The Devil

✦ Card Title

The Devil

✦ Visual description

A red, horned devil with a trident stands beneath a stone archway and a pale moon, grinning outward. Two skeletal figures dressed in formal clothing flank him — one in a suit with a top hat and the other in a decorative dress with blue flowers in her hair. In the foreground a carved jack-o'-lantern brims with brightly wrapped candies, and large letters at the bottom read 'OLD SCRATCH.' The ornate card border shows the numeral 15 at the top.

✦ Meaning

✦ Opening Image

The image opens like a midnight carnival where temptation wears a grin and polished chains clink in the dark; the devil stands bold and red, trident in hand, as if offering fruit wrapped in colorful paper from a carved pumpkin.

✦ Sensory Details

The scene smells of sugar and smoke, of velvet suits and a carnival's false laughter, and it pulls you close to the small pleasures that can become cages.

✦ Symbols

The skeletal couple reminds you that roles and relationships can be costumes and agreements made in shadow; the arch and moon suggest a boundary crossed and a secret that lights the path.

✦ Release / Reversal

Turned or loosened, the same tableau becomes a revelation: the trappings are revealed as props, the chains are shown to be slack, and the decision to walk away trembles into being.

✦ Liberation

Liberation often arrives quietly — a noticing, a refusal, a candle blown out in the night — and what once seemed inevitable can be unlearned.

✦ Question / Call to Action

Whether you are being lured or stepping free, the card asks who holds the key and whether you will take it.