How the Devil card can show us the path to freedom
The Devil card has been coming for a lot of my clients so far this year. It’s also been a recurring theme in the workshops I’ve been running, especially around questions about creative and emotional expansion.
It’s particularly common to turn to tarot with these types of questions.
“How can I start saying no more often so that I have more time for myself?”
“How can I make more room for my creative projects, instead of always putting them off to the side?”
“How can I experience more space in my schedule for spontaneity and discovery?”
“How can I start to transition out of my toxic job and into more fulfilling work?”
When the Devil shows up in relation to questions like these, it can feel jarring, especially if the querent (or the reader) isn’t expecting to see the Devil in this instance.
But very often, these questions are rooted in feeling stuck. And that’s when the Devil makes itself known.
“The Devil is in the details,” the saying goes, reminding us that sometimes we find ourselves in situations that made sense at the time.
We sign on for work that looked good on paper, but is a totally different story behind the scenes. We say yes to others thinking that we’re doing a small favour, and then end up roped into something that turned out to be way bigger than expected.
And sometimes we’re our own worst enemies in sabotaging ourselves. How many of us can say that we’ve set certain goals, only to continue to find reasons, consciously or not, to put them off out of fear, overwhelm, or self-abandonment?
The Devil encourages us to look at what we’ve become bound to – or what we think we’re bound to. The Devil can represent pacts and vows. But it is also a rebellious archetype, aligned with rock n’ roll and liberation and lack of inhibition.
The Devil challenges our beliefs about what we believe we are tied to. It reminds us that we might be freer than we think, which can be difficult to do when you feel stuck in the weeds.
But it’s not always easy to break free, especially within the span of a tarot reading. Have you ever pulled cards hoping that they would tell you to quit a job, but then felt confused by the answer? Or have you ever hoped for a sign that would tell you to leave an unfulfilling situation, only to have nothing show up?
Sometimes the feelings we have about a situation are the omens we are waiting for. And the Devil can be a reminder of that, too: It can reflect that feeling of dread as you’re on your way to a job you can’t stand.
To find the Devil as a symbol of liberation, we have to be willing to accept that this card is freer than it looks. “The Devil may care” is another phrase that comes to mind when working with this archetype: It can be light-hearted and carefree, looking for its next playground.
If anything, the pattern I’ve seen most strongly with the Devil is that it reaffirms our gut feelings that a situation has to change. We can’t go on forever toiling in obscurity or dragging ourselves through the dark each day. We can’t continue to avoid the things that will bring us joy and hopefully freedom, whether that freedom is emotional, spiritual, creative, or material.
Sometimes the Devil reminds us that even pacts have an expiration date, and a contract in your life might be up.
We are often looking for open roads and doors of opportunity outside of ourselves, but tarot can remind us that those doors might exist within rather than without.
If you would like to learn more about how to use tarot to read for others, check out my upcoming workshops and courses here.
Until next time,
Liz
