The Devil: not a bad boy, just misunderstood?

euripides

I then almost imagine the Devil as like a good therapist - someone who's seen it all, lived most of it, who can guide others to a better life *because* he's been there and knows the worst of the human experience.

Oh that's a really interesting perspective, Vifetoile! I'm reminded of some of the myths where there's descent to the underworld, and the people who figure as guides and gatekeepers.

It's clear that the devil means different things to different people, both as creators and as readers, so there's a lot of ways that our different personal understandings can intersect in the reading of a card.
 

Ruby Jewel

Each to their own.

I recently purchased the Tarot of Sexual Magic.....now that's an interesting Devil card...I'm not sure I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing in it.
 

Padma

A lot of interesting takes here. And all of them make sense.

I am thinking of a reading I got a few weeks ago. I was wondering about some new friends I had just begun to make; one seemed - undecipherable, to me, and that kind of worried me. She both attracted and repelled me. So, while at a public fundraising event, I got a reading, and silently made that my question. The reader was an intuitive reader. She drew the Devil as the first card.

I don't know what deck she was using, might have been a Ciro deck, but she said, "oh, this card has a lot of light in it;" (Lucifer aspect, I suppose!) "you are a very spiritual person" and then she made to move on to the next card, but I asked her, what about the more traditional meaning of the card? She looked perplexed, but then looked at the Devil card again, then said, "Well, there is a skull within the flames, so maybe there is something you are worried about".

She wasn't far off. So it seems that what was attractive about these new friends was their spirituality (true) and also, that one of them seemed to be dangerous behind that facade of light. Also true. And I was worried about it.

I thought she did a very interesting, if unusual, reading of the symbolism on that particular Devil card. Pretty accurate, too - though it was not just describing me, it was also the qualities of the people I was attracted to - and repelled by - as potential new friends.

This attraction/repellent factor of the card was touched on lightly here and there by others in this thread, mostly by association with other factors, but this woman who did my cards seemed to hit that target so innocently, and yet so accurately.

So apart from the usual symbolism (addiction, sexual slavery, etc etc), I am beginning to see the Devil card as speaking to something that both attracts and repels, something we desire, and yet worry about having. Something that might be so beautiful to look upon, yet hide such duplicity and malignity within. And something we very much fear to look inside of, or at least, feel reluctant to do so, in case it stings or disappoints. Or worse.

This also ties into the watershed point in the Lovers (1+5=6) because the decision you make about this thing or person or situation that both attracts and repels at the same time will surely have a significant impact on one's life. And maybe that is part of the challenge of the card; find a way to handle that Devil, neatly, intelligently, and to your advantage, so you can move on. Trick the Devil, so he gets behind you.

Euripides, I don't know if that answers anything of your original question, but this is what was taught to me by this purely intuitive reader, who did not know the traditional meanings. It made a great deal of sense, in its simplicity.

:)

ETA And also - I usually read the Devil as representing pride, ego and fear, though of course that depends upon the question, the readings and the particular card image.