The Devil card is yet another card that tends to scare people whenever they see it pop up in a Tarot card. Some people might find the image on the card scary, while some may feel its implications to be very frightening. However, the Devil card is neither evil nor frightening.

So what does the Devil card really stand for? Lets have a look.

The Devil card usually depicts a character with horns and surrounded by fire – an image typical of the Biblical versions of Satan in Hell. However, while these images may evoke this aspect, it is a matter of common knowledge that this image of a horned character is borrowed from various Pagan myths.

So, lets look at the different aspects of the image on the Devil card.

The Devil Card: Image Description

If you look at the image on the Devil card, you can see the horned figure. He looks like a creature with bats wings, a man’s upper body, the lower body of a goat.

This figure sits on a pedestal, holding a burning torch in his left hand. He also holds up his right hand, in a gesture reminiscent of Mr. Spock. 🙂

On the top of his head, we also see the image of the Pentacle. But this pentacle is different from other normal pentacles – it is reversed.

Chained to the block that he sits (or shall we say, perches) on, are the two figures from the Lovers card.

But this time, these figures have also sprouted horns and tails. The tail of the male figure looks like a flame, while the tail of the woman looks like a bunch of grapes.

The entire tableau is shrouded in darkness.

It is pretty natural that this entire image evoke a sense of fear or dread.

The Devil Card: Symbolism

Naturally, there is a whole bunch of symbolism within these images. Lets have a look at that.

The Horned Figure: As mentioned before, the horned figure is borrowed from several Pagan deities – and is derived from various sources like Baphomet, Baal, Dionysus and even Bacchus. All of these various deities stand for Gods of  Ecstasy, Enjoyment, Drinking, Merry Making and so on. All of these Gods stand for giving into one’s desires and wishes. They also represent pleasure and indulgence.

The Inverted Pentacle: The pentacle is a symbol of all the five elements in Nature – Air, Water, Fire, Earth and Ether. Drawn in the normal manner, the pentacle stands for the union of all these elements in nature. And, contrary to popular media, it doesn’t stand for anything evil or Satanic. 🙂 So when the pentacle is drawn in an inverted manner, it shows how the energies of these five elements of Nature have been drawn down onto Earth, into our plane.

The Figures from the Lovers Card: In the Lovers card, these figures represent Adam and Eve, or especially a man and a woman who connect with each other not just through their physical love, but also through their emotional and spiritual love.

The Tails: The depiction of the tails in such a manner talks about how the figures of the lovers card have changed. What was once a spiritual, emotional and even physical connection between the two, has now evolved into a connection that is based on materialistic values. They have given into their materialistic desires completely.

The Chains: The chains show how these materialistic desires and the desire for more and more materialistic benefits have chained these two figures to the energies depicted by the Horned Figure. They have given into their enjoyment, merry making, pleasure and indulgence. Now, their connection and their desires for material pleasures have bound them into an endless cycle – one that only they can walk out of.

The Darkness: The darkness is the darkness of the soul. It is the darkness that exists in the mind and the heart, when one gives into their material pleasures, and thinks that attaining material things is the only right thing in the world.

The Devil Card: In a Nutshell

The Devil card is a mixed bag. While it talks about material benefits and pleasure, but all of these come attached with many dark strings.

From all of the above, one can derive that the Devil card is all about:

• Material benefits abound. The Devil card brings with it a lot of material benefits and many attachments that bring about a lot of material benefits. This card brings with it stuff like monetary benefits, and many material luxuries. This card also talks about situations that can bring about such monetary benefits – like getting a job or a promotion.
• Materialistic Relationships. The Devil card talks about relationships whose only basis is materialistic. A man and a woman may get married only for the money, and not for any other reason. A job may be obtained only for the sake of material benefits, not for true enjoyment of it. Such relationships are formed only for the sake of gaining material advancement, and no other.
• Addiction. When one completely gives into the satisfaction of one’s desires, and nothing else, the threat of addiction looms pretty large. This card can also talk about addiction to drugs and alcohol. Even addiction to money and sex can be included in this category.

Thus, we can see that while the Devil card does give many things on the material plane, all of them come with strings attached. The very lesson of this card is that while material things might not be bad by themselves, one ought to be careful not to get chained to them and surround one’s self in the darkness that they bring.

While enjoyment and pleasure of the material plane is not a bad thing by itself, becoming a slave to its acquisition and possession can often take you to ‘the dark side of the force’. 🙂

The Devil Card: Your Turn

While the devil card may not be such a happy card, it certainly is not an evil card as many people think it to be. Sure, it has some very nasty connotations, but none of it is actually connected with evil per se.

What are the aspects of the Devil card which scare you? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section below.