The Devil
The Devil represents temptation, addiction, and the bindings of desires and agreements made in the past. It urges individuals to recognize what holds them captive and to truly feel the weight of those entanglements. In its upright position, the card reflects feelings of helplessness and manipulation, while in reverse, it signals the beginning of liberation and the realization that one's cage was partially self-made. The imagery serves as a mirror for honesty and encourages small acts of defiance to reclaim personal power and appetite.
Keywords
Visual Description
A towering horned, goat-like figure sits at the center of a swirling, starry background, rendered in vivid blues, greens, and golds. The figure raises a lit torch in one hand and bears a glowing circular chest emblem; an inverted pentagram and the Roman numeral XV appear near the top. Below, two smaller human figures — a man and a woman — stand side by side facing the creature, with small tails visible and a bright flame or light between them; the Russian title "ДЬЯВОЛ" is printed at the bottom.
Meaning
A hulking horned presence sits above two small figures, the air smelling of smoke and heated metal as a torch flares against the swirling night. The scene reads like an old fable of temptation and contract: the chains and tails, the intense light between them, and the inverted star announce raw, earthly pulls — craving, habit, the gilded traps of power and guilt. The card invites you to notice what binds you and to feel the heat of those entanglements, because the Devil’s dominion is often built from desires and agreements you once made. In upright moments this can mean surrender, addiction, manipulation, or a sense of helplessness, a heavy gravity that masks the possibility of choice. Yet the same image holds a subtle key: the chains appear loose and the torch also exposes shadows, so recognition opens the way out. In reversal there is relief and the first clumsy steps of liberation — seeing how the cage was partly self-fashioned and beginning to remove the bars. Between warning and emancipation the Devil becomes a mirror, asking for honesty, small acts of defiance, and a reclaiming of appetite into conscious use.
Visual Description
A towering horned figure occupies the center of the image, its form carved from swirling bands of blue, green and flame-like orange, holding a lit torch aloft while a luminous orb glows at its chest. Two smaller naked human figures — a man and a woman with short tails and collars — stand hand in hand before the creature, their backs to the viewer and light radiating around them. Above them the card bears the Roman numeral XV and a pentacle, while a banner at the bottom reads "ДЬЯВОЛ".
Swirls of Light Tarot
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