A nasty-looking creature presides over two naked humans chained to its throne. The Devil has an inverted pentacle on its head. It has the wings of a bat. Its hand positions resemble those of the Magician – right hand up, left hand pointed down. In this case, however, the Devil is not bringing Heavenly energy down to Earth. The “wand” is in its left hand, unlike the Magician who had his wand in his right hand.
The humans have horns and tails, suggesting their bestial, animalistic nature. The woman’s tail seems to suggest the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil described in the Bible and as depicted in the Lovers card; the man’s tail suggests the Tree of Life.
If you look closely, the feet of these humans seem to be “cloven.” Unlike the feet depicted in the Lovers, these feet have a split. Cloven hooves are associated with the Devil.
The humans are chained. If you look closer, however, it becomes clear that the chains are loose enough that the people could easily slip them over their heads and be free. Their bondage is of their own doing. They don’t want to be freed.
This card speaks of lusts, addictions, dependencies, ignorance… I distinguish “lust” from wholesome sexual desire.
The Devil is clearly related to the Lovers. Note that the number of the Devil card is 15, which is numerically equivalent to 6, the number of the Lovers card. The 1 and 5 of 15 are added together. The basic scene is identical – two naked humans presided over by a winged being. In both scenes, there is a reference to the trees from the Garden of Eden. This is about all they have in common.
Keywords: Addiction. Codependency. Willful ignorance or bondage. Debased sexuality.