(Tarot Prompts for Writers)
What I See in the Card:
The Devil is a scary card. No one even tries to interpret it positively. The Devil is evil, so it’s no surprise that the card bodes ill. It warns of temptation, greed, deceit, a cunning enemy who works from the inside out. It says you’re on a bad path, maybe steps away from destruction. So in that sense, it’s not a bad card to draw — because its warning can come in time to save you.
Typically, the card depicts a beast, fire, bondage. Some devils are scarier than others; some are more monstrous and some more human. But they’re all meant to be taken seriously, to represent a powerful force that can draw you in and destroy you.
In my deck, the card shows only the devil himself. In many other decks, including the old Marseilles deck, the devil is shown with two human captives. They’re loosely chained — they could escape if they really wanted to, but they don’t seem to want to.
The Devil is a Pan-like creature, old goatfoot, horned and winged. In my deck, he has breasts, tying into a long patriarchal tradition of viewing women as carnal and sinful and tempting. The Devil represents temptation more than punishment. Sex, sin, selfishness, worldly power and pleasures of the flesh pursued at the cost of your soul. That’s what the devil is after, after all. Just your soul.
Life is full of temptation. There’s always a benefit to some wrongdoing — that’s why it’s tempting — and this card reminds us of the cost. It’ll have to be paid sometime, probably sooner than you wish. You may already be paying for it now, without even knowing. When you make a deal with the devil, you lose.
The Devil is winged in most decks, but his multicoloured wings in my card are not scary, and his face is more animal than monster. He doesn’t look especially bad. He’s much scarier in most other decks. I wish my Devil was scarier-looking. There’s not enough sense of impending destruction in my card. I prefer decks where the Devil is fierce and humans are enslaved at his feet about to be consumed by eternal fire. Here he seems almost harmless. (But he is the great deceiver, so there you go.)
The sky is red behind him, but the grass is lush and green. He points to the light and dark moons as if to say, “It’s your choice.”
This Devil is not chasing you, nor even trying too hard to set traps for you. He’s just waiting. He cuts interesting deals; he knows people will come to him. He doesn’t have to chase a soul.
The Devil card represents being seduced by the world and material pleasures. It can happen to anyone. Don’t think it can’t happen to you. Temptation is on your path now and always, and ruin is just off to one side. So watch your step.
When you draw this card, it tells you that you need to break free from the bonds you’ve sold yourself into. I like the decks that show human captives, because The Devil card can warn that you’re living in fear, domination, being controlled by your attachments and addictions. Maybe you feel trapped, or maybe you think you’re free in the cage you’ve bought for yourself.
Take control of your life. It’s not too late. Don’t let the Devil win.
Read will take you to my notes on how to tell a fortune with the Devil — traditional interpretations; what the card might mean in different positions; keywords to help memorize meanings; and questions to ponder or ask the querent.
Write will take you to a few prompts for launching from the Devil into a story. A first line, a character, and a revised classic — three possible ways to turn the Devil into fiction.
Tarot will take you to a central Tarot-Prompts page.
Go ahead, put your soul into your story.
Images on this page are by the following artists:
Banner (and top box), left to right: Marseilles deck engraved by Nicolas Conver; Dragon Tarot illustrated by Roger and Linda Garland; Tarot Balbi by Domenico Balbi; Gilded Tarot by Ciro Marchetti; Radiant Rider-Waite deck illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith; Druid Craft deck illustrated by Will Worthington.
Mid-page boxes: Tarot Balbi; the Muse Tarot.
Catherine Austen 