The Devil Tarot Card Meanings
The Devil’s Upright & Reversed Meanings
Ideas: Delay of gratification, minimization, resistance
Traits: Incorruptible, liberal, patient, rational, restrained, sober
Emotions: Contentment, frustration, gladness, regret, relief, satisfaction
- Actions:
- Dealing with restrictions
- Delaying gratification
- Facing your fears
- Letting go of possessions
- Minimizing your life
- Resisting temptation
Ideas: Dark side, shadow, splurge
Traits: Appreciative, confident, impatient, indulgent, relaxed, sensual
Emotions: Eagerness, enjoyment, excitement, exhilaration, pleasure
- Actions:
- Appreciating the luxuries that life has to offer
- Being comfortable in your own skin
- Dealing with unhealthy impulses in healthy ways
- Embracing the fact that everyone has a darker side
- Fulfilling your craving on occasion
- Splurging on something once in a while
Ideas: Bondage, delusion, swagger
Traits: Decadent, dependent, escapist, extravagant, greedy, libidinous, obsessive, oppressed, possessive, selfish
Emotions: Desire, fear, hopelessness, jealousy, longing, lust, pride
- Actions:
- Allowing basic instincts to govern your life
- Attributing your own dark impulses to outside forces or other people
- Carrying out actions based on fear
- Putting excessive emphasis on appearances
- Valuing possessions more than people or relationships
- Wanting more always
The Devil’s Advice
Personal Growth
Be honest: what habit or attitude holds you back most? You might find that the qualities you most detest in others are, in fact, reflections of your darkest self. Rather than be chained to old attitudes or habits, embrace your shortcomings and strive to make more conscious choices.
Relationship
Avoid the temptation to blame everything on everyone else; own your own contribution to the relationship’s success or failure. Doing what feels good is not always the best strategy. Take care that sexual attraction plays a healthy role; resist the tendency to be dominated by cravings.
Career
The bottom line is important, but not all-important. Do not allow material concerns to obscure human issues. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying or being compensated for good work—but keep the money in perspective. Know when to say, “Enough’s enough.”
Spirituality
Many traditions position the body as bad or evil, something unclean. In your own spiritual practice, consider the wisdom of relishing the body and its spectrum of sensations. You can honor the pleasures of the body without being enslaved by them.
The Devil’s Symbols & Insights
The Beast
The Marseilles Devil incorporates bat wings and sexual features. The Rider–Waite–Smith Devil, influenced by Pan and associations with Capricorn, is more bestial and fearsome. The Gilded Tarot emphasizes the attractiveness of the Devil; the Bright Idea Deck suggests that the Shadow is, in fact, within. Which plays the greatest role in your challenge: fear, attraction, or denial?
Prisoners and Chains
The Devil is accompanied by fauns—mythical half-goats whose horns and tails emphasize their bestial nature. Their fascination with the material prevents them from stepping away from the loose chains around their necks. Might someone in your situation need to escape the influence of his or her basest instincts?
Flames
Flames appear on the tip of the male faun’s tail in the Rider–Waite–Smith. What all-consuming obsession or passion plays a role in your situation?
The Pentagram
Upright, the pentagram is associated with the five points of the human body. Inverted, it suggests the head (the intellect) has been conquered by desire. In your situation, are you being led by your conscience or your cravings?
The Hermaphrodite
The Devil is often drawn as a hermaphrodite—a dark parody of the unity associated with enlightenment and divinity. How might false unity or misrepresented loyalty play a role in your situation?
More About The Devil Tarot Card
- Predictions
- Adultery and unfaithfulness.
- A string of extremely bad luck is coming your way.
- Beware of evil influences and wolves in sheep’s clothing.
- Timing
- Between December 22 and January 19
- Affirmation
- “I acknowledge and take responsibility for my own actions and behaviors.”
- Archetype
- The shadow/other
- Hebrew Alphabet
- Ayin/Eye/70
- Numerology Number
- 15 = 1 + 5 = 6
(the adjustment: cooperation, collaboration, interaction) - Astrology Element
- Earth
- Astrology Sign
- Capricorn
- Myths/Spirits
- The Biblical Satan, certainly
- Fallen angels, including Lucifer
- Bacchus and Pan
- Tempters and serpents of every stripe
- Storyline
- The main character comes face to face with his or her adversary. Alternatively, the main character realizes that his or her own perceptions or actions are the cause of the story’s primary problem.
- Questions to Ask
- What enslaves me? How can I set myself free?
- How can I reevaluate the importance I assign to material things?
- To what extent do my cravings define me?
- Related Pages
- Tarot Card Meanings Guide
- Tarot Birth Card Meanings
- Exploring Today’s Tarot
- Consulting the Tarot
- Traditional Tarot Card Meanings
- Thirteen Fun Things to Do with Tarot Cards
- Where to Go to Learn More
