:Soul of the Devil:

The life of prayer is as rich as compost and pure as the heavens; it is colored by myth and scented by hope, and in this cosmic terrain, there is, too, the presence of the devil. Whether sexy, arcane, disgusting, or diabolic, he is the most deceiving and the most revealing of guides & saboteurs. While exploring the narrative of genesis, my relationship with Adam, Eve, the serpent, and the Garden of Eden shifted from proof of sin to the gift of communion. Is there a similar transformation I need to create with the fallen angel, himself? Is the Antichrist a post-modern story teller, the shadow of the prodigal child, or Jobs temptation to abandon faith? Sometimes, I find that it is eastern wisdom that ultimately illuminates the west. What is often referred to in meditationbased spiritual traditions as the ego can also be contemplated as the seed of the souls fortune and as such, an instrument of both good and evil, power and exploitation, free will and separation The radical movement needed to turn from bondage to divinity embodied and incarnate may also be reflected in the morphing of the devil from an agent of deceit and depravity to an energy, like Kali, capable of becoming a vehicle for expression, inquiry, and the fiery doubt that refines faith from manufactured for mass control and consumption to inspired & organic.

By Sofiya Hyder