← Encyclopedia of Tarot · lesson 16/121
The Devil
The Devil is the card of attachment: the habits, cravings, fears and patterns that hold a person more tightly than they would like. It is not read as evil or as anything supernatural. Readers usually see it as an honest look at what has a grip on us — and a reminder that the grip is often looser than it feels.
The image
A horned, goat-headed figure with bat's wings crouches on a dark pedestal, one hand raised and the other holding a torch pointed down. Chained to the pedestal are a naked man and woman, each with a small tail. The chains hang loosely round their necks, loose enough to lift off. The figure is usually taken as the material and instinctive side of life given too much power, and the loose chains as a bondage that is partly chosen.
Upright
Attachment, temptation, compulsion, materialism and feeling trapped. Waite, though his list is stark, adds that the card shows "that which is predestined but is not for this reason evil". In everyday life it can point to an unhealthy habit, a relationship or job that feels hard to leave, over-focus on money or status, or simply strong desire and physical appetite. It also has a lighter side: pleasure, ambition and earthy vitality.
Reversed
Waite gives weakness, pettiness and blindness. Modern readers often take the reversal as release: seeing a pattern clearly, loosening a hold, breaking free. It can also show an attachment turned inward and hidden. Some readers do not use reversals at all.
Correspondences
Major Arcana card XV. In the Golden Dawn system, which most English-language decks follow, it is the Hebrew letter Ayin (the eye), the 26th path on the Tree of Life, and the sign of Capricorn; its element is earth. French (Papus) tradition attributes some Majors differently.
In a reading
In the past, it can describe a pattern that still shapes present choices. As an obstacle, it often names the very thing holding a situation back. As advice, it invites honesty about what has a hold, and the small step that loosens it; as an outcome, it asks whether the price of a path is worth paying. It is often contrasted with the Lovers and with the Star, which follows the Tower as the hope beyond bondage.
In astrology
The Golden Dawn's correspondences, which most English-language decks follow (French, Marseille-based tradition differs for some Major Arcana).
Sign: Capricorn
Element: Earth — the element of Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn
Mode: Cardinal — Capricorn is a cardinal sign