The Devil

XV The Devil

Capricorn

Mind games, manipulation and emotional blackmail. The Devil is rarely a positive card, but it does have a few redeeming qualities. Let’s start with the good aspects first.

Sometimes it can represent your ambition and desire for greatness, as well as you desire to move on from one achievement to the next, never stopping or pausing for breath. One thing’s for certain: you don’t rest on your laurels!

This card can indicate a time of great desire and action in your life, a lust for life, and a willingness to take risks and enjoy life to the fullest, which will serve to further your goals and improve your circumstances. You want to make the most of life while you can and while you have the means and desire to.

In a relationship reading, the Devil, can sometimes indicate that the physical side of the relationship is wonderful—the sex is great, and the mundane circumstances are working very well for the couple.

On a spiritual level, the Devil can represent the descent of spirit into matter, a focus on Earth-based religions, a reverence for the life force.

However, most of the Devil’s reasons for appearing are negative. It indicates that you are, or will be, in a situation in which you are trapped or imprisoned, one you are finding it difficult to get out of. Sometimes it even suggests that you do not know you are trapped at all, as you have been duped or deceived into thinking you are free. This card can indicate your  ignorance in a matter, or your willingness to stand by whilst acts that would harm yourselves and/or others are perpetrated. You may also be the perpetrator yourself.

This card sometimes points to an addiction of some kind, such as alcoholism or drug abuse, as well as the most decadent (or luxurious) things taken to an extreme The Devil speaks of overdoing it: too much food, too much wine, too much exercise, for instance. It can indicate obesity, unhealthy habits, and an unwillingness to break out of such cycles.

Usually, the Devil points toward your inner demons—your fears, bad habits, or any secrets and shame you are hiding from yourself and others. This may also relate to you having feelings of entitlement or dominance over others, or, alternatively, feelings of powerlessness. Often it says that you have handed over your power to another person or agency so that you don’t have to take responsibility for your actions, thoughts, or failures.

This card can indicate mind games, either on your part or which you are a victim of. It can also point to you feeling like a slave to a certain aspect of your life, such as a job, or to another person. It sometimes indicates a co-dependent relationship, an unhealthy one, or one built solely on one person being in control of the other.

Keywords: Vice, temptation, ignorance, decadence, bondage, lust, urges, inner demons, chains, entrapment, imprisonment, oaths, contracts, promises, attachment, dominance, slavery, habits, addiction, obsession, materialism, hedonism, desire, sexuality, ambition

Love/Relationships: Attempts at a reunion fail, jealousy and obsessive behaviour, sexual attraction main factor in relationship could be blinding your ability to make decisions.

Finance/Career: Working hard for little gain, major financial loss, bad investments. Can also indicate a couple that work together to create things, each one using their own set of skills toward the goal. It represents a tremendously creative partnership, so that there is much more to the relationship than romance and love.