The Devil
A demon like figure with big wings stands guard over the chains that hold two humans chained to his pedestal
Card Number 15:
Rethinking, Nurturing
Place in the Fool’s Journey:
The Fool begins to face his own ignorance and hopelessness
Upright Meaning
Keywords:
Obsession – Addiction –Mental Health Issues - Excess – Powerlessness – Limitations – Oppression – Dependency – Secrecy – Bondage – Abuse
As a Person:
The Devil card represents the more negative sides of the human existence. As a person it represents someone who seems to believe they have no power over their own life. They are likely to suffer from addiction and/or mental illness. They look to others to guide them since they don’t feel they can trust themselves to make good choices. They tend to only be interested in the experiences in life that lead to pleasure and will ignore everything else. They have little interest in doing everyday things like holding a job or having a stable family. They live in extremes. Always either high or low with very little time in between.
As a Situation/Experience:
The Devil card represents a situation that feels out of control. It is the type of situation where we know we are unhappy but feel we have no power and can do nothing to change it. Sometimes it even feels like there is no end in sight. This is a spiraling out of control type of thing. It has so much momentum it just seems to keep getting worse and worse. But the Devil Card is here to remind us that we are not as powerless as we feel. We may not be able to change the situation, but we can change ourselves and how we react to it.
As Advice:
As advice, The Devil card is one of the hardest for people to hear and accept. He seems a little harsh but really he’s just being blunt. You are not a victim in this nor are you as trapped as you feel. The chains holding you in place are entirely of your own creation. You may not be able to change the parts of the situation that you have decided you want or need changed. But you can change yourself. And you must change yourself. It is time to break free. Start to look at the choices you have been refusing to see. The hard ones. The ones that talk of endings, letting go of ego or control, and taking ownership and responsibility for your own life choices. Its time to stop holding yourself in this place of pain and fear. For you are the one only person with the power to change your life.
Reversed Meaning
Keywords:
Independence – Detachment – Overcoming Addiction - Freedom – Release Reclaiming Power - Reclaiming Control
As a Person:
As a person, The Devil card reversed is someone who is coming out of a dark time of their life and stepping back into their own power. They are no longer thinking like victims. No longer blaming things on others or the world around them. They are taking responsibility for their own life and actions, becoming more self-aware and starting to make changes to their own actions and behaviors. They are no longer afraid to see the darker parts of themselves and are owning up to them and learning how to shift them into better ways of being. The changes they are making are not always easy but are necessary and from them a much better life will be born.
As a Situation/Experience:
As a situation The Devil reversed represents a time of self-awareness and reflection. Bad habits are being broken. Necessary changes are being made. We are taking a hard and honest look at our own behaviors and deciding what can be done to change them into more wanted ones. This is a time of learning what is needed to break out of cycles and allow for something new to take their place. As Advice:
As advice, The Devil reversed indicates that we need to stop repeating the same behaviors and expecting different things to happen from them. These cycles being created on your own doing and it is time to go inward, take a cold hard look at the darker aspects of your personality and adjust what needs to be adjusted in order to change the outcome of your life. It is your responsibility to make these shifts and you are the only one who can do so. Its time to stop being the victim and to take your life back into your own hands.
Artist credits to: Arthur Edward Waite and Pamela Colman Smith’s Tarot Vintage Deck, Matt Hughes’ Ethereal Visions Deck & Mrdiyshisha’s Cute Ghost Tarot Deck
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