Along with being half goat and half man, the devil has bat wings and an inverted pentagram on his forehead. He is standing on a pedestal, to which are chained a nude man and woman, as if to show that he has dominion over them. This card also resembles The Lovers card but in an imbalanced way. The chains make it appear as though the devil has taken them captive.
Looking closely, both the man and the woman don’t look happy. Their individual power has been taken from them due to their own harmful coping habits, negative thought patterns, and addictions.
Meaning
Getting the devil card in your reading shows that you have feelings of entrapment, emptiness and lack of fulfillment in your life. It might also mean that you are a slave to materialism and opulence and no matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to shake off the feeling of wanting to indulge in luxurious living.
You might be aware that this kind of lifestyle is leading you down the rabbit hole, but you have that feeling of not having any form of control over your actions or urges.
Key Themes
The Fool encounters the Devil and realizes that in order to truly begin their spiritual transformation, they must analyze everything that's holding them back, such as negative thought patterns, self-limiting beliefs, etc., and release them since they are no longer serving the Fool.
What This Foretells
Upright: addiction, materialism, playfulness Reversed: freedom, release, restoring control
Memorization Tip
The Devil is the things in our mindset that divide us and prevent us from living in balance within ourselves and the universe. The imagery is similar to the Lovers card, but with the masculine and feminine energies in shackles to the negative thought patterns instead of free and in harmony.
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