XV THE DEVIL

Alternative Names: Pan, Temptation

Number: XV
Numerology Link: VI, The Lovers
Astrological Sign or Planet: Capricorn the Goat
Element: Earth
Hebrew Letter: Ayin
Symbol: Eye
Meaning: Clear vision
Tree of Life Pathway: Sixteenth, between Hod and Tiphareth
Chakra: Base for base instincts
Key Meanings: Enslavement and temptation
UNDERSTANDING THE DEVIL
A bearded man-beast sits above a door to which two demons, a man and woman,
are chained. With an inverted pentacle rising from his third eye, he appears to be
the epitome of evil, complete with horns, clawed feet, and batlike wings. He is
half-man, half-goat, an archetype with roots in many ancient gods. He may be
the faun Pan, god of excess; Satan, son of God gone bad; Baphomet, the dark
idol the Knights Templar were accused of worshipping; or perhaps Cernunnos,
the horned Pagan deity. All are attributed with great virility and sexual power.
The goat-god’s abode is black, like a cave. We are in a dark place here, save
for his fiery torch. His right hand raised asserts his control over the two small
figures that stand before him. The couple is Adam and Eve, who, banished from
paradise, find themselves enslaved and corrupted—they are becoming demons,
shown by the tiny horns growing from their heads. Yet when we look closely, we
can see that the chains around their necks are not at all tight; if they wished, they
could walk away from the Devil altogether. The fruit near Eve reminds us of the
Garden of Eden and the forbidden fruit. Adam’s tail has a devilish fork, showing
that these two have certainly given in to temptation.
In the major arcana sequence, the Devil falls between XIV, Temperance, and
XVI, The Tower. If the lessons of Temperance are not learned, we fall from the
grace of Temperance’s angel and into the arms of the Devil. When we do finally
turn our back on him, the lesson is profound. We must find a whole new way of
living as the Tower—the ego—struck by lightning is destroyed.
The Devil’s number, XV, reduces to card VI (1 + 5 = 6), or the Lovers. The
Devil is the shadow side of the Lovers, fallen to materialism, greed, and lust.
The Devil is also a symbol for other negative behavior patterns, such control,
dangerous affairs, and addiction.

THE DEVIL’S ASTROLOGY

The Devil’s zodiac sign is Capricorn the Goat (December 22–January 20),
linking with his identities as Pan and Satan. Capricorn’s element is Earth, for
material needs, and its planet is Saturn. Saturn was the Roman god of time.
Time, like the Devil himself, is traditionally the ultimate enemy of man (see The
Historical Devil).
THE DEVIL AND KABBALA
The Devil’s kabbalistic letter is Ayin, meaning eye, and also clear vision—a clue
to be vigilant and all-seeing in the Devil’s presence. On the Tree of Life, the card
is placed on the sixteenth pathway between the spheres of Hod and Tiphareth.
Hod stands for the mind and Tiphareth, beauty and rebirth, which shows us how
our insight into a particular situation may just release us from the Devil’s grip.

UPRIGHT MEANING
You may be enslaved to an ideal or a relationship that demands too much. What
started positively, or even pleasurably, has reversed, and now you are seeing a
situation for what it is. This is a destructive situation, and you may be feeling
controlled and under a bad influence. This is a card of greed, temptation, and
materialism. Yet to change the situation, you will need to think laterally and use
a little cunning. It’s never worth confronting the problem, as the negativity is
endemic—hence the Devil card often appears to describe situations that are not
worth trying to fix or heal. The message is to simply walk away, to escape in the
best way you can, regardless of the temptation of staying.
The Devil often arrives in a relationship reading to show lust and negative
ways of relating, in that one partner is gaining much more that the other. By
extension of this, additional meanings of the Devil are addiction—issues with
sex, food, substance abuse, and overall negative thinking patterns.
Some other specifics include the following:

Home: Here, the Devil may indicate living with domineering people or
dealing with a difficult landlord. Psychic vampires and generally negative
people may drain your energy. You may feel controlled and invaded just now.
Relationships: Difficult relationships are indicated here, such as controlling
partners, lust-over-love situations, affairs, and codependent patterns. For
separated partners, the Devil may show financial dependency or other
ongoing money or property issues that keep you tied to the past.
Career and money: You’re experiencing bad financial contracts, careers that
are unsatisfying, domineering bosses, or a toxic work environment—but you
stay because you are financially trapped.
REVERSED MEANING
When reversed, this is one of the few cards whose meaning becomes more
hopeful. With the upright Devil, it’s time to acknowledge how you may be
trapped and to begin to to search for the light. When reversed, the Devil suggests
the decision you need to make will be easier than you think. When the card is
upside down, the chains around the couple are more lax than they appear, so a
situation is not quite as drastic as you first thought. Now is the time to make
your move.
In terms of health, a difficult cycle is about to end. Addiction and bad habits
become easier to manage and eventually banish, and you or those close to you
can look forward to recovery.

HIS WISDOM MESSAGE

In one leap, you can be free.

THE DEVIL’S SYMBOLS

In the Rider-Waite tarot, the Devil appears with these magical symbols. Some of
them reappear in other major arcana cards, so learn to recognize them and you’ll
soon find you can apply your knowledge throughout the deck.

The devil: He is a symbol of internal or external oppression. Showing the

shadow side of human nature, he suggests base instincts at work rather than
the higher self.
The tails: The tails show lower instincts taking shape in our lives. The
woman’s tail shows fruit, echoing the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden,
which she has now eaten. The man’s tail is devil-like and appears to be
catching the color of the Devil’s torch, symbolizing corruption.
The chains: Representing control and dependency, the chains illustrate
emotional and material bonds that are habitual but not necessary.
The torch: The torch is not held up to illuminate the scene, or situation; the
Devil keeps his knowledge and his power for himself.
The inverted pentagram: The upright pentagram stands for humanity and
being humane. When reversed, it is a sign of cruelty and dark forces. The
symbol can also be seen as a representation of the Devil’s head, with the
pointed beard at the lowest point of the pentagram and his ears and horn the
middle and upper points.
 THE HISTORICAL DEVIL: DARK
ARCHETYPES
In the Visconti-Sforza tarots of the Renaissance, the Devil is a terrifying
monster with two heads—one devil, one human—and the Devil’s mouth is
busy devouring a small naked man. While the man-eating beast was a
popular motif in early paintings showing the Last Judgement, myths of
devilish gods date back to the Greeks and Romans. The Greek Cronos, god
of time, ate his own children. He is associated with aspects of Roman god
Saturn, who appears in the fifteenth-century Tarrochi of Mantegna cards as
Saturno, a man holding a serpent biting its tail—making the shape of the
ouroboros, the alchemical symbol for never-ending time. With his other
hand, he is raising a child to his mouth, about to consume it. Four other
children await their fate at his feet.
In the mid-fifteenth-century Griggoneur tarots, the Devil is an upright
figure with a human body. Goatlike and bearded, with horns and clawed
feet, he has a strange devil’s face painted on his groin to show the dangers
of lust. The devil-in-the-pants motif is also seen in the painting Devils
Waiting for the Last Judgement (Livre de la vigne nostre Seigneur, France
1450–1470). Here, the devil head over the genitals has a big laviscious
tongue, making the message of lust and sexual temptation all the more
evident.
The Rider-Waite’s devil is the traditional Pan or Satan, an embodiment
of the Devil archetype across the ages.

THE DEVIL’S REFLECTIONS

We can see aspects of the Devil in these minor arcana cards:

The Two of Swords, for being stuck

The Eight of Swords, for restriction
The Three of Swords, for conflict and betrayal
TRY A READING WITH THE DEVIL: BREAKING THE
SPELL
Take the Devil card from your deck and lay it before you. Now shuffle the
remaining cards and cut the deck or fan out the cards facedown. Choose four
cards with your left hand and place them around the Devil as shown. You could
ask, “What’s controlling me?” or “How can I get out of this situation?”

Card 1: Present situation

Card 2: What or who is trapping you
Card 3: What action to take
Card 4: Outcome