Card Meaning
No card description was provided. The following generalization is an excerpt from the book 'It's All in Your Cards' by John Mangiapane.
This is a card about bondage or entrapment. It describes someone who feels helpless, oppressed, or cannot see their way out of a bad situation.
The mere appearance of this card in any reading is thought to indicate that unfortunate circumstances are about to occur, or that the Querent is in immediate danger or under a threat [A little extreme for my tastes, but it's there -author].
The Devil figure squats on a half-block signifying half-knowledge of the truth. He holds a torch upside down as a torch of destruction, not the light of knowledge. His right hand is upraised in what is supposed to be a 'sign' of Black Magic [Looks like Mr. Spock's greeting to me - author]. On his brow is an inverted star that indicates Man's place in the cosmos is reversed and that all his intents are Evil. The two nude figures echo those of card #6 The Lovers (and numerically are linked: 15 - 1 + 5 = 6). They are chained to the block of half-knowledge.
This card deals with greed, temptation, illness, perversity, bondage to the material, and bondage to the wrong ideals. Possibly a disregard for human dignity and a domination of matter over spirit. It can indicate a weak person with a tendency to indecision or of being ineffective, or someone who refuses to stand up for themselves believing that ' the Devil they know is better than the Devil of the unknown'. The chains the couple wears are chains of their own doing, similar to Jacob Marley's comment about "It is a chain I forged in life, link by link' (Apologies to Charles Dickens).
When reversed, take a look at those chains; they are loose and could slip right off and the couple could walk away. Evil influences have been resisted or overcome. A decision to break 'the chains that bind' has been made.
Go back to the project index, read the traditional card meaning, or get a free automated reading.
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