The Devil and the Priestly Blessing

The two cards were conceptualized together, and that's why they're so similar in appearance. In the devil card, it looks as though we're indoors. We certainly aren't out doors, which is interesting, because few cards in the major arcona are indoors. The devil has an upside down pentacle, so black metal of them. And one of their hands is making a particular hand gesture. This hand gesture is known as the barcat co hanim, or the priestly blessing. So arthur waite and pamela coleman smith decided to depict a positive jewish hand signal for prayer in a card that was depicted as illustrating the enslavement and fat