The Devil Tarot Card: Meaning of Arcanum XV, Without Fear

In brief: number, names and keywords

The Devil is the fifteenth card, in the same position and under the same name in Marseille and in Rider-Waite. It follows Temperance (balance) and comes before the Tower (House of God). Its image is striking, but the modern reading sees it as a card of observation: what binds me, and why?

In most old decks, the Devil is also depicted in a rather caricatural, almost comic manner, as in medieval mystery plays. This is not a figure to be feared.

Keywords: attachment, dependence, temptation, desire, matter, habit.

The image in the Marseille tarot

In Marseille, a large hybrid figure stands upright on a pedestal, facing forward. It has horns or stag antlers, bat wings, clawed feet. Its body is sometimes decorated with faces (on the belly, at the knees). It holds a staff, sometimes a torch, in one hand.

At its feet, two small figures with horns and tails are attached to the pedestal by a rope passed round their necks. They face us, sometimes with their hands behind their backs, and can also be recognised as a double of the couple in the Lovers. The whole has a theatrical quality, reminiscent of a medieval mystery-play devil.

The image in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck

In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, the figure is inspired by the Baphomet drawn by Éliphas Lévi: a creature with a goat's head, ram's horns, bat wings, with an inverted pentagram on its forehead. It sits on a black pedestal, its right hand raised, its left hand holding a torch turned downward.

In front of it, a naked man and a naked woman, with small horns and tails (one of flames, the other of bunches of grapes), are chained to the pedestal. But their chains are loose: they could remove them. The background is black, without decoration. The whole meaning of the card rests on this detail of the chains.

Symbolism of the elements in the image

These are the details that come up most often in traditional readings. They are paths for interpretation, not official definitions.

• The chains or ropes: what binds us: habits, fears, dependencies. In Waite's deck, they are loose, which suggests that one can free oneself from them.
• The two small figures: ourselves facing our attachments; in Waite, a dark rewriting of the garden scene of the Lovers.
• The pedestal: matter, the concrete world. Nothing is condemned here: the Devil belongs to what we possess and to what possesses us.
• The torch turned downward (Waite): the fire of desire that burns what it touches, or that lights what was hidden.
• The horns and bat wings: instincts, night, the unconscious; the traditional image of the Adversary, here mostly symbolic.
• The inverted pentagram (Waite): the spirit subjected to matter, according to the occult tradition of the 19th century.

Upright meaning

Upright, the Devil traditionally evokes what binds us: a habit, a fear, a desire, a tie one does not dare to undo, a relationship with money or with self-image. It also speaks of desire in the strong sense, of vital energy and sensuality, which the card does not condemn. It invites us to look these in the face.

In a spread, it may pose a simple question: “What am I attached to, and is it still my choice?” As the chains are loose in Waite's deck, the answer is often more liberating than frightening: seeing one's attachment is already the beginning of choosing. Well read, then, it is a card of lucidity and freedom.

If this card worries you: an observation card, not a bad omen

It is normal for the name of this card to be frightening. We stress this: in the traditional reading we present, the Devil announces neither misfortune, nor curse, nor evil. It does not speak of superstitions. It speaks of very human things: habits, dependencies, desires, the need for security.

If this card resonates with a real situation (a relationship that hurts you, a dependence on a substance or a behaviour, a controlling hold), the tarot is not the right tool to get out of it. Talk to someone close to you, to a health professional or to a support association. The card can be a starting point for putting words to things, not an answer.

Reversed: two schools of reading

School 1: the opposite. Reversed, the Devil speaks of liberation: becoming aware of an attachment, loosening the ties, escaping someone's hold. Or, in a less gentle version, of deep dependence, cynicism, repetitive behaviours.

School 2: a blockage. The ties are seen but the way out is not yet possible: one knows what holds one back, without yet finding the strength or the will to change. The card invites you to move forward step by step, with help if needed. Several tarot readers, moreover, only read the upright cards.

In everyday areas of reading

The tarot does not say what will happen: it offers images to reflect on. Here, in symbolic terms, is what this card may evoke depending on the theme of your question.

• Personal reflection: seeing one's habits, fears and needs for comfort, without judging oneself. Possible question: what do you hold on to out of habit rather than by choice?
• Relationships: attraction, passion, emotional dependence; the card invites you to ask whether the bond is freely chosen by both sides. It accuses no one and does not judge desires.
• Work: ambition, pressure, a need for recognition, the hold of a position or a routine. Symbolically, a frame that can be loosened.
• Money: relationship with money, possessions and consumption. An image of attachment to material things, without predicting a gain or a loss, and without replacing the opinion of a financial adviser.

Combinations with neighbouring cards

A card is rarely read on its own: its neighbours shade its meaning. Here are some common pairings, to be taken as starting points.

• The Lovers: attachment and choice: distinguishing what binds through love from what binds through habit.
• Strength: instincts and gentleness: taming rather than repressing.
• The Tower (House of God): bonds and collapse: what holds on out of fear can crack, and that can free us.
• Temperance: excess and measure: returning to a more balanced mix.
• The Star: being held in thrall, and hope: a door toward relief and confidence.

To learn how to combine cards, try the three-card spread. To place this card among the 22 major arcana, see our guide to the major arcana.

Keyword of the day, question and practice

Keyword of the day: Clarity. For the day, notice one habit you repeat on autopilot and ask yourself, kindly, what it really brings you.

Question to ask yourself: What do you hold on to out of habit rather than by choice?

Writing (10 minutes). Draw two small figures attached to a pedestal by loose chains. Name each chain (a habit, a fear, a need). Next to them, note what each link gives you and what it costs you. Choose one to loosen by a single notch.

Short meditation. Imagine gently opening your hands. What you were holding tightly relaxes for a moment. Observe the sensations without judging them. If strong emotions rise, stop the exercise and talk to someone you trust.

History and variants of the card

The Devil already appears in the oldest Italian tarocchi: often a black silhouette with horns, in the spirit of late-medieval depictions of Hell. Some old decks, such as the Visconti-Sforza in its present state, do not include it (nor the Tower); we do not know whether these cards were lost or never painted.

In Marseille, the figure is hybrid and somewhat theatrical. In the 19th century, Éliphas Lévi drew his Baphomet (around 1855), drawing on figures from grimoires and on legends surrounding the Templars. Waite and Smith produced their Devil in 1909, with a chained couple, echoing the Lovers. The Golden Dawn links it to Capricorn and to the Hebrew letter Ayin (“the eye”).

In the “journey of the Fool”, it represents the passage through matter and attachments, before the Tower. Modern decks sometimes give it the look of a satyr, a mask or a simple shadow. Whatever the drawing, the scene to remember is that of the bonds, and of the possibility of loosening them.

Frequently asked questions

Also read

The meanings mentioned belong to tradition and symbolism. They are neither promises of results nor medical advice. Back to The 22 Major Arcana, card by card.