After the Death Card, the Devil card is probably the most feared card of us! It conjures up thoughts of evil, addiction and slavery, amongst other things. And, the truth is, the Devil card is one of those cards in a Tarot Reading that can be experienced as challenging – but like all challenges, it has an important message of hope and can clearly explain a situation when you need it most.
The death card is the final of the last seven cards of the tarot with the first seven being all about outer world experiences and the next seven being abbot inner world experiences. These cast seven cards are really about integrating the two – inner and outer worlds – in order to achieve balance and wholeness, as described by the final Tarot Card, the World.
Tarot is all about balancing polarities, and so, with this woeful beginning to the next chapter, let us take a deeper look at what the Devil Card may mean.
Symbolism of The Devil Card
Before we dive deeply into the meaning and symbolism reflected on the Devil Tarot Card, let’s talk about the similes to the Lovers card. In both, we can see a man and a woman, with the man have flames behind him. We can see in both that there’s either an angel or a devil presiding over their bond and union.
The reason for this is a warning -a warning to not allow sheer desire and passion become pure lust and dependence, or a toxic addiction. It is easy to allow love to become attachment, and we need to be aware of the human tendency to let our attachments get in the way of really loving someone!
Here, we can clearly see that the man and woman are chained to the Devil, showing symbolically that they are trapped by list, dependency and a toxic cycle. However, these chains are very loose, meaning that all the traps that this pair have are an illusion, and that hey can, in fact, walk free. However, they may choose not to. Why? Because, very often, addiction can feel safe and feel good, and it be very scary to break our chains!
The Devil himself is the Horned Goat Baphomet, who originally represented the polarity of both good and bad. This can give us a deeper glimpse into this card’s meaning, and remind us that just because something looks demonic, doesn’t mean it’s all bad.
However, the inverted pentagram can show imbalance of these human, primal tendencies, and that they have perhaps taken over our common sense and conscious awareness. This is also a sign of the occult, and of hidden things.
The flaming tail on the man, compared to the tree of flames on the Lovers card, symbolise that the man is now driven by lust, rather than letting desire be a healthy part of human relationships. The couple has allowed themselves to be consumed by their animal natures and are now enslaved to its pleasures and downfalls.
General Meaning of The Devil Card
The Devil card in a Tarot Reading talks about a time of addiction, lust and materialism, in a nutshell. Rarely is this card positive, unless it’s placed in a position of a Tarot Layout that is more positive. For example, if you’re asking a question such as “what are my greatest strengths in my career?” and the Devil appears, it’s perhaps that your have strong material skills.
However, generally speaking, this card can be tough and indicates that there is some kind of toxicity going on somewhere in your life. This may be in work or financially – it’s not just conacred with your romantic or sexual life. You may have allowed your career to become a money-driven pursuit, and you’re feeling unfulfilled as a result, or perhaps you have a toxic relationship with a family member that needs to be broken.
The Devil can also indicate physical addiction, for example to pornography, alcohol, nicotine or any other habit. You need to fee yourself, or lese the universe will bring along catastrophic events that will force the chains off of you.
Try not to allow yourself to be in that dangerous comfort one, and remove yourself for this difficulty – as hard as it seems. You’re in a very trapped, suffocating position, and it’s not doing you or anyone else any good!
Meaning of The Devil Card in The Past
You can breathe a big sigh of relief when you get the Devil card in the past position! In any reading, you’d rather this card is behind you than ahead of you, that’s for sure. Sometimes in the past, you were going through a very difficult toxic situation that could have involved dependency, materialism or a co-dependent relationship.
However now you have been freed and it’s behind you, so you can relax – changes may be at your doorstep now, but they’re all for the better.
Meaning of The Devil Card in The Present
The Devil Card in the present position is not an easy message to get, and it may be extremely tough to heed the warning. The Devil card appears when you’re in a toxic, addictive situation, and say that you’re being driven by lust rather than by your soul. You are feeling trapped, yet you’re not making any moves to unchain yourself.
If you don’t throw off your shackles, the universe will soon step in and do it for you! Try and face up to where you’re not allowing yourself to feel free and see what steps you can take in a healthier direction.
Meaning of The Devil Card in The Future
Take a deep breath when you see the Devil card in the future! Events, relationships or situations right now may be building into a sense of entrapment and toxicity, if you don’t watch your step now. What relationships or topics do you presently see that could become lust-driven or toxic? If you are forewarned, you are forenamed and the Devil card in the future is a good friend, letting you know of the potential dangers ahead!
Make sure that you already have the balance of spiritual and material in your life at this moment to mitigate the problems that this card may bring up later down the line.
Meaning of The Devil Card in Relationships
The truth is, the Devil card in a relationship position is not a particularly good sign for your relationship. It indicates that instead of letting each other be free, you’ve become attached in a toxic way and are enslaving each other – maybe not even realising it!
Sometimes, this card in a relationship reading also indicates that whilst the physical passion is very high, perhaps that’s all it is, and until you tone down the passion, you’re not going to see the danger you are both in.
Is there any positivity here? Well, if you both decide to turn aside from materialism, lust and primal desire to focus on the soul connection between you, you may able to turn aside the toxic tides you are both being overwhelmed by. If you both acknowledge your co-dependency, you can certainly get your relationship back on track. It may take a crisis in order to do so, but it can be done.
Meaning of The Devil Card in Career
Some people might see this as a very positive card to get in a career position of a Tarot Reading. It certainly is one that abdicates success in the material world – but at what cost? The Devil card can tell you that your focus has become purely material and that you need to come back to your roots and original visions. You may be trapping yourself so deeply in your career that you have no more balance for the rest of your life.
This card can also talk about toxic relationships in the workplace – perhaps with a boss or colleague, and especially if you have physical or romance relationship with them. Realise that your connection may be very detrimental for your career, and do your best to break away.
Meaning of The Devil Card Reversed
Getting the Devil in the reversed position is interesting, and often talks about not allowing yourself to be human, to be lustful or materialistic even in the slightest. It’s normal – and desirable – to enjoy a healthy relationship with money and sexuality, and that as long as it’s all kept in balance, you’ll be fine.
However, you could be suppressing your natural animal urges and pretending they don’t exist, which will only make this shadow material that much stronger! You may find your dreams and even your waking life filled with all kinds of desires that you deny, which creates problems for you. Explore your human, primal side with curiosity and see what it has to offer you!
This card also indicates that you’re not as chained as you think you are. In fact, you may be more than ready to throw off your addictions and show the world how free you are!
Summary of The Devil Card
The Devil card is tough without a doubt, but its main message is to free yourself of your chains, and that you’re not as trapped as y our believe yourself to be! You may feel addicted, suffocated and caught in a toxic situation, but the time is soon coming where you’ll be free and realise how much of an illusion the “trap” was. Avoid addiction in any form, and deal with it in order to avoid harder consequences.