Why the Devil card is not as scary as you think

The Devil Upright Meaning

This card expresses the realm of the underground (taboo) — the culturally rejected wildness and undigested shadow side that each of us carries in our subconscious. This shadow is actually a part of us and at the core of our being, which we cannot get rid of and will never succeed in taming.

From its earliest versions, which portrayed a vampire-demon, The Devil evoked the church-fueled fear that a person could “lose their soul” to wild and passionate forces. The Devil image evolved in the mid-1700s gives us a more sophisticated rendition — that of the “scapegoated goddess,” whose esoteric name is Baphomet.

The meaning of the card is possibly that you have volcanic reserves of passion and primal desire to empower your efforts and overcome the pressure of stereotyped roles and experience true freedom of soul.

The Devil Reversed Meaning

The Devil card reversed suggests that you are enjoying creating chaos and resistance for no particular, positive reason. Your sense of humor could be a bit twisted. Your motive may be vengeance or you are simply being an irritant.

The juvenile prankster streak in you must be corralled and changed before it gets you into further trouble. Suppress those impulses until you successfully engineer a shift away from this careless behavior. Such antics will cost you in the long run even though they seem amusing in the moment.

The Devil Advice Position

The Devil card advises that you break free of your programming and let your deep thoughts come to the surface, exert what is on your mind. There may be nothing to be gained by trying to be subtle or strategic in this situation.

Assert your agenda, express yourself honestly, and let the chips fall where they may. Your best bet could be to express your true emotions, possibly even including anger. Acknowledge that you have whatever feelings you have. While it may not be necessary to act out what you feel in every situation, accepting the power and depth of your inner experience enables you to remain true to yourself.