Musical Tarot Associations
The Devil. Scary Card right? Well… yes. Let’s get into it.
What is the Devil card about?
Earthly pleasures at best, and addiction at worst. The Devil card is about bad habits, addictions, and feeling like we’re trapped or being trapped by our addictions and bad habits. So, yes, you can get out, but it may take a lot of will and even outside help.
One of those addictions may be substance, materialism, obsession with someone or something, or just every day self-sabotage.
Let’s talk about “The Devil” (Baphomet in this card) another day. Today we’ll focus on the couple in the card. The woman has the grapes on her tail and the man has the fire on his tail – representing materialism and power. They have loose chains around their necks, so they’re free to go, sure, but the longer they stay, the harder it is to leave.
This brings us to my musical association of this card – Hotel California by the Eagles, released in 1977.
Why do I associated Hotel California with the Devil card?
“You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.” This lyric is the best example of the card. Like the Devil in the card, the Night man in the song says that you can leave, but can you really?
Let’s go through the song
The song starts out as the main character is driving through the desert with the “Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air.” Apparently, colitas is a term for weed – which links us to addiction. Then the character stops at the Hotel California because he’s tired. He meets the woman of the story, and shows her vices of materialism, and hedonism.
And finally, we have this part of the song the cements the idea of the Devil and the association of the card for me. Between the “We are all just prisoners here, of our own device,” (those loose chains), and the people trying to kill the “beast” with their steely knives.
Anyway, what do you think? What song do you associate with the Devil card? Do you have other interpretations?
You can find a Youtube playlist with all of my Musical Tarot Associations here