The Devil card can seem frightening at first glance, but don’t be afraid! This Major Arcana card is all about releasing what no longer serves you and setting yourself free. Keep reading to learn about the Devil card meanings in love, career, finances, health, spirituality, and more. You’ll also discover how the Devil connects with numerology, astrology, and tarot card combinations. This guide to the Devil card will give you a complete overview of its multifaceted symbolism.
With the insights from this post, you’ll be able to interpret the Devil when it appears in your own tarot readings. Instead of feeling restricted by the Devil card, allow it to empower you toward positive change!
The Devil Key Facts
| Upright Meaning | Reversed Meaning | Yes or No | Numerology | Element | Planet | Astrological Sign |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Shadow self, attachment, addiction, sexuality | Reclaiming control, freedom, power | No | 15/6 | Earth | Capricorn | Capricorn |
The Devil Tarot Card Description
The classic Rider-Waite Devil card depicts a goat-headed, winged demon sitting on a square pedestal. The pedestal bears the name “Baphomet” and also displays the upside-down pentagram, a symbol of the occult. The demon has his arms raised, with one hand making a horn sign and the other holding a torch.
Two smaller demons are chained around the pedestal, representing the enslavement of humans to earthly desires and temptations. A nude man and woman stand on either side with chains around their necks, symbolizing such bondage. However, the chains are loose, meaning the enslavement is somewhat voluntary on their part. Behind the figures is a wall of stone blocks.
The occult elements have given the Devil card a reputation of being evil. However, the true meaning is much deeper. Let’s explore what this intense Major Arcana card is trying to convey.
The Upright Devil Tarot Card Meaning
Love Relationships
The Devil often appears in a reading when unhealthy attachments and obsessions are present. There may be a toxic, addictive, or codependent relationship pattern that needs to change. The seeker feels chained to a lover and cannot break free. Manipulation, jealousy, and power struggles often ensue.
Alternatively, the Devil can represent an overly lustful relationship that is based solely on sexual attraction rather than substantive emotional connection. While passion is important, it must be balanced with other shared values and interests.
Overall, the upright Devil advises examining whether a relationship is based on mutual love, trust, and respect. The time has come to release any bonds of attachment or obsession so that true freedom and harmony can be found.
Career
In career readings, the upright Devil is a sign to watch out for burnout, overwork, and unhealthy professional habits. The seeker may feel trapped in an unfulfilling job solely for the paycheck and lifestyle it provides. This creates a sense of being chained to obligations and duties against one’s true desires.
Sometimes the Devil appears when ambition becomes an unhealthy obsession. The seeker may compromise integrity and relationships in the relentless pursuit of status and material success. Ethical and legal lines can be crossed. The Devil urges restoring balance through self-examination.
Overall, this card asks if professional ambitions are in alignment with authentic values and purpose. To break free of feeling stuck, the seeker must identify core motivations and realign priorities.
Finances
Financially, the upright Devil warns against debt, overspending, greed, and gambling issues. The seeker feels chained to cycles of extravagant purchases and unwise investments to keep up an image. Financial stability is sacrificed for material status symbols.
Sometimes this card appears when too much of the seeker’s self-worth is tied to wealth and possessions. A shift in attitude is needed. The Devil reminds to avoid becoming trapped in addictive consumerism and superficial status seeking. Financial freedom comes through responsible spending aligned with true needs and values.
Health
In health readings, the upright Devil can point to unhealthy dependencies, habits, and addictions relating to substances, food, technology, sex, or other vices. The seeker feels chained to behaviors that provide short-term gratification but long-term harm.
This card suggests examining any denial about the negative impacts. The first step is honestly acknowledging addiction patterns so that healing change can occur. The Devil encourages seeking support and treatment to regain self-control and improve wellbeing.
Spirituality
On a spiritual level, the upright Devil reflects being trapped in lower vibrational states of fear, attachment, and resistance to change. The seeker may feel blocked from expressing their authentic, highest self. Old belief systems and negative thought patterns keep them chained to repetitive destructive cycles.
The Devil reminds that the chains can be removed at any time – no one else is responsible for setting you free. This card calls the seeker to bravely examine their inner shadows and limitations with compassion. Once brought into the light, distorted beliefs lose their control and new liberating perspectives open up.
The Reversed Devil Tarot Card Meaning
Love Relationships
When the Devil appears reversed in a love reading, freedom from an unhealthy attachment or addiction is finally being achieved. After an intense inner battle, the chains of codependency, obsession, lust, and manipulation are breaking.
The seeker is releasing themselves (or their partner) from the amplified grip of shadow aspects like jealousy, resentment, and rage. Reclaiming power that was given away allows the relationship to transform to one based on authenticity and mutual respect.
Alternatively, the reversed Devil can indicate impulsive rejection of a relationship that still has positive potential.take care not to throw the baby out with the bath water. With compromise and effort, some issues can be resolved. However, if abuse or chronic disrespect persists, leaving may indeed be the right decision.
Career
For career, the reversed Devil shows the seeker is breaking free of an unfulfilling, stagnant job situation. They are asserting boundaries, reducing burnout, and realigning work with purpose.
Sometimes this card signifies realizing an ambitious project or role has become corrupted, unethical, or unhealthy. The seeker may decide to leave altogether, or enact change from within to remedy excess greed, power conflicts, or legal issues.
Either way, the reversed Devil empowers the seeker to detach from career-related patterns, habits, or obligations that feel confining. By recalibrating priorities, inspiration and meaning can be renewed.
Finances
Financially, the reversed Devil indicates releasing attachment to possessions, image, and overspending habits. The seeker implements budget changes to get out of debt, build savings, and gain control over runaway consumer impulses.
Sometimes this card shows seeking help for a gambling or financial addiction. By addressing the root issues driving compulsive behavior, financial stability can be restored long-term.
Overall, the reversed Devil brings freedom from the burden of status-seeking materialism. Simplicity, gratitude, and financial responsibility are embraced.
Health
For health, the reversed Devil card is an excellent omen indicating breaking free of dependencies and addictions through inner work, counseling, or a recovery program. The seeker summons the courage to admit their destructive patterns and take back power over their choices.
By releasing denial and becoming accountable, energy shifts from shadow behaviors to improved physical, emotional, and mental health. The seeker learns to replace old harmful coping mechanisms with life-affirming new routines. With ongoing self-care and support, transformation unfolds.
Spirituality
In spiritual contexts, the reversed Devil reflects major progress in releasing false beliefs, judgments, victimhood, and resistance to change. By observing ego patterns with compassion instead of identifying with them, the seeker recognizes their true limitless nature.
Fear-based delusions about separation, unworthiness, and lack fall away. The reversed Devil brings empowering awareness that one always has a choice – even when previous beliefs insisted otherwise. By fully embracing inner light, transformation accelerates beautifully.
The Devil Tarot Card in Yes or No Questions
The Devil generally signifies a clear no in yes or no readings. Only if strongly supported by surrounding cards would the Devil indicate yes to overcoming challenges or breaking free of constraints. This card advises deeply examining any situation before proceeding, as unhealthy attachments likely exist. Proceed with caution.
The Devil Tarot Card and Numerology
In numerology, the Devil tarot card reduces to the number 6 (1 + 5 = 6). Number 6 carries the energies of balance, harmony, nurturing, and community. Negatively, 6 can also relate to conflict and imbalance.
Upright, the Devil combines these traits in its shadows of unhealthy attachments, codependency, and addiction patterns stemming from inner and outer conflicts. Yet when reversed, the Devil can signify restoring balance and community support to overcome destructive cycles – aligning with the positive 6.
The Devil Tarot Card and Astrology
The Devil tarot card corresponds astrologically to the zodiac sign of Capricorn. Capricorn is represented by the sea-goat, a mythological creature with the upper body of a goat and the tail of a fish.
Like Capricorn’s symbol, the Devil mixes animal and human features in an earthy, grounded card. Both represent ambition, achievement, and mastery of the material realm. However, shadow expressions like greed and excessive control must be balanced with ethics and humility.
The Devil Tarot Card Combinations
The Devil + The Lovers: Staying in an unhappy relationship due to addiction or unhealthy attachment patterns. Obsessiveness may lead to controlling behaviors. Need to reclaim personal power.
The Devil + Three of Swords: Heartbreak, grief, and trauma bonding within an abusive or addictive relationship. Experiencing depression or self-sabotage. Requires much healing.
The Devil + Eight of Pentacles: Feeling trapped in an unfulfilling job solely for the income and lifestyle it provides. Putting work before health, relationships, and self-care.
The Devil + Seven of Cups: Escapism, fantasies, and wishful thinking prevent addressing core issues.facing reality and making changes is necessary for growth.
The Devil + The Hanged Man (Reversed): Breaking free of stagnation and indecision. No longer feeling trapped by limiting beliefs and perspectives. Reclaiming personal power.
The Devil Tarot Card Designs
The Rider-Waite Smith deck features the most classic and influential Devil card imagery, showing a goat demon enslaving human figures. Other decks portray the Devil in unique ways while retaining the core elements of shadow and attachment.
The vampiric Devil in the Modern Spellcaster’s Tarot emerges from a coffin, representing dangerous temptation and allure. The Vice Versa Tarot Devil holds strands binding human bodies, symbolizing harmful addictions and obsessions.
The Deviant Moon Tarot depicts a horned mask chained to a tree, suggesting one’s darker nature suppressed rather than acknowledged. Even the whimsical Tarot of Pixie Hollow includes a Devil figure enveloped in vines, showing shadow tendencies and lower impulses.
No matter the art style, the Devil card across decks reflects the need to recognize and release self-limiting bondage to truly flourish. By understanding this card’s meaning, its shadowy imagery becomes illuminating.
FAQs
Is the Devil card evil?
The Devil is not an inherently evil or negative card. Its shadowy imagery serves as a meaningful reminder that everyone has a dark side which must be consciously managed to avoid destructiveness. By providing insight into attachments and addictions, this card can motivate much needed change.
What does the Devil tarot card mean in a love reading?
In love readings, the upright Devil can indicate an imbalanced relationship based on unhealthy attachment, lust, or power dynamics rather than real intimacy. A codependent, obsessive, or abusive relationship may need to transform or end altogether. The reversed Devil signifies releasing from such a harmful bond.
What happens if the Devil is your tarot birth card?
If the Devil is your tarot birth card, your life path involves learning to master passions, resist temptation, and develop personal power without becoming obsessed or controlled by shadow tendencies. By embracing self-awareness and detachment, you can achieve much success without sacrificing integrity.
Key Takeaways
- The Devil card represents shadow aspects like temptation, addiction, and unhealthy attachments. It appears when issues like codependency, overindulgence, or denial must be addressed.
- When upright, the Devil cautions against bondage to patterns or relationships that feel confining. To reverse the Devil is to take back control through positive change.
- The Devil reminds us to examine whether ambitions or desires have become destructive obsessions. Balance can be restored by realigning with authentic values and moderation.
- With insight and effort, we can break the chains of the Devil! This intense but liberating card reveals where we have given away power so it can be reclaimed.
Conclusion
The Devil tarot card gets an unfair reputation as something ominous and frightening. However, this article shows the Devil is not evil or negative at its core. Instead, it serves as a sobering wake-up call to recognize and release destructive patterns, attachments, and self-limitations in life and relationships.
While the Devil’s imagery may seem dark, this Major Arcana card truly lights the way toward integrity, wisdom, and wholeness by illuminating the shadows. Facing one’s inner demons with courage ultimately allows transcendence and redemption. Rather than giving in to hopelessness when the Devil appears, view it as motivation for positive change.
The next time the Devil shows up in your tarot reading, do not despair. Let this card be your teacher, revealing difficult but necessary lessons about where you have handed your power away to harmful illusions. By heeding the Devil’s advice, you gain the strength to break free of chains and walk your own true path in the light.
