Card No. 7
Title: Love, the Seventh Aethyr
Name: DEO (Deh-oh)
Gematria: 44=(4+4)=8
Sexual Current: feminine

DEO: The fruit of individual effort is karmic. All action is karmic. Therefore the results obtained by one magician may not be equally shared by others. This is the Formula of Love which, depending upon one's karma, can be seen in two ways: selfish love and unselfish or altruistic love.

Description:
This card shows Venus, the goddess of Love. She is also Sakti, the goddess of creative energy. She is naked because she has nothing to hide from her devotees who join her here. Her flaming red hair hints of her fiery nature. To all of her devotees who join her in this Aethyr, she says, "I am a harlot for such as ravish me, and a virgin with such as know me not." At her feet are camps of black-robed Adepts who are blinded by the atmosphere of this Aethyr. They sit and stare aimlessly into their campfires. These are the Black Brothers.* These Adepts equate love with self-love and are prone to spiritual selfishness. They have forsaken altruism, and have lost the desire to help others. The theme of DEO is the duality of love for self and love for others. Which of the two groups of Adepts you will someday join depends on how you see love. Do you believe that other people truly exist, or do you believe others to be an illusion, part of the universal maya? Should you help others, or allow them to help themselves? Would you lay down your life for a friend? Turn your cheek for an enemy? Do you recognize friends and enemies to be two sides of a duality?

Meaning: Love of others, altruism, charity, freedom, a helping hand.
Reversed: Love of self, conceit, restriction, lack of assistance.

*Black refers to their type of Magick, not their race.

Shaelin-Margras
margras@mciworld.com