The Devil card in Tarot
“The hideous figure in this Arcanum typifies the spirit behind the dark forces which have sought to control and subjugate our planet since the beginning of human evolution…”
Corinne Heline “The Bible and the Tarot,” DeVorss Publications 1993
We will begin this discussion right away by discussing the meaning of the word “Devil:” In Webster’s [old] Dictionary (1873) “The evil one, Satan; … is the father of lies, tempter, an evil spirit or false god; a very wicked person.” Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary: “Gr: diabolos, the devil is the slanderer. In Jewish and Christian theology, it is the personal supreme spirit of evil and unrighteousness.”
The Anonymous author of “Meditations on the Tarot,” states that there are two principles of evil:
(1) the seducing principle and (2) the hypnotizing principle. In discussing the Rider- Waite Tarot card of The Devil, he says that the ideas evoked by the beings chained to the Devil represent the slavery of those who “forfeit their freedom and become slaves to a monstrous entity.” He talks about Tibetan lamas who created painted demon figures and then destroyed them as lessons for adepts in order to realize that those monster figures were only creations of the mind— “illusory egregores of the imagination,”— false beliefs.
Seeing demons doodling around may not make much sense to modern mechanistic thought, so it’s probably better to refer to it as an ideological group think. Nazism grew out of this kind of thinking, especially as they were promoting so-called “white supremacy.” Whereas today, a lot of us just get hooked on “doom-scrolling.” We go on demonstrations and marches to put an end to things that don’t seem to be going right.
In a Tarot reading, all of this Devil-like and demon evil-doing can be metaphorically shoved down the “black hole,” a symbol of self-destructive action. The Devil is depicted in the Tarot of Cosmic Consciousness as an
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| The Devil TOCC |
immense whirlwind sucking unscrupulous behavior down a black hole.
“Evil deeds, our own and that of others are being drawn into a powerful tornado that is cleaning up harmful and unhealthy behavior. Such wickedness and evil is caught in a ‘sewer siphon’ like a tornadic centrifuge and dissipated into space.”
Tarot of Cosmic Consciousness © 2008
"Usually “The Devil” is restricting people from moving or acting freely, a trap, unable to make sensible, reliable choices”
Gail Fairfield, “Choice Centered Tarot” (1984)
Modern Tarot interpretations of the archetypal meaning of The Devil card say this is a fictitious satanic character representing a demonic, malicious evil spirit who is opposed to the archetype of Good, or God. Some misguided humans manifest these forces of darkness as wickedness and conjure up the lies of liars on the “Dark Side,” which are counterfeits of the truth. And there are other descriptive words that indicate such a diabolical presence: being hateful, devious, divisive, malicious, immoral, criminal, and/or destructive.
In past centuries, especially in Medieval times, certain artists painted society’s evil intentions as ugly, malevolent, devil-demons (which the Anonymous author calls “artificial beings”) doing obscene things. These grotesque renderings covertly exposed the cruelty, violence, death, and destruction of misinformation, and malfeasance, including corruption within the Church, as bizarre abominations (See the works of Hieronymous Bosch and Pieter Bruegel).
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| Bosch, St. Anthony, demons |
St. Paul’s biblical admonition applies to any time period:
“For we wrestle not against Flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world; against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12)
This current ongoing war of 2026 between Israel, Gaza, USA and Iran is nothing new. It’s been going on and off over the last 2,000 years in the Middle East. We can still read a complicated biblical narrative about Samson and Delilah in “Judges 13-on,” or better yet, watch Cecil B. DeMille’s 1949 Hollywood blockbuster movie: “Samson and Delilah,” and contemplate today’s Israeli destruction of Gaza.
Nevertheless, in all time periods, wars fought or won still mean the same thing —they are the opposite of the momentous presence of PEACE. (No rest for the wicked) The list of wars around the world since 750 BCE, when Jerusalem was sacked, is long and each war has been more destructive than the last one, especially with the development of weapons of mass destruction.
Warmongering:
The meaning of warmongering is described in the dictionary as “one who stirs up war; to strive violently.” Warmongering means to constantly promote war as a solution for solving conflicting differences. Warmongering men always want to invade or attack another country that opposes their beliefs but inevitably, there is a lack of ethics and a lack of empathy followed up by a catastrophic war of murder, cruelty and destruction. Today, as they see no other options to settle their differences, warmongering men are at it again.
Now we have another war in the Middle East. It started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas Palestinians attacked an Israeli celebration and killed 1,200 or more people and took hostages. On September 17, 2024, the Israeli Army attacked Gaza, and thousands have been killed, displaced and most buildings have been bombed and destroyed. On February 28, 2026, Israel and the USA attacked Iran and killed its leaders and now we have an ongoing war of bombs and devastating missiles from both sides, with Iran closing the Straight of Hormuz to deter the shipping of oil.
Over the centuries, for the military men in charge, the urge for war hasn’t changed much. It’s still the same premise: “destroy the enemy,”— only the weapons have changed.
They have moved from swords, spears, axes, knives, chariots, bows and arrows, to machine guns, deadly bombs, missiles, cannons, jet planes, drones and tanks. One nuclear bomb can destroy a whole city as in the WWII destruction of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Now its “bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” again, the chant we heard in the 1970s under the Carter Administration during that Middle Eastern war. This is pure madness gone amuck and a lot of other really bad swear words.
On top of all the destruction and death, because of USA involvement, this war is using up millions of our tax payers’ dollars to pay for this ongoing insanity.
“The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones.”
Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
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