TAROTThe Devil
Upright
Self-sabotage, giving in to the darker aspects of your nature.
Materialistic and selfish behavior.
Self-centered actions, falling for earthly desires.
Intuition
Seeing this card upright is not necessarily a bad thing, but rather a tap on your shoulder to consider what you are currently doing (or considering doing) and the path it will lead to; the process of descent may not yet have started.
Only ignoring its advice makes it a bad card!
Reversed
Recovery.
Recovering from a previously constraining situation or emotional state.
Note that this card does not necessarily mean you have been bad and are now making amends; it may be about escaping someone else’s mistakes.
Astrologia
Ambitious and disciplined with a strong practical perspective. Strong on values and loyalty. A hard worker. Can become pessimistic or self-centered, as all the energy is focused on the material world.
The Devil
The previous card, Temperance, was about finding equilibrium and peace. If you have had peace for a long time, things may start to feel too easy, and then temptation appears.
With the Devil, temperance gives way to temptation, and the lure of the material world pulls you in.
Everyone wants, but not everyone takes. The Devil is about passions overriding reason because your desires are out of control. You want and take, irrespective of the repercussions for yourself and others.
Such action creates a need to avoid those repercussions through shifting blame, manipulation, deceit, self-justification, or even violence.
And, of course, at the end of it all, it is not really your fault; 'the Devil made you do it'. However, that is not exactly how the ancients saw it.
Although there were benevolent and destructive gods, they were not 'evil' in the modern sense; they simply acted according to their domains. A god of the dead could kidnap innocent young maidens because death did whisk away young people before their time (and, unfortunately, still does today).
Sometimes the sun was hidden during the day, or the sea would wash away a coastal city. A fearsome monster needed to exist to explain it. The monster is not so much 'evil' as it is an explanation for a natural disaster, acting as a warning against forces we have not yet learned to control.
This brings us to the strange story of Phosphorus, and how he disappeared and returned as evil.
Phosphorus and the Lotus Eaters
Phosphorus
There are a few different types of ancient gods. Many represent a domain or position, such as retribution, the sea, or the 'All-Father'. They have stories that anthropomorphize their domain, giving the unpredictable ancient world a sense of reason.
Then there are gods that are the direct personification of something. They are not the god of something; they are that something. For example, Phosphorus was the Morning Star, just as Selene is the Moon.
There is also the astronomical matter of Venus not moving as high in the heavens as other planets (which we now know was due to its orbit). To the ancients, it appeared as if the star was constrained to earth, or barred from heaven.
Eventually, the ancients invented better instruments and realized that Venus, the Morning Star, and the Evening Star were one and the same. This made Phosphorus the personification of an illusion, and therefore the God of Nothing.
However, a later reference to the planet 'Morning Star' was translated using the Latin word for Phosphorus: Lucifer (meaning 'Light-Bringer'). Remembering the myth that Venus cannot make it high into heaven, the allegorical connection to a 'fallen angel' was cemented.
The card shows Phosphorus seated on a rock, with an empty altar below him. The scene is desolate. Nobody would come here to worship this god, unless they were looking for a scapegoat.
The Lotus Eaters
The Lotus Eaters are a mythological group appearing in Homer’s Odyssey. They lived on an island featuring a single large lotus tree that provided their food. The fruit of this tree was narcotic, making the eaters forget reality and surrender to pleasure. Worse, ships visiting the island (such as Odysseus's fleet returning from Troy) risked losing their crew forever to the island's apathy.
The phrase 'Lotus Eaters' refers to people who have fallen to pleasure and indulgence at the expense of reality. The man and woman on either side of Phosphorus are two such victims.
Description and Symbology
We see the god Phosphorus seated on a rock formation that resembles a very crude throne. At the base of the rock lies a cloth, denoting an altar space. There is nothing on the cloth, as befits a God of Nothing.
Behind and to the right of Phosphorus shines Venus in its morning appearance (the Morning Star).
A woman is chained to the rock via a padlocked collar, yet she holds the key that would allow her to escape in her own hand. A man is similarly tied to the rock, this time with a hangman’s noose that he has placed around his own neck.
The man and woman may try to blame some external evil for this situation, but as we now know, there is nothing in the image that is inherently evil. The man and woman are constraining themselves through their own actions.
Card Symbol
The card symbol is the upside down star, often used to signify Baphomet. The earliest visual representation of Baphomet as the ‘Sabbatical Goat’ (and often used as the source of The Devil card in many Tarot decks) was by Éliphas Lévi in the 19th Century, although the name Baphomet appeared earlier in the 10th Century. Based on esoteric writings (especially the Kabbalah tree of life), Lévi drew the image himself. The image appeared nowhere previously, so is assumed to be a personal creation. It is not used in this deck, as it was created far too recently to be a strong archetype.
Phosphorus Morning Star
Phosphorus is seen with the Morning Star behind him and sitting on a rock that resembles a crude throne. As the Morning Star is actually Venus and the Morning Star does not exist as anything physical, Phosphorus does not have much to do. He appears as an archetype of the ‘null God’ or ‘God of nothing’. In Latin, Phosphorus translates to 'Lucifer', hence Lucifer Morning Star.
The empty altar
Below Phosphorus, we see an empty altar, as befits a God of nothing.
Chained woman
The woman to the left of the card is chained to the rock via a padlocked neck collar. She holds the key to this padlock in her hand, so can escape at any time should she choose to, but as a Lotus Eater, her addictions prevent this.
Tied man
The man to the right of the card is tied to the rock via a length of rope that ends with a hangman’s noose around his neck. Again, he can choose to remove the noose he has placed around his neck any time of his choosing, but as a Lotus eater, his addictions prevent this.
Red skies and beach
The beach and sky are empty but colored in reds. This represents strong but undirected emotion. If the emotion was directed, it might be constructive.
Tips for Readings
The following table shows the upright and reverse meanings for general questions. The last row ('Yes/No') is useful when you are picking a single card to decide a yes or no decision.
Upright
Reversed
You may be exhibiting selfishness or lack of care for others.
Be wary of falling for earthly desires and wants vs. doing the right thing.
There may also be issues with trust, deceit, or controlling behavior.
The fix for all the above is to control your passions and direct them to more constructive areas.
You will be coming out of a poor (or even toxic) situation.
For those outside a relationship, this may be a period of breaking free from bad emotional patterns of behavior.
You will experience feelings of being trapped via lack of opportunities or feeling unfulfilled.
Previous poor behavior may be holding you back. Consider holding your emotions/temper in check in the future, as this will rarely ever work out in your favor!
This card signifies you are on the road to taking control back from a bad situation. There may be new opportunities to escape from a stifling job.
You may also be part way through the process of making amends regarding actions you may have taken in the past, or you need to be made aware that this is necessary.
Be wary of compulsive behavior, such as lack of sleep or poor diet. These are caused by short term thinking and immediate needs with no thought for the future.
These may be caused by addiction, stress, fear or other imbalance in life, but you require a longer term outlook that includes where you want to be in the future.
You will be successful in making progress on returning to good health from a previously poor situation. If you haven’t already, now is the time to make plans. They will be successful if carried out.
Personal development is in serious danger of being halted or in reverse because of a current behavior or situation.
Be careful of the direction you are taking.
Beginning of rehabilitation regarding a previous bad behavior, addiction or self-defeating way of thinking. The worst is over.
Falling for the darker side of human nature (greed, materialism, envy, and laziness) will cause issues with money.
Debt or frivolously spending money may occur.
You will enter a phase of turning around previous money problems and/or a new sense of independence.
This may be part of a process of breaking away from previous issues or lifestyle.
No. The darker side of human nature will cause failure.
Yes, recovery and taking back control of your life.
Reading the Card
The Upright Card
The Upright Devil card is about passions out of control. The best fix is to harness that passion positively, turning it into a constructive force. Without this fix, the passions will lead to negative behaviors and self-sabotage.
The upright Devil card is about passions out of control. The best fix is to harness that passion positively, turning it into a constructive force.
The card represents a mind succumbing to temptation: bondage to the pleasures of the material world at the expense of spiritual or moral concerns, and the slide into addiction.
The chained woman and the tied man represent people trapped by their own desires and limitations. Unlike in other decks, they are not chained to a supernatural evil, but to a powerless God of Nothing. They have trapped themselves through their own actions.
In the end, we can debate whether 'evil' exists as an external force, but that is irrelevant. We are judged by our own actions, not those of the Devil.
This can be a difficult card to receive, as it assigns responsibility that the seeker may not welcome. Instead, view this card as a warning rather than an accusation.
There is time to fix things, or simply to choose another path that avoids the danger entirely. Look, but do not touch. Want, but do not use. Both choices will help you avoid entrapping yourself on the rock of the God of Nothing. This is vital, because that rock is as heavy as all our future misgivings.
The Reversal
The Reversed Devil represents recovery. You have been involved in a bad situation, but the worst may be in the past, provided you carry on with the work of recovery.
You may be on the verge of crossing a barrier, leaving behind an old self that dwelled on unhealthy habits, kept poor company, was controlling toward others, or prioritized material gain over everything else.
The Reversal is the woman finding the key and unlocking her shackles. It is the man realizing the danger of the noose and removing it. Neither physical action is difficult, but there is often a deeper psychological reason for being bound to the rock in the first place:
- Addiction: Often used not as a source of pleasure, but to alleviate a deeper pain.
- Self-Abuse: Often not a disease itself, but a symptom of a fractured sense of self.
Facing this deeper root cause is harder than unlocking a padlock or removing a noose. However, doing so is the first step in admitting that the problem is entirely within your grasp to control.
Card Design Process
The design process for this card was based on the knowledge that many ancient religions do not possess an 'evil' deity analogous to the Devil. Most ancient gods are neither good nor bad; they simply reflect a natural domain, such as death, the sea, the weather, or chance.
All were sometimes seen as cruel and unfathomable, but could also be helpful. Mythological figures without a specific domain often acted much like humans: amoral, driven by personal agendas rather than a strict binary of good or bad.
Thus, the plan was to feature no Sacrificial Goat or literal demon on the Devil card. There are only our hopes, our fears, and the actions we take because of them.
The use of a god created to represent something that was later proven not to exist was the ideal solution: a God of Nothing. It was a perfect coincidence that his name translates from Greek to Latin as the heavily loaded title, Lucifer.
Final Words
The Devil card tells you the 'Devil' is inside you, but you can always beat it by first acknowledging that you hold the key to your own chains.
The Devil may be seen as a bad card, but it always brings good advice. It only becomes a bad card if you choose to ignore it.
