Interpreting The Devil

[azarathine]

Based on a few comments I received in another thread, I wanted to address this here and maybe get a few opinions.

Late last month, as I was doing spreads for myself and spirit guide communications, I found that a number of cards were recurring, no matter how carefully or thoroughly I shuffled them. The most prominent of these cards was The Devil.

Now, most books (in my collection) refer to the Devil in ways that might be construed as negative depending on your outlook. I addressed these recurrences with another tarot forum, and everyone came back to me with the same reply - that it likely referred to an addiction of some kind.

Now, I myself have also read that The Devil can refer to ambition or power or a powerful person. Which might be very positive things, depending on your spread and results.

I'll give a couple of examples of the readings I did and see what you think.

For the first one, I was reading on myself. The spread was:

1 - What is the nature of my energy?
2 - How does my energy best manifest?
3 - For what is my energy best used?

My results here were:

1 - 3 of Wands
2 - The Devil
3 - Page of Wands

I really couldn't determine how The Devil related - I mean, not based on the meanings I knew or the opinions of my other tarot board. The other cards around it made sense to me, but I couldn't relate that particular one.

Then I did a reading for one of my guides. The positions were a variation on the one I just listed. They were:

1 - What is the nature of my guide's energy?
2 - What is the aspect of my guide?
3 - How does my guide best communicate?

The results for this one were:

1 - The Devil
2 - 5 of Cups
3 - 6 of Cups

This reading, compared to the other one, felt a little gloomy. I tried to do a clarification on it, which yielded The Devil and the 5 of Cups again, along with the 10 of Pentacles.

And I swear, I was shuffling. A lot.

The next day, I received The Devil as my daily theme card.

So the constant reoccurance had me a little befuddled. I'm not sure I understand what was happening, still. Any ideas from the forum?

[Brigid Rowan]

I guess it means you are a lil devilish? Lol...just kidding..sorry, bad of me. Rather than type all out what I found, here it is..from the site biddytarot.com..I think it gives some alternative twists on the card's menaings:

Meanings


The card of the Devil represents those hidden forces of negativity that constrain us and deceive us into thinking we are imprisoned by external forces. The Devil is an inner force within each of us, he is an embodiment of our fears, addictions, and other harmful impulses. The people chained at his feet are entranced with the paralysing fear of his illusory power and therefore stand still with hopelessness and a numb appearance. However, the chains hang loosely around their necks, an indication that freedom is within their grasp if they can only break free of the hypnotic attachment to the temptations offered by the Devil. The Devil is a master of deception and illusion. The chains he binds us with are not real, we have freely given him any power he has over us. When we encounter the Devil in a reading, we must ask ourselves where we are "stuck" in life. We often fall prey to despair and the thought that we are controlled by external forces but we forge our own chains of imprisonment and powerlessness. What are the addictions or attachments restraining you from experiencing the freedom of the Fool? Are you giving yourself over to the illusion of helplessness and despair? You have the power within to set yourself free from the bondage of the Devil. What can you do to free yourself from his deception?
Need to lighten up. Not taking oneself so seriously. Need to break up old patterns. Let go of cares and worries and play more. Spilling out of oneself inappropriately. Hanging onto things that have little truth or reality. Affirmation: "Laughter resolves all things. I empower the joy within me."
Lucifer. Mephistopheles. Satan. The Prince of Darkness. No matter what we call him, the Devil is our symbol for what is bad and undesirable. From our human perspective, we see the world as a struggle between light and dark. We want to vanquish the bad so that the good can prevail. In fact, good and bad cannot be separated, just as you cannot separate a shadow from its source. Darkness is simply the absence of light, and it is caused by errors that hide the truth. First is ignorance - not knowing the truth and not realising that we do not know. Second is materialism - the belief that there is nothing but the physical. Finally, there is hopelessness, which robs us of our joy and movement toward the light. You may be in the dark about something - ignorant of the truth and its implications. Obsessed by a person, idea, substance or pattern that you know to be bad for you (or maybe you don't!). We are prone to many errors in life. Examine your assumptions carefully. Make sure you are not working from a false picture of yourself and the situation and, foremost, hold fast to your highest vision of who YOU are.
The devil represents the desire to obtain wealth. The value of the wealth lies in material or physical things. A great effort may be expended to obtain success. Want to shake off adversity or end a negative condition. This is not a propitious time for ANY venture, and a rash decision could result in loss. It will also be very hard for you to keep the faith and not get sucked into negative thinking, or race-conscious beliefs.
Possible health issues - substance abuse; incest; chain-smoking; negative self-image; haemorrhoids.
Trickery. You think you need something and you are willing to go against what you know to be right and true to obtain it. You are playing a risky game with dangerous forces. Trickery will backfire. Sex without love is meaningless. Devil upright is raw, primal energy. This suggests that if this person is being truthful about their situation, they've been riding a wave of energy which has been quite impressive. The caution here is that they not become a "slave" to that energy and bound to it. If they come to love the feeling of power that this energy has engendered they are in peril of becoming bound to it. Eventually that energy will wane, just as all cycles in life do. If they are bound to it they will experience loss and possibly anxiety or depression over this loss. However, if they control and channel that energy to prepare for the times when the energy is in ebb, they will be much happier in the long run. A card which would strengthen that message would be Strength, meaning that they should channel and control the energy they've been feeling rather than just letting it run wild through their life.

[Shatril]

Based on a few comments I received in another thread, I wanted to address this here and maybe get a few opinions.

Late last month, as I was doing spreads for myself and spirit guide communications, I found that a number of cards were recurring, no matter how carefully or thoroughly I shuffled them. The most prominent of these cards was The Devil.

Now, most books (in my collection) refer to the Devil in ways that might be construed as negative depending on your outlook. I addressed these recurrences with another tarot forum, and everyone came back to me with the same reply - that it likely referred to an addiction of some kind.

Now, I myself have also read that The Devil can refer to ambition or power or a powerful person. Which might be very positive things, depending on your spread and results.

I'll give a couple of examples of the readings I did and see what you think.

For the first one, I was reading on myself. The spread was:

1 - What is the nature of my energy?
2 - How does my energy best manifest?
3 - For what is my energy best used?

My results here were:

1 - 3 of Wands
2 - The Devil
3 - Page of Wands

I really couldn't determine how The Devil related - I mean, not based on the meanings I knew or the opinions of my other tarot board. The other cards around it made sense to me, but I couldn't relate that particular one.

Then I did a reading for one of my guides. The positions were a variation on the one I just listed. They were:

1 - What is the nature of my guide's energy?
2 - What is the aspect of my guide?
3 - How does my guide best communicate?

The results for this one were:

1 - The Devil
2 - 5 of Cups
3 - 6 of Cups

This reading, compared to the other one, felt a little gloomy. I tried to do a clarification on it, which yielded The Devil and the 5 of Cups again, along with the 10 of Pentacles.

And I swear, I was shuffling. A lot.

The next day, I received The Devil as my daily theme card.

So the constant reoccurance had me a little befuddled. I'm not sure I understand what was happening, still. Any ideas from the forum?

In situation of how best to use the energy I would have interpreted that Devil, as someone needs to step in and take control, and that person should be you.

The guide energy, well that is obvious, he wants to give you some guidance, and that guidance is emotional related to a relationship situation, that you have heavy emotions about. Just my two cents. That devil is not always a bad thing, I agree.

Shatril

[Windsmith]

My reading of the Devil is very much rooted in the physical. A more "traditional" interpretation (whatever that is!) speaks of being chained to physical pleasures (i.e. addiction, like you mentioned). But I see more being able to obtain great enjoyment from the physical - though there is a danger of becoming overly dependent on those pleasures and neglecting your mental, emotional, and spiritual sides.

So, in the readings you mention, the Devil in "How does my energy best manifest?" says to me that it manifests in sensual delight, and the Devil in "What is the nature of my guide's energy?" speaks, again, of a sensual energy. Your guide might have some teachings for you about the physical aspects of spirituality - anything from decorating your altar to walking barefoot through the grass. Some interpretations speak of the need for liberation from the "pleasures of the flesh," but my take is that sometimes, you can be liberated by giving yourself over to those experiences - at least for a while.

[azarathine]

So, in the readings you mention, the Devil in "How does my energy best manifest?" says to me that it manifests in sensual delight, and the Devil in "What is the nature of my guide's energy?" speaks, again, of a sensual energy. Your guide might have some teachings for you about the physical aspects of spirituality - anything from decorating your altar to walking barefoot through the grass. Some interpretations speak of the need for liberation from the "pleasures of the flesh," but my take is that sometimes, you can be liberated by giving yourself over to those experiences - at least for a while.


You know, put that way, I can see it. And in that way, it makes far more sense with the other cards surrounding it. My methods of creativity are usually geared toward beautiful, pleasureable, satisfying things, whether that's writing a story, making a knitted object, drawing, or even going into larger aspects, such as the relationships I develop, etc. ....Yeah, so far that explanation makes the most sense. I'll have to jot this down. Thanks. :)

[Sharpchick]

My reading of the Devil is very much rooted in the physical. A more "traditional" interpretation (whatever that is!) speaks of being chained to physical pleasures (i.e. addiction, like you mentioned). But I see more being able to obtain great enjoyment from the physical - though there is a danger of becoming overly dependent on those pleasures and neglecting your mental, emotional, and spiritual sides.

So, in the readings you mention, the Devil in "How does my energy best manifest?" says to me that it manifests in sensual delight, and the Devil in "What is the nature of my guide's energy?" speaks, again, of a sensual energy. Your guide might have some teachings for you about the physical aspects of spirituality - anything from decorating your altar to walking barefoot through the grass. Some interpretations speak of the need for liberation from the "pleasures of the flesh," but my take is that sometimes, you can be liberated by giving yourself over to those experiences - at least for a while.

Absolutely. . . I think too much "traditional" internpretation of the Devil - or whatever card appears in position XV in tarot decks - is based upon a very skewed bias. Card XV does not represent evil.

That's one reason why I prefer pagan tarot decks. For instance, Card XV in the DruidCraft Tarot is Cernunnos, the archetype for the primal life force represented by the Horned God. When you look at it that way, Card XV represents a number of things, and none of them evil - the "throw yourself in front of the train" primal instinct of a parent who seems harm about to befall his/her child. . . the celebration of the Great Rite and it's mundane counterpart in humanity. . . the cycles of nature. . . the very will to survive so basic to humankind.

One of the lessons of Card XV, in my view, is that to repress this basic primordial force, rather than integrating it into the whole of the person - particularly if you ascribe, as I do, to the notion that we are spiritual beings having a human experience, is just as great a mistake in judgement as allowing one's "baser instincts" to rule and guide one's life.

[brymble]

I agree about the more Pagan interpretations of the Devil, sensual pleasures, taking insane risks because they feel so totally right, following yout True Will into who knows what kind of adventure and misfortune. I know of more than one reader (besides me) who interprets the Devil as Pan, so you might want to learn what you can about Pan's energy. If this card is referring to the nature of your guide, you might want to consider exploring the nymph/satyr energy. Or maybe your power animal's a goat, lol!

How would the Devil interpret the rest of the deck? Pan's Tarot:
http://www.hawkridgeproductions.com/panstarot/index.html