Major arcana · XV
The Devil
Upright
bondage · appetite · the chain you chose · shadow
The Devil sits above two chained figures who could, if they looked, slip the chains over their heads. The card means bondage that is partly chosen: addiction, obsession, a relationship or habit or job that holds you because you keep holding it. It is the shadow side of desire. Upright, the card does not condemn - it points. Here is the chain. Here is how loose it is.
The chains were loose. Nobody had checked.
What are you bound to that would release you if you lifted your hands?
Reversed
release · waking up · the chain slipped
Reversed, the Devil loosens. The moment of noticing the chain, the first step out, release from something that has held you - or the beginning of that release, which is the hard part. It can also mean the temptation to go back. The card asks what you are ready to put down, and whether you will.
He walked out of the cell and discovered the door had never locked.
What small freedom did you take today without noticing?