The Devil
Ayin (ע)
Capricorn (Sign)
Path 26: Tiphareth → Hod
Herb: Witch Hazel
Upright
Bondage, materialism, addiction, shadow self, restriction.
Reversed
Breaking free, reclaiming power, release.
What the Golden Dawn actually taught
Book T reads: “materiality; material force; material temptation, sometimes obsession, especially if associated with the Lovers.” The Devil is framed almost as the Lovers’ corrupted shadow — inspiration and impulse curdled into obsession.
Imagery & symbolism
A horned, bat-winged figure crouches on a black pedestal, torch inverted in one hand. A man and a woman stand chained below him, but the chains hang loose enough to slip — the binding was never as total as it looked.
Numerology
15 reduces to 6 — harmony’s shadow: bondage as a distortion of connection.
Also associated with
bondage, materialism, temptation, shadow, attachment