Alright, let’s get into it. Today I wanted to share my journey with a particular tarot card: The Devil. It’s one that pops up and often gives people pause, myself included back when I first really started paying attention to it.
I remember a period where this card just kept appearing in my personal readings. Seriously, almost every time I shuffled and pulled a card for daily guidance or asked about a situation, there it was, looking back at me. At first, honestly, it freaked me out a little. My initial thought was, “Oh no, what bad thing is coming?” That’s the common reaction, right? Seeing the horns, the chains, the figures seemingly trapped.
Digging Deeper Than Just Spooky
But because it was so persistent, I figured I couldn’t just ignore it or keep getting spooked. I decided I needed to actually sit with it and understand what it was trying to tell me, personally. I pulled out the card from my deck, laid it on my desk, and just looked at it for a long time over several days. I didn’t just glance; I really looked. I started noticing details I hadn’t focused on before – like the chains around the figures’ necks. They looked loose, almost like they could lift them off if they chose to.
I did some quiet reflection, just thinking about where in my own life I felt stuck or controlled. I wasn’t looking for some big, dramatic external force. I started thinking about my habits, my thought patterns, the things I felt I had to do or couldn’t stop doing. It was less about some external ‘devil’ and more about my own internal stuff.
Connecting the Dots in My Life
And slowly, it started clicking. I realized I had some chains of my own making:
- Obsession over work: I was letting my job define my whole sense of self-worth. A bad day at work meant I felt like a total failure. That felt like a chain.
- Material desires: Getting caught up in wanting the next gadget, the better car, feeling like I needed these things to be happy. Another chain.
- Negative self-talk: That inner voice that sometimes told me I wasn’t good enough or couldn’t do something. Definitely a chain.
- A specific bad habit: There was one particular habit I kept wanting to break but felt powerless against. Felt very much like being tethered.
Seeing The Devil card started to feel less like a scary warning and more like a mirror, showing me where I was giving my power away or binding myself unnecessarily.
Taking Action, Loosening Chains
Understanding is one thing, doing something is another. So, I started trying to consciously work with this energy. When I caught myself obsessing over work stress, I’d make myself take a break, go for a walk, physically step away. I made a rule to not check work emails after a certain hour. It felt weird at first, like I was slacking off, but it helped break that mental chain.
With the material stuff, I practiced gratitude for what I already had. Whenever the urge to buy something impulsively hit, I’d make myself wait 24 hours. Often, the urge passed. That showed me it wasn’t a real need.
The negative self-talk was harder. I started by just noticing it, acknowledging the thought without believing it. Sometimes I’d even say out loud, “Nope, not buying that today.” Sounds silly, but it helped externalize it a bit.
And that bad habit? I focused on replacing it, rather than just stopping. Found something healthier to do when the urge struck. It wasn’t an overnight success, lots of slip-ups, but focusing on the choice – remembering those loose chains – made a difference over time.
Still a Work in Progress
So, working with The Devil card wasn’t about banishing some evil force. It was about recognizing my own patterns of limitation, addiction, and obsession – the ways I trap myself. It’s about seeing the cage, realizing the door isn’t locked, and understanding that the power to walk out, or at least loosen the chains, is mine. It’s an ongoing practice, really. Those tendencies can still creep back in. But drawing that card now feels different. It’s a reminder to check in, see where I might be getting stuck again, and consciously choose freedom. It’s actually become a pretty empowering card for me, in its own way. Just took some time and willingness to face it.
