Housewives Tarot - The Devil

A pair of shapely legs and arms support a luscious devil's food cake which has rich chocolate frosting, chocolate horns and a very large slice missing. There are elegant burgundy high-heeled shoes on 'her' feet. In one hand a lighted cigarette, the other a glass of martini (complete with cocktail stick and stuffed olive).

'She' is surrounded by a 6 items; a bottle of valium, a packet of Vice cigarettes, a jar of instant coffee, a jar of processed cheese, a tin of Spork (spam?) and a fried chicken TV dinner. Something for everyone here.

To quote the LWB:
Succumbing to your dark side too often will surely bring about your downfall.

This was the first card that I saw from The Housewives Tarot. It yelled at the devil in me, and dispite holding out for a month, tempted me into buying the deck! It is also my card for today. I am going shopping today........

I understand exactly what you mean! This was the card that "tempted" me as well. Of all of my decks it remains my favorite Devil and actually, it brings out one of the things that I love about this deck. The fun kitschy images juxtaposed with very serious ideas. It's interesting that The Devil in this case has the "sexy lady" legs, making it seem more like an alter ego of the housewife herself than an outside force. In a way it is a characiture of her at her worst. When I saw this card (especially taking note of the bottle of Valium) I was reminded of the Rolling Stones song "Mother's Little Helper":

"Mother needs something today to calm her down
And though she's not really ill
There's a little yellow pill
She goes running for the shelter of a mother's little helper
And it helps her on her way, gets her through her busy day


"Things are different today,"
I hear ev'ry mother say
Cooking fresh food for a husband's just a drag
So she buys an instant cake and she burns her frozen steak..."

On a lighter note, the Devil in this deck seems to be about the unsavory stigma surrounding quick fixes in general, the "Spork" product, the "Redi-Cheez," the TV Dinner. I remember looking through some of my grandmother's cookbooks from the 50's and cracking up over the amount of recipes that use some unholy combination of whipped cream, spam, and lime jell-o and claim that "only you will know it's not made from scratch." The message seems to be that there's nothing wrong with taking advantage of the quick fixes, there's just something wrong with letting other people know that you have.

The fifties followed the very austere period of WWII. People were coming out of very dark period where people had to scrimp and into conspicuous consumerism. They wanted more free time and women in particular wanted to spend less time at home and some of them who had taken jobs during the wartime wanted to keep them.

This card speaks to me about how easy it is to get manipulated by marketing and what the neighbors are doing and lose sight of what is good for us. I've never seen the Devil as the peer pressure card so clearly. "The Devil Made Me Do It"

The message seems to be that there's nothing wrong with taking advantage of the quick fixes, there's just something wrong with letting other people know that you have.

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OHH yeah. Ain't that the bloody truth, preached to us every day from mass media. And the people who believe the mass media message.

Guess I'm in a bit of a cynical mood today. This is one of my 2 favorite Devil cards/impressions; the other is in Fey land.

*S*

Oh that luscious chocolate cake... the last thing I need on this diet of mind... It's a very obvious reminder that temptation is under our control. After all, who made that cake?

And yet.... that’s one sexy pair of legs. I don’t know about you, but if I subsisted on a diet of chocolate cake, Valium and cigarettes, my legs wouldn’t look like that!

The image is almost saying ‘a little bit of cake won’t hurt you; it’s just a little pill, you’ll feel good, go on, have some.....’ but we all know that addictions start with ‘just a little’, ‘just a little more’.

Those legs may even have a sexual reference such a sex addiction, or using sex as a weapon. It may indicate having an unhealthy amount of one night stands or casual relationships (borne from self esteem issues, or depression, etc), possibly a ‘Fatal Attraction’ style affair (or just good ol’ bondage )

This is a great devil card! I love it because people I read for are not getting a rather unsettling image of a demon, instead the images on this card are ones people relate to. We all know that chocolate cake and cocktails are wonderful – in moderation, but it would be so easy to have a little too much too often. Temptation is in the everyday things.

Oh – another thought – Eating disorders. If you’re addicted to dieting, or suffer from anorexia, I’d say that chocolate cake would be more frightening than any devil!

Kath - like your observations.

As I've said before (somewhere) I can identify with messages from this devil card. Chocolate cake ... etc.

On the surface these cards are amusing and dry (as in, dry humor and non too subtle at that!) - but do convey deep meanings as well, if one wants to go there.

*S*

Those are excellent insights Kath! This card is much less threatening than a traditional Devil. At first glance anyway! Upon closer examination we can really see the types of things that really are the "chains" seen in other Devil cards.

In the 50's and 60's, a woman who used TV dinners, spam, readymade and instant foods, drank, smoked, etc. was considered to be almost a tramp and very irresponsible as a wife and mother. The sexy legs attached to a luscious chocolate cake almost say to me that this is the woman who entices one's husband with sex----a decadent woman symbolised by the decadent chocolate cake. In addition, I also see the meanings others have mentioned of sybolising quick fixes and addictions. Women who were openly sexual back then were thought to be very loose on morals. I was a young person back then, so how well I know!

Melpomone18 said:

The message seems to be that there's nothing wrong with taking advantage of the quick fixes, there's just something wrong with letting other people know that you have.

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I love this. That is so true of the time too. It's ok if you are a fall down drunk at night but don't let the neighbors see. (Still like that in many ways I guess.)
I love that this is the devil card. It says to me that while those "guick-fixes" might help you in some way eventually they will hurt you. That is the nature of quick-fixes. That "Spork" might taste good but in 10 years after your first heartattack you might change your mind...