Man, so I remember when I first really got into tarot, right? Like, picking up a deck, shuffling it, all that jazz. It was exciting, a bit mysterious. But then you start pulling cards, and some of them just hit you different. For me, one of those was always The Devil. Just the name itself, it makes you kinda pause, doesn’t it? I mean, who wants to deal with ‘the devil’?
My First Tango with The Devil Card: Upright and Puzzling
When I first saw that dude staring back at me, upright in a spread, my gut clenched a little. The imagery, you know, the naked figures chained, the big horned guy. It looked kinda scary, and honestly, a bit intimidating. My first thought? Like, “Oh great, I’m screwed,” or “This means bad news, major temptation, maybe even some real nasty stuff.” I pictured all the stereotypical things: addiction, being truly stuck, some bad habits I couldn’t shake. I’d pull it, and immediately my mind would jump to, “What am I doing wrong? What’s trapping me?”
I started noticing it pop up when I was feeling particularly cornered in life. Like, there was this one time, I was working this job, and man, I hated it. Just absolutely dreaded going in every single day. The pay was good, though, really good, and it felt like I couldn’t just walk away. It was comfortable in a really uncomfortable way, if that makes sense. I did a reading for myself one evening, just out of desperation, and there it was: The Devil, staring right back. Upright. It just screamed “stuck” at me. Like, I chose to be there because of the money, and that comfort was actually a cage I built for myself. It wasn’t some external force dragging me down; it was my own attachment to security, even if that security meant misery. That was a big wake-up call, really made me see that card wasn’t just about ‘evil’ but about all the binds we willingly step into, often for a sense of false security or pleasure.
Over time, I saw it appear for others too, always reflecting some strong pull, some attachment that felt hard to break. A relationship that was clearly toxic but they just couldn’t let go because “it’s familiar.” A friend who couldn’t stop spending money, even knowing it was putting them in debt, chasing that temporary high. It always boiled down to something internal, a craving, a fear, a comfort that had twisted into a prison. I started telling people, “Look, this isn’t about some literal devil. This is about what you’re allowing to control you. What are you clinging to so tightly that it’s actually hurting you?” It became less about external doom and more about internal chains. Heavy stuff, right?
The Reversed Devil: A Breath of Fresh Air, or Just More Confusion?
Then, of course, you start seeing cards come out reversed. And The Devil reversed? That was a whole different beast. At first, I honestly just thought, “Oh, so it’s the opposite! Good things, freedom, breaking free!” And yeah, sometimes it totally was that. But it wasn’t always a clean, easy opposite. My first few times seeing it reversed in a spread, I was almost relieved. Like, “Phew, dodge a bullet there!”
But life, and tarot, rarely works that simply. I remember a period where I was doing a lot of self-reflection, trying to shake off some old habits that truly weren’t serving me. I’d try to meditate, journal, really work on myself. And in a reading focused on my progress, The Devil came up reversed. I was like, “Okay, great, I’m breaking free!” But it didn’t feel easy. It felt like a struggle, a real fight to shed those old skin. It wasn’t a sudden burst of freedom; it was more like a slow, painful untangling.
That’s when my understanding of the reversed Devil really clicked. It wasn’t just “freedom achieved.” It was more about the process of breaking free. It was seeing the chains for what they were, acknowledging the hold they had, and then actively working to release them. Sometimes it was a hard-fought battle, like someone finally admitting they have an addiction and starting the grueling work of recovery. Or someone realizing they’re in a codependent relationship and beginning to set boundaries, which is never easy. It’s an awakening, a moment of “enough is enough,” even if the actual escape is still a long road ahead.
I started seeing it when people were confronting their shadows, not necessarily escaping them yet, but bringing them into the light. Someone finally talking about a secret shame, someone admitting they were wrong, someone stepping out of denial. It was like the chains were still there, but they were aware of them now, and crucially, they were actively trying to unlock them. That shift in awareness, that conscious effort, that’s what the reversed Devil truly started to mean for me. It’s not just the absence of the upright meaning; it’s the active rebellion against it.
Putting It All Together: The Full Picture
So, putting it all together, looking at the upright and reversed Devil, it really opened my eyes to how intricate life, and ourselves, truly are. The upright isn’t just about being trapped; it’s about where we feel trapped, why we’re there, and what false comforts or desires are holding us. It’s about seeing the illusion of choice when we’re actually being driven by something deeper, often subconscious.
And then the reversed, it’s not just a magic undo button. It’s about that moment of realization, that moment we decide we’re done with the old patterns, done with the self-sabotage, done with the illusions. It’s the gritty, real work of detaching, of reclaiming our power, of stepping away from what binds us. Sometimes it’s a massive break, a complete overhaul. Other times, it’s just the first brave step, the acknowledgement that things need to change. It’s the beginning of empowerment, that flicker of light when you finally see the chains and decide to grab the key.
In all my years reading cards for myself and others, The Devil, in both its forms, has always been one of the most powerful teachers. It doesn’t sugarcoat things. It forces you to look at the shadows, at the ugly truths, at the parts of yourself you’d rather ignore. But it also offers the profound chance for release, for a real, raw liberation, once you’re brave enough to face what’s truly holding you back.
