Wow until last week I hadn’t drawn this card in years – and now I’ve drawn it for myself twice in a row. I think the Universe is trying to tell me something. Let me know if you’d like me to draw a card for you!
Devil
Traditional meaning:
The Devil card is not about an external force. It is about the darker thoughts within ourselves. It’s about the shadowy part of all of us that exists. The side that craves short-term pleasure over long-term dreams. The side that can be selfish. That can be petty. The side that says something sharp when it’s just not necessary.
This card can also be associated with aspects of ourselves which are more challenging to control. Addiction to food. To alcohol. To drugs. These are situations where our brain literally works against the health of the body. It can require enormous strength even to ask for help to address those issues.
The key of this card is for a person to look with open eyes at the problems they are causing for themselves. They should not ignore the challenges. The person should write down the challenges. Consider each one. And then get the help needed to take action to overcome them.
My Interpretation:
It’s taken me a long time to come to terms with how this card is presented in this deck. It seems to showcase an external, malignant power – a “skull demon” with horns, sharp teeth, and wings who threatens the person. But that’s not the Devil card at all. The Devil card is about INTERNAL challenges and I’m just not sure this card shows that well.
Hopefully viewers realize that what this card is really showing is a collection of symbols representing what many of us fear. Death (in a strange format) is right there in the center. The inverted pentacle symbolizes that we fear “harmful people” – those who we feel would hurt us. The grey shape in the lower center almost seems like a heart split in two. The two characters on either side have their backs to each other. Their partnership has been split. There are jagged mountain flames threatening.
I interpret the dead-gray sphere at the top as a dead planet. It’s not the sun nor the moon. It represents our own Earth, devoid of life. That is certainly something for us to fear and to take action about.
There’s supposedly a torch on the right, held flames-down, but I have to admit it looks more like a flying flaming rocket-phallus to me. I’ll go with the symbolism of one burning one’s own home out of lack of care. The flames are greedily licking down – unnaturally – about to burn all that is important.
In any case, the message to me is that we need to carefully consider what we are afraid of. We need to evaluate those items. Write them down. And then we need to take action to move past those fears. Life is short. Too short. If a fear is holding us back from doing something we want, it’s time to address it.