I stand deep in my power, my Wild Witchy Woman, my Goddess. And they vilify me for it. Claiming I am the Devil incarnate! This is what you must believe if you stand in absolutes. If your life's purpose is to aim for absolute good, then other people must be aiming for absolute evil! They don't understand the Devil, or duality for that matter, so they must shame those who walk the path of the Rebel. But the Devil carries with it strong messages that are so often misunderstood. Here's how to accept the Devil within you, embody the creation of it, and work with its destruction.
By living the Rebel Path, I have a target on my back. Mostly from religious people. You can only imagine the messages I get from truly lost people on my Instagram and Facebook telling me to repent my sins and embrace God or I'll burn in Hell. I often think of western religious people as heavy-use dualists. Duality being the misunderstanding that opposites, like negative and positive or good and evil, are absolutes. However, duality is actually the understanding that these opposites are just different sides of the same coin. And when you understand that nuanced truth, you move into non-duality. Nothing in this life is absolutely good, or absolutely evil because those things don't actually exist. Even the most good act you can think of can also be evil at the same time in some way to some people. It's a spectrum. And this world is made up of these dualistic spectrums.
Western religion especially uses absolute good to set an impossible standard for its followers. Read one page of the Bible, or listen to 2 minutes of a sermon and you'll see that duality comes up constantly! By pitting one side against the other they can play on people's natural morality and get you to follow them towards the "good" path and away from the "evil" path. But we contain both of these at the same time, and by understanding the true meaning of the Devil you can find peace, liberation, and bliss.
The Devil is often seen as the Witch, the Wild Woman, the Horned Capricorn. But each of these archetypes has incredible lessons! The Devil is often seen as lust, greed, power, and neglect for others. But what could be the opposite duality of these things? Lust and chastity, greed and charity, power and inability, and neglect and care. If you understand that the Devil contains both of these opposites, then you can find the path through it. Also, is power really a bad thing? Or do each of these contain healthy traits and destructive ones? I don't want to live in a world where all the balanced, healthy people do not hold their power. Then, only the destructive people will hold power. I believe that power is neither good, nor bad, but a necessary part of life.
Think of the Witch or the Goddess. She must wield her power gracefully, truthfully, and in strength. She cannot just fold at any question of her, she must stand in her power and hold it. In order to reach the heights of these archetypes she must be in her power. But that doesn't mean power doesn't have a destructive side. Both are contained in power. Learning how to find the path of truth and strength to lead is part of the process of living. The archetypes remind us of the balance and the destruction of each. This is the lesson of duality. This is the path of the Rebel.
The Rebel chooses to find their own path in the nuance of non-duality. And that is often all it takes to be labeled the Devil by western religions. Because in western religions there is not room to question and make your own path. Because they believe in absolutes, anything that points in a slightly different direction than absolute good must be evil. And they can't risk you poisoning the minds of others. So, you will be cast out, shamed, ridiculed, and cursed. In the past often even killed. Tales will be told of your depravity, and children will be taught to fear you. All because you knew the truth of non-duality and ventured to live in the nuance of the Rebel.
The Devil is actually about creation and destruction. Power, money, sex. These are all parts of creation and destruction. To create you must have power and money. If I want to build a retreat center, I must be able to stand in my power and claim this desire then use my money to build it. The act of sex creates life! They vilify these things because they know there are destructive aspects of them. Gaining power to make choices for others can be really destructive, money can manipulate, sex can control. But even something as docile as charity can be used for destruction. Think of the powerful donations that put disturbing people in powerful roles in our government. That's charity, too. Done for what they believe is good.
By embodying the Devil, the Rebel, you can start to understand and use this balance between two opposites. By denying the Devil, you will still be subject to the opposites, but you won't understand that there is a delicate balance to walk continuously. They choose the "good path" and stop questioning the nuance of their actions. By denying this part of themselves they can much more easily fall into the destruction through ignorance. But, by embodying it you start to see every choice as a delicate play between many parts. Knowing that you cannot achieve absolute good, you aim for creation and balance instead. Knowing you cannot choose absolute evil, you aim for destruction when needed, and chaos when required.
The Rebel path I walk is fraught with these kinds of choices. I do not make them in a vacuum. I understand that they are interrelated, nuanced, and impactful. If you're interested in walking the Rebel path, there are often many pitfalls to traverse. Every path is difficult, and especially this one. I can help you find your way, because I have walked ahead to scout the trail. The easiest way to work with me is one-on-one coaching. Check it out here: www.lonateachesbliss.com/coaching
INSPIRED ACTION: Take inventory of your most recent big choice. What were the outcomes? How did you use your power, or money? What destruction did you consider? How did you try to balance it? Who could be hurt, and who could be healed? Think a level deeper. Did you embody the Devil within you to help you make the most expansive choice you could, or did you deny this part of yourself along the way? No choice is perfect.