Dear Reader,This week's card is The Devil and it comes from the Deviant Moon Tarot deck. True to this deck's nature of turning iconography on its proverbial ear, this card is missing the two kneeling, bound persons on either side of the Devil, who typically is holding a torch pointing downwards.
Some argue this card is the nadir of the major arcana of tarot, others argue that dubious honor is held by the Death card. The Devil has a reputation of a poorly aspected card because it is iconography of a figure of evil from the Abrahamic religions. Strip away this layer of imagery from this card we find that the Devil is a figure of temptation, base desires, ignorance, and bondage. And that is in the most positive interpretations for this card.
In a direct orientation, this card warns the querent that they are in danger of falling into these traps of the self. They can also warn of an agent acting against them, but that more typically shows up with the card in a reversed orientation. In the reversed orientation, the Devil speaks of being mired in one's base desires at the expense of higher goals, succumbing to temptation at the detriment of oneself, willful ignorance, and being trapped within limiting circumstances.
In the Fool's Journey, the Devil is the confrontation the Fool faces with their lower self and their shadow side. The Devil also speaks of the Fool struggling to rise above these parts of themself.
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