giving the Devil a chance

PAMUYA

The Devl for me represents attachment. Attachment itself is not negaitive, it is how we cling to it is where we find ourselves in trouble. Obsession creeps in. Example, a glass.of wine with dinner, an attachment, you like it. When it becomes two, three glasses, a bottle or two it becomes an unhealthy obsession. The Devil is the part of you that cannot let go, it over rides common sense. A jilted lovers becomes a stocker, there are so many examples. The Devil is a part of the human experience, not positive, not negative, we all go through it. You do not have to "like" the devil card, but it dose exist. Attachment is our main cause of suffering.

If I get the devil in a relationship reading, it could mean an unhealthy clinging, or overly needing of the others attention. It could mean "the little death" (sexual climax), good sexual relationship, not necessarily a loving one, but one you can enjoy. But again usually these types of relationships end painfully because of the energy of this card, the attachment.
 

Ruby Jewel

The Devl for me represents attachment. Attachment itself is not negaitive, it is how we cling to it is where we find ourselves in trouble. Obsession creeps in. Example, a glass.of wine with dinner, an attachment, you like it. When it becomes two, three glasses, a bottle or two it becomes an unhealthy obsession. The Devil is the part of you that cannot let go, it over rides common sense. A jilted lovers becomes a stocker, there are so many examples. The Devil is a part of the human experience, not positive, not negative, we all go through it. You do not have to "like" the devil card, but it dose exist. Attachment is our main cause of suffering.

If I get the devil in a relationship reading, it could mean an unhealthy clinging, or overly needing of the others attention. It could mean "the little death" (sexual climax), good sexual relationship, not necessarily a loving one, but one you can enjoy. But again usually these types of relationships end painfully because of the energy of this card, the attachment.

If only we could all practice and follow the Buddha's "Four Noble Truths" and the "Eightfold Path" the world would be a much better place. You are inspiring me to get back on the pillow. Yes, "attachment" is precisely the universal problem that ensnares us and allows the Devil his due.
 

nisaba

Please share with me...What is the most positive encounter you have had with this card? What was it saying/representing?

ALL my ancounters with it are positive. t warns me of danger and gives me a change to change the course I'm on before the danger happens.

Red traffic lights are exactly the same when you're driving: they warn you of danger and give you a chance to avoid having an accident by hitting the brakes. View the card as working for your protection, just as traffic lights work for your protection.
 

Barleywine

ALL my ancounters with it are positive. t warns me of danger and gives me a change to change the course I'm on before the danger happens.

Red traffic lights are exactly the same when you're driving: they warn you of danger and give you a chance to avoid having an accident by hitting the brakes. View the card as working for your protection, just as traffic lights work for your protection.

Good point. Although it obviously has a more esoteric meaning, I''ve always thought the Devil's raised right hand in the RWS deck looks like a "Halt!" gesture.
 

Grizabella

Please share with me...What is the most positive encounter you have had with this card? What was it saying/representing?

Being a recovering alcoholic, even after 31 years sober, my tendency is think "if a little is good, then more is better." This can be with anything---relationships, over-working, sugar, over-eating. over-doing anything that makes me feel good or that I love. The Devil card is a warning to me that I need to revamp my thinking about something in those categories or that I might want to just stay away from whatever it is in the first place because it's slippery territory for my addictive self. Sometimes it can indicate someone else who is actively addicted to something I need to stay clear of, too.

In those instances, the Devil is really my friend. That doesn't mean I like the warning, or sometimes even that I don't feel really disappointed to have that something be off bounds, but it does keep me reminded that I need to stay committed to sobriety and never to forget that an alcoholic doesn't get well completely unless they die sober. And there are millions of people with lengthy sobriety who just fall off and die without reaching that goal. The Devil is not a bad card for me.
 

Ruby Jewel

Having lost two important persons in my world to alcohol, I have always seen alcohol as the Devil. Your statement about dying sober was interesting because I have noted that it is only when sober does the alcoholic have the power to defeat the Devil permanently, if you will. Very similar to defeating cancer when the host kills itself. Looking the Devil in the eye and defying it takes tremendous strength. This is true when you draw the Devil card in a reading.....you know you have to let go of a habit or an addiction, or even a person....and it takes strength to do it. In this sense, the Devil is like a friend who taps you on the shoulder and says, "just do it."
 

IndigoWaves

warns me of danger and gives me a change to change the course I'm on before the danger happens.
Very true... And to me this is the opposite of "giving the Devil a chance"; it's avoiding him/the person or situation that he represents altogether, hopefully before the claws sink in.
 

SweetSiren

When it comes to relationships (which I'll assume to be your focus), it's hard to find a positive angle of this card -- unless those involved are on a mutually willing sex-based wavelength, in which case the Devil can show lusty and addictive physical enjoyment. Even then, what happens between them down the line can all too easily include obsessive behaviour, deception, manipulation, etc.: the Devil's usual fare... Served up when one partner starts to pull away and the other isn't ready to let go, or when more is desired than the other is willing/able to provide.

Most often it seems that trying to find a "good side" of the Devil, particularly in a relationship context, involves disownership, downplaying serious issues and/or grasping at straws. (I've leaned that way myself, at times, as well.)


This has been my exact experience with the card. I really wish I could come up with some other meaning, but alas, it has never brought any good news. Ever. I hate being superstitious (lol), but my experiences with the card have been so bad that I can't bring myself to trust a person when the devil shows up. I tried reading it the way others suggested, well maybe I'M being obsessive or lustful or what have you. But later on it always came out what the card was truly saying. And it never had anything to do with someone thinking too much.

The good in the devil? It's a warning! One that I wish I would have listened to a time or two. I hate to "stigmatize" a card and to be so absolutely sure about it, but every time I try to twist that, I get a rude awakening.

I recently got the card, and I'm going through a hard break up. I've been trying to find some answers, and this card had to do with someone whom I liked very much I met because of that relationship. This card has been so bad for me, that it's making me question whether I know that person at all. And upon some thought, I realized I didn't and that it's very possible this person could be lying to me. It's a strong card that has taught me to respect tarot more and to throw away the niceties we often greet readings with.
 

IndigoWaves

I tried reading it the way others suggested, well maybe I'M being obsessive or lustful or what have you. But later on it always came out what the card was truly saying. And it never had anything to do with someone thinking too much.
It definitely has for me, with my obsessive/compulsive tendencies (though they're rarely permitted outer expression, not in ways that would disturb those involved)... It's a seeming inability to stop my brain from focusing on a desired person, to the near-exclusion of everything else -- endlessly trying to figure them out, and how I might please them, in the hopes of gaining a "deeper" connection (read: getting what I want).

In the end, however, I've always been the one left damaged and alone, even though it was I who was technically the Devil, on a mental/emotional level. That's just how "he" works, sometimes... And looking back, this card has always tried to warn me of that influence, long before I'd willingly climbed in too deep to escape unscathed. For me, it's really been about resisting/ignoring the temptation to indulge in Devilish energy and heeding its warning, instead -- preferably while it's still relatively easy to do so.
 

Ruby Jewel

It definitely has for me, with my obsessive/compulsive tendencies (though they're rarely permitted outer expression, not in ways that would disturb those involved)... It's a seeming inability to stop my brain from focusing on a desired person, to the near-exclusion of everything else -- endlessly trying to figure them out, and how I might please them, in the hopes of gaining a "deeper" connection (read: getting what I want).

In the end, however, I've always been the one left damaged and alone, even though it was I who was technically the Devil, on a mental/emotional level. That's just how "he" works, sometimes... And looking back, this card has always tried to warn me of that influence, long before I'd willingly climbed in too deep to escape unscathed. For me, it's really been about resisting/ignoring the temptation to indulge in Devilish energy and heeding its warning, instead -- preferably while it's still relatively easy to do so.

The only card in the tarot stronger than the Devil is Temperance. Resistance does not work. Transformation comes through finding the middle way....balance. Maybe meditating on Temperance and learning as much as you can about it would help. For instance, Archangel Michael, who is the angel in Temperance is the angel who grabbed Satan by the ankle and threw him/her into hell.....Tempering is how you bind two opposites, like oil and water.....the middle way is absorbing/accepting who you are, loving yourself and the love is what transforms. The Devil is magnetism....sometimes we attract a certain type. Look at that because the Devil is that repeating pattern...you have to be like Archangel Michael and toss the Devil out of your world. Are you familiar with Narcissistic Personality Disorder? If not, do some research into it on Utube. You may find it very enlightening because it is exactly who the Devil is.....you need to know, next time you meet him, and you can identify him because they definitely have specific attributes that may surprise you. You most definitely do not want to give them a chance.