Major arcana 15 · Earth
The Devil tarot card meaning: upright, a bind you are partly choosing; reversed, recognizing the trap and beginning to leave it. It is trump XV of the 22 major arcana.
Waite, Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911; Golden Dawn, Book T.
A bind you are partly choosing. The chains in the image are loose — the card describes dependency that could be walked away from and is not.
The Devil is attachment and compulsion: addictions, unhealthy patterns, materialism and situations that feel impossible to leave. The chains on the figures are loose. The card describes being bound by something you could, in fact, walk away from.
Recognizing the trap and beginning to leave it. Or the opposite: sinking further while insisting you are fine.
Reversed, the chains start to come off: breaking a bad habit, reclaiming control or recognizing a toxic pattern. It can also mean facing your own shadow.
18 pages · printable
Every retrograde, eclipse, new and full moon of 2027 to the minute, already converted to your city. A month to a page, ready to print.
Primary source
“Ravage, violence, vehemence, extraordinary efforts, force, fatality; that which is predestined but is not for this reason evil.”
“Evil fatality, weakness, pettiness, blindness.”
The Devil is card XV, first of the seven in the row that runs from the Devil (XV) to the World (XXI).
Golden Dawn correspondences
In the Golden Dawn’s Book T (1888), the Devil is the card of Capricorn. In 2026 the Sun is in Capricorn from Dec 21, 2026 to Jan 20, 2027 (UTC). Capricorn is ruled by Saturn — the planet listed for this card above.
| Book T attribution | Capricorn sign |
|---|---|
| Sun in Capricorn, 2026 | Dec 21, 2026 – Jan 20, 2027 UTC |
| Ruler of Capricorn | Saturn |
| Capricorn in the minor arcana | Two of Pentacles Jupiter, 0°–10° Three of Pentacles Mars, 10°–20° Four of Pentacles Sun, 20°–30° |
Data, not interpretation
Five draws fall to the Devil in 2026, every time upright; the first comes on January 9 and the last on October 6. That is joint 29th of 78, level with 8 other cards. The longest wait between two draws ends on October 6, 160 days after the one before. While the Sun is in Capricorn, it is drawn once.
Dates in 2026: Jan 9 · Feb 20 · Mar 12 · Apr 29 · Oct 6
The image
A horned figure sits above a naked man and woman held by loose chains around their necks. The chains could be lifted off.
A horned figure with bat wings squats on a pedestal. A man and a woman stand chained to it — but the chains are loose enough to lift off. The card shows bondage that is partly accepted.
The Devil points to attachment, addiction, materialism and unhealthy patterns — anything that feels impossible to leave. Reversed, it often means breaking free or recognizing the trap.
Upright, intense physical attraction, obsession or a relationship that feels addictive or controlling. Reversed, breaking free of a toxic bond or an unhealthy dynamic.
They feel an intense, possessive attraction that may be more about desire than love.
A job you stay in for the money, or ambition that has started running you. Debt, materialism or a job you feel trapped in; look honestly at what is keeping you stuck.
Addiction, compulsion and habits that have stopped being choices.
No — or not for the right reasons.
If you drew it today
Notice where the chain is looser than you think.
Statements of fact on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. How we choose and check sources: editorial policy.
AstroHot. “The Devil Tarot Card Meaning: Upright and Reversed.” Accessed October 27, 2026. https://astrohot.com/tarot/cards/the-devil/
{{cite web |title=The Devil Tarot Card Meaning: Upright and Reversed |url=https://astrohot.com/tarot/cards/the-devil/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-27}}
Free · PDF · 18 pages
Every retrograde, eclipse, new and full moon of 2027 — to the minute, printed in your own time zone.