. We simply do not have enough information to reach this conclusion. This is similar concept of being more rational (limiting your language to more discrete descriptions).
• When we look at a painting, the interesting thing is not the painting itself, but our life experiences affecting how we describe the painting. For example, a dentist will tend to look at a peron’s tooth first, a doctor look for medical signals and an architect will admire the background. This is what is interesting about paintings beause it creates discussions from the alternative viewpoints created by people’s life experiences.
• The perceiving eye vs the observing eye. When we look at an item we see it and recognise for what it is. We make a decision on this item in a snapshot (honed in from our forefathers – lest we get eaten by bears). We do not have the luxury of time to take a step back to really understand what is happening and examine our first impressions. So understand your first impressions and examine their weighting regiously. Take a step back and use our perceiving eye.
• So really we should consider it in two-fold action. We can perceive and try to fit within our existing mental models, but we should also describe only what is happening and to free our mind from jumping to conclusions.
• This is the next level and you can really see the problems created by using particular language. You are there to sell and enforce your language set and have the person react to this new language system.
• When using the perceiving eye, it pays to turn your head and not be target focused and only look at one thing. We should observe the communiation /language that leaks from the body. Touch is something small and can be perceived greatly by a women because you are invading her persona space. Something that does not happen daily. We are separated from our connection with the physical word – focusing on the experience of our minds
• Understand that things are different from another angle. If you control frame or tackle the problem from the side this is enough to break down any resistance or to apply force from another angle. Just like in bjj – there is only resistance on one side. And you can try to overpower on the one side or seek another path which is easier. To complain that they are ‘too strong’ releases you have the onus to seek another solution/path. Take a step back and revaluate your choices and actions.

My takeaways:

• Guard the language that I use and recognise my first impressions and provide weighting accordingly
• Keep my thoughts in the present and actually listen to what the person has to say
• Don’t get caught up in my thoughts and use my perceiving eye

So you picked up the Hanged Man. What does it mean for you?

The Hanged Man Upright Meaning

This card indicates a lack of ability to help oneself through independent action. Your energy is arrested and awaiting judgment. With this card, you are in a losing position and there is no avenue for the will to regain control until the situation has passed.

This represents a good time for you to be philosophical, to study and meditate upon the position you find yourself in, and to form plans for the moment you become free again.

It is challenge to you and only those who possess wisdom, patience, and optimism will be able to break through the downs, the limitations, including possible humiliation, to grasp the inspiring lesson one can gain from such an experience.

The Hanged Man Reversed Meaning

If this card is reversed, this suggest that your seemingly noble deed of offering yourself as the sacrificial lamb is, at least for the time being, a useless gesture. There will be no benefit to the greater good; you will experience no expansion of consciousness.

It would be an empty move, so don’t put yourself in that position. Ask yourself on what basis you allowed yourself to hope that your sacrifice would make a difference in this situation. Who knows? Perhaps this is meant to be an opportunity to learn something about self-denying tendencies.

The Hanged Man Advice Position

This card advises you to surrender illusions of control. Accept that you have been overcome and deceived by your own devices. Having made your bed, you now need to lie in it. This is not a negative judgment. It’s just that sometimes there are consequences for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Bad things can happen to good people. These consequences are not fatal, even if they are inconvenient — or perhaps even embarrassing.

Stop resisting your circumstances and let some time go by. Eventually, you will be released a little wiser and not much the worse for wear. You will come to realize in time how you collaborated with the problem. However, the issues you were stuck on when you were first hung up have subsided and no longer concern you. You are free to take up new endeavors. You will ultimately feel refreshed and grateful that you were derailed from your former track.

Life’s prescriptions – and why they limit your choices

My friends (D&L) were getting married in a church with a pastor. The pastor was saying a few things regarding the church, and referencing various passages in the bible.

An item that was of note was that he mentioned fear was the overiding reason why couples fight and that we should not be afraid of fear. That the more time people spend together, the less we can be truly open to our partners.

From a historical point of view – the teachings have been used for hundreds of years and should likely continue working. It has been proven to be anti-fragile. However, we need to take note that the environment has changed, and what once worked – eg. farming may not work anymore. Due to technlogy and laws the relationship between men and women is now different.

Since we have limited our ability to edit this document, and only change our interpretation. We have a limit of big a leap we can take with these words. These prescriptions provide a path for couples to navigate (provide instructions) which may limit potential options in today’s age.

Things that i have an alternate viewpoint

• thinking win/loss in the relationship. We should always reframe as looking for the truth and trying to solve win/win
• the perception that the relationships are difficult and that we need to whether through the valley of conflict. We must recognise the nature of women and look to/and convince her that she is the best man for her. That means keeping in shape, fashion and always be showing your strong side. Showing the motions aka weakness only reinforces the point home to the female partner that she can do better
• body languague tells alot. There was a kissing game where the host brought out another couple. The man looked to it as an opportunity to get some ‘action’ whilst the female did not want to practicipate. only peer pressure was able to bring her up, and then after they were kissing – telling that she pushed his face out of the way when it got too cringe for her.
• when i read the vowels with my wife will i be quoting Naval – from the book of naval
  • looking to play long term games with quality people
  • the difficulty is staying together thick and thin, and aim to raise a family long term
  • always look to provide win win
  • prescription that i was a player and that i finally found the one and look to settle down
  • awkward and timid in the beginning and now working to full confidence with no fear of social thoughts

My takeaways from the Sovereign Individual

I recently read this book and is what I learnt:

• The recent period of middle class and less inequality was a outlier and not the norm. Throughout history you will you find examples where there was a wealth disparity between peoples. This is in effect of compounding your habits (or wealth) where in those productive people kept on producing. Causing inequality of outcomes
• the internet will break down abritrage opportunities. No longer will your job be priced to be done in the country you live in if someone else from a lower cost location can do it. Note that this is also includes your fellow countrymen living in those lower cost locations. Those lower cost locations are no longer the deprived locations as seen in ages past.
• the internet forces you to compete with everyone, and also gives you opportunity to network with anyone. Harder to get in, but when you do – there is alot more money to be made
• we live with the tyranny of location – the internet will allow you to be break free from that and thus the government will act more like businesses nowadays, trying to entice the best customers

After understanding the above things, here is how to put it into practice

• Build that second and third income on the internet
• Put a discount factor on buying properties that have no location advantage. If we break free from the tyranny of location than it will be of fact that the old idea of living next to the city is not as advantageous – you can work from next to the beach, on a farm, in a low cost location
• Look for places that are advantageous. e.g. close to nature, next to airport, good community

Don’t return to old habits

As always – i need to try and fail. If i don’t risk it then there is no gain.

Do i want to leave my life in fear of losing?

No, I want to seek the gain.

It is irrational to think too far ahead and try not to be rejected.

How can I make a decision for her if I don’t even know what she wants?

That is irrational and is not the right decision making tree.

Remember to meditate and work through it…