I don’t think about the Devil much anymore.  In years past, being raised a fundamentalist Christian, I believed that evil personified was bent on creating chaos in my life.  I was given much advice from those who claimed “to know” about defensive measures.  Some of these were: memorizing passages from the Bible, more prayer, and vigilant monitoring of my thoughts.  As you might expect none of the recommendations resulted in peace of mind about the hazard.  The last piece of advice in particular was guaranteed to make things worse.  Have you ever tried to control your thoughts?  The mind is subject to influences, causal factors hidden to our awareness…..  Hey, don’t ever think about pink elephants!  How did that go?  I conjured up a whole herd of pink elephants.

The Devil is left to those who marinate themselves in fundamentalist thought.  That is their right, and I’ll stay out of their way if I can.  I was taken by surprise though while listening to a snippet of a NPR interview with Illinois congressman Adam Kinzinger, Representative from the 16th congressional district.  The congressman opined that there were only two individuals responsible for the massacre at Christchurch, New Zealand.  The shooter and the Devil were responsible.  Hearing the statement voiced out loud, reminded me that many today think as I once did.  The congressman in his statement was attempting to deflect any blame from our President, as the President was mentioned by name in the assailants manifesto.  The Devil is a handy stand in for many linguistic purposes.

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Speaking of metaphor, a word-image that provides a pivot point, I read this delightful story in Thus Spake Zarathustra, by Friedrich Nietzsche.  I’ll offer the tale to you.  It is in chapter 40 entitled, Great Events.  The setting is an island with an active volcano, which according to legend is the gateway to hell.  Zarathustra, who is well known to the inhabitants of the island has not been seen around for a while.  Rumor has it that Zarathustra has been taken by the Devil. There was much anxiety about his disappearance.  Then suddenly Zarathustra “appears” among them with a story of his interview with the fire-dog who lives in the volcano.  I think that you will enjoy reading this.  A few of the topics that Nietzsche touches on are human credulity, the ability to fabricate spectacle and/or outrageous and intricate rationale playing on fear and hatred; the smoke and mirrors of both church and state, playing on buzzwords such as “freedom” to conceal subversion; that the institutions of church and state are the most important of all institutions only because people think them so.  Nietzsche concludes with the story of another dog, one who comes from the earth rather from the neither world and this dog embodies Nietzsche’s own point of view.  Enjoy!

And this is the account of Zarathustra’s interview with the fire-dog:

The earth, said he, hath a skin; and this skin hath diseases. One of these diseases, for example, is called “man.”

And another of these diseases is called “the fire-dog”: concerning him men have greatly deceived themselves, and let themselves be deceived.

To fathom this mystery did I go o’er the sea; and I have seen the truth naked, verily! barefooted up to the neck.

Now do I know how it is concerning the fire-dog; and likewise concerning all the spouting and subversive devils, of which not only old women are afraid.

“Up with thee, fire-dog, out of thy depth!” cried I, “and confess how deep that depth is! Whence cometh that which thou snortest up?

Thou drinkest copiously at the sea: that doth thine embittered eloquence betray! In sooth, for a dog of the depth, thou takest thy nourishment too much from the surface!

At the most, I regard thee as the ventriloquist of the earth: and ever, when I have heard subversive and spouting devils speak, I have found them like thee: embittered, mendacious, and shallow.

Ye understand how to roar and obscure with ashes! Ye are the best braggarts, and have sufficiently learned the art of making dregs boil.

Where ye are, there must always be dregs at hand, and much that is spongy, hollow, and compressed: it wanteth to have freedom.

‘Freedom’ ye all roar most eagerly: but I have unlearned the belief in ‘great events,’ when there is much roaring and smoke about them.

And believe me, friend Hullabaloo! The greatest events—are not our noisiest, but our stillest hours.

Not around the inventors of new noise, but around the inventors of new values, doth the world revolve; inaudibly it revolveth.

And just own to it! Little had ever taken place when thy noise and smoke passed away. What, if a city did become a mummy, and a statue lay in the mud!

And this do I say also to the o’erthrowers of statues: It is certainly the greatest folly to throw salt into the sea, and statues into the mud.

In the mud of your contempt lay the statue: but it is just its law, that out of contempt, its life and living beauty grow again!

With diviner features doth it now arise, seducing by its suffering; and verily! it will yet thank you for o’erthrowing it, ye subverters!

This counsel, however, do I counsel to kings and churches, and to all that is weak with age or virtue—let yourselves be o’erthrown! That ye may again come to life, and that virtue—may come to you! —”

Thus spake I before the fire-dog: then did he interrupt me sullenly, and asked: “Church? What is that?”

“Church?” answered I, “that is a kind of state, and indeed the most mendacious. But remain quiet, thou dissembling dog! Thou surely knowest thine own species best!

Like thyself the state is a dissembling dog; like thee doth it like to speak with smoke and roaring—to make believe, like thee, that it speaketh out of the heart of things.

For it seeketh by all means to be the most important creature on earth, the state; and people think it so.”

When I had said this, the fire-dog acted as if mad with envy. “What!” cried he, “the most important creature on earth? And people think it so?” And so much vapour and terrible voices came out of his throat, that I thought he would choke with vexation and envy.

At last he became calmer and his panting subsided; as soon, however, as he was quiet, I said laughingly:

“Thou art angry, fire-dog: so I am in the right about thee!

And that I may also maintain the right, hear the story of another fire-dog; he speaketh actually out of the heart of the earth.

Gold doth his breath exhale, and golden rain: so doth his heart desire. What are ashes and smoke and hot dregs to him!

Laughter flitteth from him like a variegated cloud; adverse is he to thy gargling and spewing and grips in the bowels!

The gold, however, and the laughter—these doth he take out of the heart of the earth: for, that thou mayst know it — the heart of the earth is of gold.”

When the fire-dog heard this, he could no longer endure to listen to me. Abashed did he draw in his tail, said “bow-wow!” in a cowed voice, and crept down into his cave. —