The Devil
恶魔
The Devil
Upright · a modern reflection
Attachment and constraint. Examine how habits, temptation, or power shape your choices.
Reversed · another perspective
Recognizing a constraint and loosening it. Replace blame with practical support.
These are our original interpretations of RWS imagery, not word-for-word translations of Waite. Reversals offer another angle, not a verdict of bad luck.A. E. Waite · XV. The Devil
“The design is an accommodation, mean or harmony, between several motives mentioned in the first part. The Horned Goat of Mendes, with wings like those…”This English excerpt comes from the original card chapter. We use Pamela Colman Smith’s original RWS images from the Commons Pam-A scans. The design originated in 1909; this scan set is dated 1910.
Read this card’s original chapter ↗Historical imagery and symbolism
The design is an accommodation, mean or harmony, between several motives mentioned in the first part. The Horned Goat of Mendes, with wings like those of a bat, is standing on an altar. At the pit of the stomach there is the sign of Mercury. The right hand is upraised and extended, being the reverse of that benediction which is given by the Hierophant in the fifth card. In the left hand there is a great flaming torch, inverted towards the earth. A reversed pentagram is on the forehead. There is a ring in front of the altar, from which two chains are carried to the necks of two figures, male and female. These are analogous with those of the fifth card, as if Adam and Eve after the Fall. Hereof is the chain and fatality of the material life.
Card image: Pamela Colman Smith’s original RWS design, using the Commons Pam-A scans.
Historical reversal and interpretation
Evil fatality, weakness, pettiness, blindness.
Contemporary reading
Consider the historical conditions above; a reversal is not a uniform opposite. Compare them with our modern theme: Recognizing a constraint and loosening it. Replace blame with practical support.
Relate it to your question
Separate known facts, unconfirmed information and available actions. Which part of this symbol fits, and which does not?
Read the original English and source
Pamela Colman Smith · Image source / Public domain ↗
The design is an accommodation, mean or harmony, between several motives mentioned in the first part. The Horned Goat of Mendes, with wings like those of a bat, is standing on an altar. At the pit of the stomach there is the sign of Mercury. The right hand is upraised and extended, being the reverse of that benediction which is given by the Hierophant in the fifth card. In the left hand there is a great flaming torch, inverted towards the earth. A reversed pentagram is on the forehead. There is a ring in front of the altar, from which two chains are carried to the necks of two figures, male and female. These are analogous with those of the fifth card, as if Adam and Eve after the Fall. Hereof is the chain and fatality of the material life. The figures are tailed, to signify the animal nature, but there is human intelligence in the faces, and he who is exalted above them is not to be their master for ever. Even now, he is also a bondsman, sustained by the evil that is in him and blind to the liberty of service. With more than his usual derision for the arts which he pretended to respect and interpret as a master therein, Éliphas Lévi affirms that the Baphometic figure is occult science and magic. Another commentator says that in the Divine world it signifies predestination, but there is no correspondence in that world with the things which below are of the brute. What it does signify is the Dweller on the Threshold without the Mystical Garden when those are driven forth therefrom who have eaten the forbidden fruit.
15. THE DEVIL.--Ravage, violence, vehemence, extraordinary efforts, force, fatality; that which is predestined but is not for this reason evil. Reversed: Evil fatality, weakness, pettiness, blindness.
A. E. Waite · XV. The Devil ↗Part III §3 · Major divinatory meanings, distinct from Part II symbolism ↗
Bring the symbol into your day
How might “The Devil” relate to your circumstances? List the facts you already know, then consider one action within your control.
Primary texts you can consult
《周易》· Chinese Text Project ↗
Read the judgments and line texts separately from the later commentarial Wings. Traditional authorship accounts are not treated as established historical fact.
Zhouyi, received text · Digital Chinese Classics ↗
Each hexagram’s classical text is extracted from its chapter. Traditional characters and editorial punctuation are retained; modern annotations are not reproduced.
A. E. Waite · The Pictorial Key to the Tarot ↗
First published in 1910; our reference is the 1911 text transcribed by Sacred Texts. Written by A. E. Waite, with original card designs by Pamela Colman Smith.
Historical imagery and symbolism
The design is an accommodation, mean or harmony, between several motives mentioned in the first part. The Horned Goat of Mendes, with wings like those of a bat, is standing on an altar. At the pit of the stomach there is the sign of Mercury. The right hand is upraised and extended, being the reverse of that benediction which is given by the Hierophant in the fifth card. In the left hand there is a great flaming torch, inverted towards the earth. A reversed pentagram is on the forehead. There is a ring in front of the altar, from which two chains are carried to the necks of two figures, male and female. These are analogous with those of the fifth card, as if Adam and Eve after the Fall. Hereof is the chain and fatality of the material life.
Card image: Pamela Colman Smith’s original RWS design, using the Commons Pam-A scans.
Contemporary reading
Attachment and constraint. Examine how habits, temptation, or power shape your choices.
Relate it to your question
Separate known facts, unconfirmed information and available actions. Which part of this symbol fits, and which does not?
Read the original English and source
Pamela Colman Smith · Image source / Public domain ↗
The design is an accommodation, mean or harmony, between several motives mentioned in the first part. The Horned Goat of Mendes, with wings like those of a bat, is standing on an altar. At the pit of the stomach there is the sign of Mercury. The right hand is upraised and extended, being the reverse of that benediction which is given by the Hierophant in the fifth card. In the left hand there is a great flaming torch, inverted towards the earth. A reversed pentagram is on the forehead. There is a ring in front of the altar, from which two chains are carried to the necks of two figures, male and female. These are analogous with those of the fifth card, as if Adam and Eve after the Fall. Hereof is the chain and fatality of the material life. The figures are tailed, to signify the animal nature, but there is human intelligence in the faces, and he who is exalted above them is not to be their master for ever. Even now, he is also a bondsman, sustained by the evil that is in him and blind to the liberty of service. With more than his usual derision for the arts which he pretended to respect and interpret as a master therein, Éliphas Lévi affirms that the Baphometic figure is occult science and magic. Another commentator says that in the Divine world it signifies predestination, but there is no correspondence in that world with the things which below are of the brute. What it does signify is the Dweller on the Threshold without the Mystical Garden when those are driven forth therefrom who have eaten the forbidden fruit.
15. THE DEVIL.--Ravage, violence, vehemence, extraordinary efforts, force, fatality; that which is predestined but is not for this reason evil. Reversed: Evil fatality, weakness, pettiness, blindness.
A. E. Waite · XV. The Devil ↗Part III §3 · Major divinatory meanings, distinct from Part II symbolism ↗