The Devil in Your Relationship: A Therapeutic Tarot Journey

Sep 21, 2025

Dive into profound therapeutic insights as the hosts explore the impact of cognitive distortions in relationships through card pulls. Discover how the Devil represents all-or-nothing thinking, while the Three of Swords reveals clarity through pain. The Lovers card encourages the art of reframing and conscious choice for healing. A practical tarot exercise illustrates how these concepts play out in real-life scenarios, guiding listeners to break free from unhealthy thought patterns and embrace emotional flexibility.

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INSIGHT

Major Arc: Devil → Swords → Lovers

The Devil, Three of Swords, and The Lovers formed a clear relational arc in Shannon's pulls.
The Devil shows stuck cognitive patterns, Three of Swords shows painful clarity, and Lovers shows choice and freedom.

INSIGHT

Devil As Cognitive Distortion

Shannon links the Devil to cognitive distortions like all-or-nothing thinking and overgeneralization.
These thought loops erase nuance and keep partners trapped in a fixed negative narrative.

ANECDOTE

Vacuuming Example Of Overgeneralization

Shannon uses a vacuuming example: a partner snapped while the other vacuumed, sparking an overgeneralized story.
That single moment became a rule: you can't vacuum when they're home.

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After a rejuvenating break in nature, I'm back…and tarot wasted no time in offering a message that couldn’t be ignored. In this reflective episode of The Tarot Diagnosis, I share how three cards - The Devil, The Three of Swords, and The Lovers - kept showing up across multiple decks, pointing to a powerful arc about relational stuck-ness, emotional pain, and the freedom of conscious choice.

We explore how The Devil archetype can represent cognitive distortions like all-or-nothing thinking and overgeneralization, which are those internal thought loops that keep us locked into outdated stories about ourselves or our partners. Then the Three of Swords becomes the bridge of clarity and discomfort when we realize just how much our thoughts have shaped our emotional experience. And The Lovers is where the healing begins: through reality-testing, reframing, and choosing a more balanced story.

I also guide you through a practical, step-by-step therapeutic tarot exercise, using a real-life example I see in couples therapy all the time to show how tarot can help support emotional insight and mental flexibility. We walk through how each card pulled (the reversed Four of Pentacles, Three of Cups, and Four of Wands) helps us better understand our cognitive experience within our relationships.

Decks used: Pamela Coleman-Smith Playing Card Deck, Mindscapes Tarot, Eternal Tarot

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Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Deep Resonance Sound⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com

Music by Timmoor from Pixabay