The Devil is Your Daddy, pt. 3

In the Sun and the Sea series, I started off by questioning the Original Sin. It would do well, however, to take a look at another momentous occasion in Christian mythology: the Crucifixion. I thought it was strange that the Fall of Man was arguably not his fault. Similarly, the crucifixion of Christ makes little sense when we delve into the issue of responsibility. If a man is sinful, should it not be up to him to repent? Did people just get a free pass when Jesus turned himself in? My spider sense (there's another idea worth exploring) is tingling...

Imagine you're the manager of a project with lots of different sectors involved. The project was a disaster, failing on every aspect, each sector having made its share of mistakes. One man then comes up and says to you: "Absolve all others, and punish me instead." Would you accept his proposals and make no changes to the staff, other than firing him? I don't think many would.

"All areas were somehow involved: mechanics, management, logistics, navigation, and so on. However, the death of the on-board physician absolves everyone else of guilt."

The reason the Crucifixion is understood as it is nowadays shows that Man clearly has a fragile relationship with the concept of responsibility, as I mentioned in the second part of the series. I made a semiotic analysis of then-current events, but perhaps today it would be more interesting to go with something a little more chthonic: music. Take Cake's "Satan is my Motor."

The car is a frequent symbol in dreams. It is the equivalent of the Chariot archetype in the Tarot: the mind/body's ability to roam freely and independently, the mastery of the soul's physical vehicle, the guiding of the instinctual/Promethean fire. Notice that the chariot is guided by two sphinxes, one black, one white. These are not stallions. The square necklace of the rider further enforces the material, and his wand denotes mastery and ability. It is the seventh archetype, the Great Way of the Mind.

I've got wheels of polished steel 

A clever nod here to the cyclical nature of the universe. "Wheels within wheels," saw Ezekiel:

15 Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold, a wheel was on the earth beside each living creature with its four faces. 16 The appearance of the wheels and their workings was like the color of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. The appearance of their workings was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel. 17 When they moved, they went toward any one of four directions; they did not turn aside when they went.

Well, so not much a circle as a spiral, but cyclical nonetheless. As an aside, steel is ruled by Mars, tying us back to the Chariot (I once had a dream with a red car/motorcycle, given to me by an old man/White Wizard) - Mars is the rider here, taking the primal dual energy and harnessing it into motion in the material world.

I've tires that grab the road

Once more we have the image of wheels and the material - on the Great Way!

I've got seats that selflessly hold my friends

And here we have our first feminine allusion, which is crucial to the Satan dimension. The Moon is a symbol for the negative, recipient, female polarity - and it's reinforced here: seats, selflessness, holding, friends are all Lunar concepts.

And a trunk that can carry the heaviest of loads

The heaviest of loads indeed - the Moon carries all potentialities within it. Needless to say, trunk = Moon.

I've got a mind that can steer me to your house

Now we come back to the masculine. This interplay is very dynamic, as you can see. The mind steering = Mars; your house = Venus.

And a heart that can bring you red flowers

The heart is where the Devil resides (or at least close enough - the heart is the 5th house, the 4th being the one of the Dark Night of the Soul). Red flowers are an even closer meshing of yin and yang.

My intentions are good and earnest and true
But under my hood is internal combustion power

So basically we have the dynamic being discussed throughout this series: Male -> Female -> Male. Here we have the male principle taking the potential of the female principle and realising it. The key point is that you cannot understand the engine unless you look under the hood.

And Satan is my motor
Hear my motor purr
Satan is my motor
Hear my motor purr

Satan is the only one who seems to understand 

Self-explanatory.

I've got brakes I'm wide awake
I can stop this car at any time

Once again, steering is determined by both male (wide awake) and female (brakes).

At the very last second I can change directions
Turn completely around if I feel so inclined

Changing directions is also something that combines both male and female - movement/inclination is yang, turning is yin.

I've got a mind that can steer me to your house
And a heart that can bring you red flowers
My intentions are good and earnest and true
But under my hood is internal combustion power
And Satan is my motor
Hear my motor purr
Satan is my motor
Hear my motor purr
Satan is the only one who seems to understand
Satan is my motor
Satan is the only one who seems to understand

And so on. And how does this tie in to responsibility? Well, say your car breaks down in the middle of the road due to a lack of motor oil. Would you complain, or believe that it's a valid argument, that it was the car manufacturer's fault that your car broke down? I doubt that very much. Of course, it helps to know about the design of the engine, to take a look at other engines, but you can only really understand/fix your engine if you take a look under your own hood.

Recently, I've been discussing the tale of Bluebeard in therapy. Fairy tales are another aspect of creative expression of the ineffable, much as music is. The basic plot goes something like this: Bluebeard is a wealthy charmer who has a certain difficulty attracting women due to the fact that his beard was, well, blue. However, he successful courts a young maiden, who reasons that anyone who is so polite, dashing and considerate can't be that bad, and they get married. One day, Bluebeard is set to depart on a trip, and gives his wife the keys to the castle, saying she could open any door she pleased but one. Her sisters, however, convince her to open the door, and in the room they find the rotting corpses of Bluebeard's former wives. They flee in horror, and the missus notices that the key to the room is stained in blood - a blood that won't go away regardless of how much she wipes. Bluebeard returns and inevitably discovers his wife's "wrongdoing," but her brothers slay Bluebeard before he can get to her.

The key to the story is that the young maiden distrusts her female instincts and marries someone of whom her guts were very suspicious. When she discovers the truth, it is essential that she realise that she had a part to play in the drama, and that it was her own fault for marrying someone she knew, deep down, she had to avoid. Once you acquire knowledge, there's no way to unacquire it. Sadly, most people prefer to simply look away, and play in the castle, leaving the room of Truth closed up. The reason why is very simple: understanding the world implies understand your part in it, both your achievements and your shortcomings. Here hubris rears its ugly head once more.

It does well, then, to take a peek into the forbidden room, where you will discover nothing more than a mirror, for within the dark room lie all potentialities of being - within YOU lie all potentialities, good and bad. Within you lies a shadow, but a shadow whose power is beyond your wildest dreams. Grab a hold of the Devil, but make sure he's aware of who's in charge. History is filled with cautionary tales of men who attempted to harness the Devil without the Wisdom of the feminine:

Theophilus was tempted by the Devil but saved by the Virgin

The modern Prometheus, brought to life (= Moon) by lightning!

The Devil is an imposing figure, but you mustn't forget that he is a figure that lies within you, and is thus a part of you. Therefore, make not bargains with the Devil, for he is your servant. He cannot, however, be approached merely through the masculine - heed the warning of Dr. Faustus. Employ your female side's faculties of patience, reception and rest, then take her on your Chariot for a spin around the world, and grok that, as they say, it takes two to tango.

Take your shadow out to dance this weekend. She'll thank you.

Truth
The truth is that I never shook my shadow
Every day it's trying to trick me into doing battle
Calling out "faker" only get me rattled
Want to pull me back behind the fence with the [cattle]
Building your [lenses]
Digging your trenches
Put me on the front line
Leave me with a dumb mind
With no defenses
But your defenses
If you can't stand to feel the pain then you are senseless

[Since] this
I've grown up some
Different kind of fighter
And when the darkness come let it inside you
Your darkness is shining
My darkness is shining
Have faith in myself
Truth

I've seen a million numbered doors on the horizon
Now which is the future you choosen before you gone dying.
I'll tell you 'bout a secret I've been underminding
Every little lie in this world come from dividing
Say you're my lover, say you're my homie,
Tilt my chin back slit my throat take a bath in my blood get to know me
All out of my secrets
All my enemies are turning into my teachers.
Because, lights blinding, no way dividing what's yours or mine when everything's shining
You darkness is shining my darkness is shining
Have faith in ourselves
Truth
Yes I'm only loving, only trying to only love
That's what I'm trying to do is only loving
Yes I'm only lonely loving feeling only loving
Till I'm feeling only loving
Ya say it ain't loving ain't loving my loving
But I'm only loving only loving only loving
Only loving the truth.

The Truth is out there, but it also within.