The Devil in 6 decks
The same card as 6 decks draw it, five and a half centuries apart. What stays the same is the card’s core; what changes is where a reading can find something new. The meanings are written for the Rider–Waite–Smith picture; the descriptions here are of each deck’s own. Not in Visconti-Sforza, which has no Devil card.
Side by side
Choose any two decks and read the pictures against each other.
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909
A horned, bat-winged figure squats on a black pedestal with an inverted pentagram on its brow, one hand raised and the other holding a torch pointed down. Below, a naked man and woman stand chained by the neck to the pedestal, with small horns and tails. The chains are loose enough to lift over their heads.
Lequart, Paris, 19th century
Numbered XV and titled LE DIABLE, a devil with red bat wings and antler-like horns over a red cap stands on a red pedestal. It has breasts, a face on its belly and green legs ending in claws, raising one hand and holding a long red staff in the other. Two small yellow horned figures stand below, tied by a cord at the neck to a ring on the pedestal.
Rider–Waite–Smith
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909
A horned, bat-winged figure squats on a black pedestal with an inverted pentagram on its brow, one hand raised and the other holding a torch pointed down. Below, a naked man and woman stand chained by the neck to the pedestal, with small horns and tails. The chains are loose enough to lift over their heads.
Tarot de Marseille
Lequart, Paris, 19th century
Numbered XV and titled LE DIABLE, a devil with red bat wings and antler-like horns over a red cap stands on a red pedestal. It has breasts, a face on its belly and green legs ending in claws, raising one hand and holding a long red staff in the other. Two small yellow horned figures stand below, tied by a cord at the neck to a ring on the pedestal.
Tarot de Viéville
Jacques Viéville, c. 1650
Numbered XV, a hairy green creature with red horns, bat wings and clawed feet stands on a strip of ground. It has a bearded head with a red tongue, further faces on its belly and knees, and a long red tail ending in a hand. It holds a red object aloft.
Sola Busca
c. 1491
A bearded man in a red cap with wings sits on a scrolled chair, gesturing towards a purple column topped by a burning vessel. He holds a baton, a banner marked SC rises behind him and a discoloured shield rests at his side. The name METELO is at the top and XV appears twice.
Sola Busca trumps are named figures matched to the standard trumps by number only.
Oswald Wirth
Oswald Wirth, 1889
A goat-headed, bare-chested figure with blue bat wings stands on a blue pedestal holding a lowered torch and raising a small flaming dish. His arms are inscribed COAGULA and SOLVE, and his green loincloth bears a circle, crescent and cross symbol. A red and a green horned devil are chained to a ring on the pedestal. Below are the number 15, LE DIABLE and the Hebrew letter samekh.
Soimoi
Mike Koz, 2025
A dark-haired man in a black kimono with a red sash sits at a wooden table beneath a huge horned red demon mask with glowing eyes. Before him lie a tipped-over sake flask and cup spilling liquid, another cup, a coil of red rope and a heavy iron chain. Smoke drifts around him, and red paper lanterns painted with characters hang in the gloom.