The Devil
The Devil is the fifteenth Major Arcana card, numbered XV. In modern esoteric reading it is not treated as an external evil force, but as a symbol of material bondage, addiction, and shadow aspects the person themself feeds.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-18
Historical fact
The card is present in the earliest surviving complete decks, though it is missing or lost in several of the oldest Visconti-Sforza examples, leaving historians uncertain about its exact original design. The iconography of figures chained to the Devil, but with chains loose enough to be removed, is a specific choice of the 1909 Rider-Waite version, symbolizing self-imposed bondage.
Interpretation — Rider-Waite-Smith / Golden Dawn
In the 1909 version, a demonic figure presides over two people chained at its feet — but the chains are loose enough to be removed. It represents material bondage, addiction, excessive attachment, and shadow aspects, with the central idea that freedom is possible but requires conscious recognition. Reversed, it's commonly read as breaking free from a destructive pattern.
Interpretation — Thoth (Aleister Crowley)
In the Thoth deck, the Devil is tied to the sign of Capricorn and the Hebrew letter Ayin. It represents material creative force, vital energy tied to matter and instinct — a reading that treats impulses deemed 'dark' as energy to be integrated, not simply repressed.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Has the Devil card's image stayed the same since the earliest Tarot decks?
- Not certainly. The card is present in the earliest surviving complete decks, but it is missing or lost in several of the oldest Visconti-Sforza examples, leaving its exact original design uncertain.
- Why do the chains in the Devil card appear loose?
- In the 1909 Rider-Waite version, the chains binding the figures to the Devil are drawn loose enough to be removed, symbolizing that the bondage depicted is self-imposed rather than an irreversible sentence.
Sources
- Michael Dummett. The Game of Tarot: From Ferrara to Salt Lake City (1980).
- Arthur Edward Waite. The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910).
- Aleister Crowley. The Book of Thoth (1944).
- Stuart R. Kaplan. The Encyclopedia of Tarot (1978).