| Devil | |
|---|---|
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Other Names |
Typhon |
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First Appearance |
Tarot Card Decks |
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Created by |
Unknown |
Origin[]
The Devil (XV) is the fifteenth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination.
According to A. E. Waite's 1910 book, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, the Devil card carries several divinatory associations:
15. THE DEVIL.—Ravage, violence, vehemence, extraordinary efforts, force, fatality; that which is predestined but is not for this reason evil. Reversed: Evil fatality, weakness, pettiness, blindness.
In the Rider–Waite–Smith deck, the Devil is derived in part from Eliphas Levi's famous illustration "Baphomet" in his Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie (1855). In the Rider–Waite–Smith deck, the Devil has harpy feet, ram horns, bat wings, a reversed pentagram on the forehead, a raised right hand and a lowered left hand holding a torch. He squats on a square pedestal. Two naked demons (one male, one female) with tails stand chained to the pedestal. Levi's Baphomet has angel wings, goat horns, a raised right hand, lowered left hand, breasts and a torch on his head, and also combines human and bestial features. Many modern tarot decks portray the Devil as a satyr-like creature. According to Waite, the Devil is standing on an altar.
In pre–Eliphas Levi tarot decks like the Tarot of Marseille, the devil is portrayed with breasts, a face on the belly, eyes on the knees, lion feet and male genitalia. He also has bat-like wings, antlers, a raised right hand, a lowered left hand and a staff. Two creatures with antlers, hooves and tails are bound to his round pedestal.
The Devil card is associated with the planet Saturn, and the correlating zodiac Earth sign, Capricorn.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of the Devil from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910)
Public Domain Game Appearances[]
- Tarot of Marseilles (Early 15th century)
- Rider–Waite Tarot Deck (1910)
Notes[]
- The Basanos are a living Tarot deck created by Meleos while coping from the book of destiny of the endless, it developed a mind of their own and became the enemies of Lucifer during his self-titled series from Vertigo Comics.