March 2022

Welcome to part 16 of my 22 part Tarot Meanings Deep Dive series – each week we explore ONE major arcana card and uncover it’s secrets, symbols and messages.

Today we’re diving into The Devil – one of the most intense (and horny!) cards in the Major Arcana!

Grab a notebook, pen and a hot bevy and settle in…

Keywords: addiction, unhelpful habits, stuck in a pattern, oppression,  being tempted, tricked or manipulated into giving your power away without realizing it (examples: drug addiction, credit card debt, pyramid schemes, cults).

The Devil represents the opposite of enlightenment – remaining unconscious and in the dark, believing that only the material realm matters and that spirit doesn’t exist.

Symbols: 

Horns = horny, animal/primal desires
Torch pointed downwards (opposite of enlightenment)
Darkness = being unenlightened, only that which is seen exists
Chains = oppression
Tails made of fire and grapes
The Devil is #15 (5 + 1 = 6 =The Lovers) – this card features the same couple

Light Side: You’re ready for more freedom! You’re ready to see the unhelpful patterns and habits because you’re ready to change and be more free.

1) Addictions

The Devil is all about addictions and unhelpful habits and patterns which bring us comfort and fulfill a need, yet keep us stuck and rob us of freedom.

Journalling Questions:

♥ What are you addicted to? What unhelpful habits do you cling to?

♥ What primal need or desire does your addiction fulfill?

♥ Which habits/addictions are you ready to break free from?

2) Surrendering your power (selling your soul)

The Devil tempts and seduces us into handing over our power/soul in exchange for success in the material world like money, security, sex, fame and accolades. Often these things just turn out to be illusions and not worth the trade.

If The Devil can convince us that only the physical world is real, then we’ll undervalue our own soul. When he asks for it in exchange for something material like monetary success, we’ll be tricked into thinking it’s a good deal.

Journalling Questions:

♥ What are you giving your power away to?

♥ What are you trading your freedom for?

♥ How are you sacrificing the spiritual in return for the material?

3) Longing for freedom

The Devil only shows up when we’re ready for more freedom – we’re ready to look our addictions and unhelpful patterns in the eye and ask “am I really as stuck as I think I am? Is this really all there is?”

There is safety and predictability in our habits and addictions, even if they make us miserable, they are at least familiar. Yet….we long to be free!

Journalling Questions:

♥ How are you ready to be more free? What does more freedom look like to you?

♥ When you think about breaking free of a habit, do any fears come up?

♥ Is your desire for safety, comfort and routine greater than your desire to be free? Can you imagine yourself being safe AND free? Affirmation: I am Safe, I am Free

The wisdom of The Devil

The Devil asks “how are you deluding yourself? How have you been tricked? What unhelpful beliefs are you buying into?” And most importantly….. “how can you be more free?”

Inside of us exists a tendency to want to hand over our true power in exchange for a poor substitute for what we truly crave. Yet the intense desire for freedom also exists within us…which one will win out at the end of the day?

Let me know in the comments below…Did you learn anything new about The Devil? What surprised you most?

♥ Join me next week as we dive into The Tower

You can find all my previous Tarot Meanings Deep Dives right here!