Bohemian Gothic Tarot

XV THE DEVIL

Lighter or more conventional meanings

Something wickedly tempting * Giving in to bad behaviour * Seduction * Addictions and compulsions * Acting against your better judgement.

Darker, shadow or more hidden meanings

Enjoying an addiction, even though you know it's harmful * Out and out wickedness, with no conscience * Trying to draw others into damaging and/or addictive behaviour * Self­destruction * Refusing to recognise the risks attached to your indulgences and excesses * Embracing all things forbidden, simply because they are dangerous.

A woman collapses into the arms of a glaring demon, who is just about to inject her with a hypodermic. It's a nightmarish image of addiction and helplessness. What's striking is the passivity of the young woman. Wrapped in a robe of peacock's feathers, we wonder if it's pride that has brought her to this point. She may have thought she could control her growing addictions, or that her fall into the devil's arms was only a temporary phase, easy to leave behind when she was ready. The dark message of the card is that once the demons of addiction and obsession have you in their grip, they might be harder to shake off than you imagine. As the evil-faced devil looks out of the card she meets our eye and seems to ask, chillingly, if we are prepared to be her next victim.

We thought long and hard before deciding on this very confrontational depiction of The Devil card. Interestingly the picture is based closely on a 19th century engraving and there is no 21st century sensationalism added to it. This helps to remind us that addiction is not a recent problem, but occurs in every age and all societies. It also challenges us to consider our attitudes - the woman who gives herself up to this devil is not struggling or resisting, she seems instead to be embracing her fate, oblivious to the horror of it, or perhaps even welcoming it. Has she simply given in?

The Devil card in tarot is about addiction, unhealthy obsessions and the dangers of being drawn into indulgences that may prove unwise or even disastrous. At its least negative, the card can refer to relatively harmless gratifications like a session of over-eating or drinking, and it could even, in certain contexts, advise us to indulge in such things occasionally. But The Devil can also more seriously indicate giving in to - or even relishing - cravings and desires that are seriously damaging, either for us or those around us. In a reading it might point to our love of pleasures that we know are damaging, addictions that we would do well to rid ourselves of, or warn us that something or someone who looks alluring may be a dangerous trap, a metaphorical demon to whom we should not entrust our well-bring.

As a small footnote to this card, it's worth saying that we sometimes forget that the hypodermic syringe was already in use in the 19th century. It was actually first used for drug administration by Alexander Wood, a Scottish physician and it quickly became a symbol of modernity, science and improvements in medical practice. It's one of the tools used by the learned Dr. Van Helsing, who, rather startlingly by today's standards, uses it to inject Lucy with morphine after she has undergone an emergency blood transfusion to replace that taken by Dracula:

"Do not stir," he said. "But I fear that with growing strength she may wake, and that would make danger, oh, so much danger. But I shall precaution take. I shall give hypodermic injection of morphia." He proceeded then, swiftly and deftly, to carry out his intent.
The effect on Lucy was not bad, for the faint seemed to merge subtly into the narcotic sleep.
- Bram Stoker, Dracula.

Some further ways to consider this card

What is the story of this woman? Who is she, how did she reach this point? Is the demon a real person or a nightmare?

How does this card relate to Strength, which also shows a demon in control? In what ways are the woman and the lion in the same position? In what ways are they different?

"The devil!" screamed the pious old lady.
Then Goody Cloyse knows her old friend?" observed the traveller, confronting her and leaning on his writhing stick.
"Ah, forsooth and is it your worship indeed?" cried the good dame. Yea, truly it is... "
- Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown" Mosses from an Old Manse.