When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. If you want to find out how this works: [Read More Here]
The Devil is not a card about the biblical devil; it’s more to do with how we get ourselves all tied up in knots in various ways.
To a significant extent the overall meaning is to do with the feelings of being trapped whether that be of our own doing, somebody else’s fault, or nobody’s fault.
Of course, a lot of the time when we think we are trapped we aren’t really anywhere as near trapped as we feel. Nearly always we hold the proverbial key in our own hands.
The Devil is one of those tarot cards that can often signal that deception or trickery is at play.
The Devil Upright Meanings Step-by-Step
Friends, Friendships, and Family
This is not the kind of card you want to see when it comes to your friends and family, not really. It signifies them feeling obligated and feeling trapped.
More context would be needed then just a single card to come to the conclusion that this feeling of not having choices has anything to do with you or not, but it’s definitely a sign that all is not comfortable.
If someone seems uncomfortable and you’re close enough to ask what is going on with them, then ask. You shouldn’t ignore it. It could be major.
Tarot Time is supported by its visitors. This page/post may contain affiliate links and we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you should click on one of those links.
Love and Relationships
The Devil is the last card that you want to see when it comes to a relationship or a potential relationship.
It tells you that the person you’re asking about is either in a relationship that they feel trapped by already and thus, usually, are not going to be too keen to jump into a brand new one with you. Or, if it comes up in the context of your existing relationship that they are feeling trapped by you and/or it. Either way give them their space. Now.
It is worth noting that feeling trapped by someone does not preclude loving them. You can both love someone and feel trapped by them at the same time.
It would be a mistake to jump to the conclusion that Mr. Married Man or Mrs. Married Woman is going to leave his or her partner because the Devil card keeps showing up when you read about him. Some people stay trapped a lifetime.
If you’re looking for love and you draw the Devil it’s generally a sign that you should get outside your usual haunts and your usual circle. You may also need to let go of fixed ideas about the type of partner you think you want. It’s possible that what you think of as your type is actually the last kind of person that you would really be successful with! In short: check your assumptions and don’t prejudge.
Spiritual Growth
You grow by allowing yourself to see that everything has both a dark side and a light side. No-one is pure goodness and equally no-one is pure evil.
If you only allow yourself to see the good side (of yourself, of life, of other people) you are seeing an incomplete picture. You have a dark side. That’s okay – everyone does. Make friends with it. It’s part of who you are and what can make you interesting.
Work and Career
When this shows up around your own career you no doubt feel trapped in a dead end. If you can’t bring yourself to make one more widget at work you need to understand that you will always have choices available to you. If you look for them.
You can always find work doing something different. But there are trade-offs; there are always trade-offs. It could be that the widget company will be there forever, but the diner that you get a job at instead goes out of business one moth after you get there.
Ask yourself if the risk of making a move is worth taking. For a lot of folks it is, but it is not for everyone. If it’s not worth moving, then make peace with your decision to stay. You are not a slave so don’t think like one.
Message from Spirit
Ask yourself what truly frightens you the most about life. Why does it scare you? Once you thoroughly understand your fears, once you see where they come from, what created them, and what perpetuates them. What is it in you that reacts so strongly to them? Only when you understand them will they begin to lose their hold over you.
The Devil Tarot Card Meanings by Tarot Time
Tarot Time is supported by its visitors. This page/post may contain affiliate links and we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you should click on one of those links.
Image Attribution: “RWS Tarot 15 Devil” by Pamela Coleman Smith – a 1909 card scanned by Holly Voley (http://home.comcast.net/~vilex/) for the public domain and retrieved from http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot (see note on that page regarding source of images). Via Wikipedia.
