Now here's a card that most of us would prefer not to run into too often! When the Devil card appears, most people tend to feel that there's trouble ahead - and often they associate this card with the doing of evil, and therefor fear it as well.

But, in some ways, this is a misunderstanding of the principle the card truly represents in life. Certainly it can appear to indicate evil acts, trouble, strife and conflict - but on most occasions we have more control of events than we might at first believe. And it is our lack of belief that causes most of the problems.

You see, one of the Inner mysteries of this card is that it relates to our basic instinctual needs - those things which confirm to us that, like it or not, we are animals. Our survival needs, like hunger, thirst, protection, warmth, safety are ruled by the card, as are our sexual desires and needs.

However, for some mysterious reason we have allowed ourselves to become separated from many of our base-line instincts, even sometimes relating in a negative or distorted fashion toward them. Our ability to think has got in our own way here.

As a result, we build multitudes of problems around what should be the fulfilment of our own animal instincts - eating disorders, sexual disorders, alcoholism... the list is extensive. Even if we don't actually have a disorder as such, we can have hang-ups, inhibitions, insecurities, fears.

And it is these thought patterns, and the behaviours that go with them that cause the Devil card to have such a bad reputation. The important thing to remember here is that, this being the case, by shifting our viewpoint, altering our perspective, we can change the way we feel about the things in the Devil's domain. And in achieving that, we set ourselves free to be who we are.

So on a day ruled by the Devil, look deeply at your responses and feelings about this area of instinctual response. Look into your fears, and try to see if they have any basis in reality. If you find inhibitions in these basic areas, try to examine them. Locate their source..and then try to let go and move on. Remove the restrictions and limitations that narrow the boundaries of your horizon.