The Devil: Shadow, Control, and Liberation

The Devil is one of those cards that makes people squirm a little when it lands in a reading. The very name evokes a sense of foreboding, conjuring images of temptation, darkness, and a loss of control. And yet, like all tarot archetypes, The Devil isn’t here to condemn us; it’s here to reveal something essential.

In the Rider-Waite Smith deck, The Devil looms large, horned and winged, with two human figures chained at his feet. It’s a card of bondage, unhealthy attachments, and the darker corners of the psyche.

In my Eternal Tarot, I’ve kept those core themes but reimagined the imagery to highlight not just the darkness but also the call to awareness and liberation. Let’s explore both side by side.

The Devil Figure: Horns and Shadows

Rider-Waite Smith: The Devil appears as a horned, goat-like figure, sitting above the chained lovers. It’s a blunt symbol of temptation, materialism, and the ways we can be enslaved by our lower instincts.

Eternal Tarot: I chose the ram’s head; this is still a powerful, primal image, but one that speaks to raw instinct, unchecked desire, and the darker energies we wrestle with. For me, the ram embodies not just fear but also the challenge of power: will we let instinct control us, or will we learn to harness it consciously?

The Chains: Bondage and Dependency

Rider-Waite Smith: The human figures are chained by the neck to the Devil’s pedestal, yet their chains are loose; they could slip them off if they chose. This points to self-imposed bondage: we’re often freer than we realise.

Eternal Tarot: Chains remain central in my card as well, symbolising habits, dependencies, and fears that weigh us down. But I emphasise that these chains are not essential. They’re habitual, not permanent. Recognising that truth is the first step toward freedom.

The Lovers: Desire Turned Heavy

Rider-Waite Smith: The two naked figures echo The Lovers card, but in a corrupted form. What was once a union blessed by light is now bound in shadow.

Eternal Tarot: I wanted to keep this tension visible, too. The Lovers appear in my card, bound by the Devil’s force, showing how even relationships and desires, when influenced by fear, power struggles, or unhealthy attachment, can become prisons instead of pathways to growth.

The Setting: Imprisonment and Darkness

Rider-Waite Smith: The Devil sits between two pillars, echoing the structures in other Major Arcana cards but twisted here into a place of entrapment. The black background deepens the sense of unconscious shadow.

Eternal Tarot: My card keeps the pillars and the black backdrop, but with a sharper focus on imprisonment. These pillars represent the walls we build around ourselves: the limitations created by fear, addiction, or unresolved shadow. The darkness reminds us that what we refuse to face only grows stronger in the absence of light.

What The Devil Means in a Reading

Whether you’re looking at the Rider-Waite Smith or Eternal Tarot, the themes converge:

Bondage & Limitation: Feeling trapped by habits, fears, or external influences.

Shadow Work: The Devil shines a light on what thrives in the dark—our fears, compulsions, or the parts of ourselves we’d rather ignore.

Dependency: Whether material, emotional, or relational, the card asks where we’ve given away our power.

Choice: Both decks remind us that the chains aren’t permanent. The real message is liberation and recognising the shadow.

The Devil is rarely comfortable, but it’s always revealing. It shows us where we’re hooked, where we’ve slipped into autopilot, or where we’ve given too much of our power away. Yet its presence is also profoundly empowering...because once we see the chains, we have the choice to remove them.

To me, The Devil is less about punishment and more about awareness. It’s an invitation to face our shadow honestly, to acknowledge unhealthy patterns, and to transform them into something life-affirming. Liberation begins with understanding, and The Devil holds up the mirror we’d often rather avoid.

Face the Shadow, Find Your Freedom

In Lieselle’s Eternal Tarot, The Devil is not punishment but invitation; to confront the chains of fear, desire, and unhealthy patterns, and to reclaim your power. Each hand-illustrated card holds this same depth, guiding you toward awareness, transformation, and liberation.

Discover the Eternal Tarot