XV The Devil

This card has its energies related to the sign of Capricorn

The Devil card is a Major Arcanum that is never seen with good eyes. But, like Death, it is not a negative card. It just indicates that there are lessons you have to learn and that is not always a bad thing. Your association with Capricorn suggests that you should take control of the situation at hand, dealing with things in a very pragmatic way.

You must ask yourself what you want and what prevents you from being successful in something. Excess, bad habits, friendships that only get in the way, health problems, i.e., anything that puts chains on you and causes stagnation in life or in the situation at hand. Assume the Capricorn characteristics and take charge of the situation.

When this card appears in a reading, it usually has a lesson involved. It has to do with our instincts, thus lust, desires, ambitions, material possessions and sex. Despite bringing all this, the Devil is a card of duality. You need to ask yourself what you want, because if you give yourself body and soul to pleasures or excesses, nothing good will happen.

The card may indicate that something is holding you back, but you are not quite sure what it is. You may be overreacting, you may be sick, or someone may be getting in your way. The fact is that perhaps the desired success may not be present yet. The card then carries a clear message: free yourself! Whatever it is. Let go of bad influences, cut bad habits and excesses, i.e., get rid of any dead weight that does not let you take the next step in the situation at hand.

A little more about the card The Devil...

The Devil is the Tarot card number 15 and usually inspires as much fear as the Death card. In numerology, it is equal to 6, the number of the Lovers card. In the card, we can see the lovers in chains, trapped in the material and sensual side of their nature. They have small horns and tails, indicating that they are increasingly given over to the whims of the devil, that is, under the absolute dominions of the material and sensory realm.

Ruled by Capricorn, this Major Arcanum is represented by a satyr, a mythological being half goat, half man. It has to do with lust, desires and surrender to the material world, i.e., to our pleasures and instincts. It also symbolizes the famous scapegoat, i.e. the act of putting the blame for our mistakes and problems on other things or people to make us feel better. Its wings refer to the bat, another symbol that our excesses can end up sucking our energy. Like a vampire, the Devil draws us into his domain, a closed cave in the most inaccessible realm of the unconscious. Only our conscience can break down its walls and set us free.