When card meanings contradict your intuition

[Raggydoll]

34 minutes ago, Natural Mystic Guide said:

I think that it's terrific that you are working with decks that really keep it upbeat and positive

I have no idea where you got this idea from. What I said was that I don’t find that female deck creators tend to project emotional baggage onto their cards. That does not mean that they create positive or upbeat decks, it just means exactly what I said. But this is rather off topic so I’ll stop there. 

[Pio2001]

7 hours ago, Chariot said:

I used to struggle with The Devil ...until it dawned on me that The Devil, as an entity (as usually pictured), doesn't actually exist!  

That's an interesting interpretation !

[Nemia]

What an interesting discussion! I don't look into tarot books any more, though I have a lot and have read them all in the past. But I don't read cards with a book in my hand. I focus on the cards, the sitter, the question and how they all interact, and the cards have developed their own meanings for me. 

 

The Devil - I read it as a temptation to give in to your weak spot, no matter what your weak spot is. When you combat this temptation successfully (by getting to its root and understanding it), the Devil loses its power and gives it to you (like in a card game where the winner takes it all). So you can gain a lot of energy and use it for positive aims. That makes it a card with either a disastrous outcome or a fantastic one, but never neutral. Works well for me. 

 

The true learning effect of the Devil is the introspection: where is my weak spot, is it anger, is it chocolate, is it that energy vampire friend who gossips with me although I know I shouldn't gossip about people I love? Identify it and resist. And then the Devil has to give you all his/her/its energy. 

[Natural Mystic Guide]

3 hours ago, Nemia said:

The true learning effect of the Devil is the introspection: where is my weak spot, is it anger, is it chocolate, is it that energy vampire friend who gossips with me although I know I shouldn't gossip about people I love? Identify it and resist. And then the Devil has to give you all his/her/its energy.

I really like this twist on the Devil card.  I want to remember it and incorporate into how I read this card.  Thank you for sharing @Nemia.

[Pio2001]

13 hours ago, Nemia said:

The true learning effect of the Devil is the introspection: where is my weak spot, is it anger, is it chocolate, 

 

As I am writing this, I'm angry about what happened at work this morning, and I'm eating chocolate. 😈

[Morwenna]

I also go with my gut if I get a card that doesn't seem to mean what the various texts say it means. The first time it happened to me I was relatively new at reading in public, but the feeling in this case was so strong I insisted on it, never mind what the written descriptions said. I've gone with that attitude ever since. 

 

I was intrigued by reading the comments here on the Devil; if you look closely (at least in the RWS and several like it), the ropes around the people's necks are loose enough that they could slip them off easily.