Devil

The Devil represents the wholly other, the evil, the underworld, the enemy, and the dangerous. "The other" and the underworld are typically represented by feminine content, but here—similar to the divine or like the alchemists' Mercurius—it is rather an androgynous figure; a kind of "wholeness" in the underworld that stands in opposition to the "wholeness" above. The image of the Devil includes rebellion, rejection, and the trickster quality; psychologically, it is that which disrupts, confuses, darkens, and weakens consciousness. But it is also the displaced, dark, and animalistic within us that holds valuable libido and challenges our capacity to endure opposites rather than encouraging self-deception.

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