Power and Integrity

This week I'll be using the Thoth Tarot, created by Aleister Crowley and painted by Lady Frieda Harris.  Today's draw is the Devil:

It doesn't take much imagination to see this as a phallic image, leading me to believe its message is about power and control, most often associated with the masculine.  The Devil has always represented fear and a feeling of powerlessness, thus encouraging behaviors that make me feel strong and formidable - behaviors that often are hurtful to me and others.  There's nothing wrong with power as long as it's used wisely; Gandhi changed a nation through compassion and nonviolence.  But the dark side of it can be seductive too.  The oppressed can turn out to be the worst oppressors when the table is turned.

This week I'll also be using the Vertical Oracle, created by Antero Alli with images by Sylvie Pickering.  The creator explains the name of the deck came from the idea that we live in a material/horizontal world as well as a spiritual/vertical one.  One world is not better than the other - balance is needed between the two.  The card I drew today is "Adventure:"

In the jungle, welcome to the jungle

Watch it bring you to your knees

~ Guns -n- Roses

Above the urban jungle are a white tiger and an antique compass.  The tiger symbolizes a marriage of intellect and instinct, while the compass represents the old way of finding my direction or path.  The world can challenge my vertical integrity unless I look to new methods (tiger) to live in this world.  It is going to take relying both on my brains and listening to my gut to make it intact.