‘Me: So I met this new guy… My tarot cards: 👹’: 17 Classical Art Memes for Timeless Relatability

Olivia Arocena • Writer and Editor

Nov 1, 2026 2:00 PM EST

When tarot cards tell you he is the Devil, and he actually is

I love it when you ask the universe for a sign, and the sign is so clear that it's a little embarrassing.

Last week, I was about to go on a date with a guy that I had my doubts about. I drew a card from the deck before stepping out the door, and the card was the Devil, lol. Obviously, I don't base my decisions on what the tarot says, but I thought it was pretty funny that three hours later I was trying to figure out how to escape an awful date with a very problematic person.

Of course, a card like that can signify a lot of things; it can mean obsession, temptation, liberation, and many other things if you analyze it deeply enough. But sometimes I wonder if that's not giving the card too much credit for its symbolic complexity. Maybe it was only supposed to mean that the guy was, to put it plainly, evil.

Luckily, I went on only one date with him. I feel like the teenage me would've found it hard to say no to a kiss or to a second date, but right now my program is strict. I have no reason to be complacent. I didn't like the guy, and I found his vibe off-putting; that's enough reason not to give him a kiss or to go on a second date, even if my impressions were unfounded (which I know they aren't, but anyway).

I feel so happy that I can dodge a bullet so quickly nowadays. I don't need a three-month situationship and a lot of unnecessary drama to reach that point these days. To recognise a bad idea before it unfolds is a skill that I've developed over time.

Going back to tarot, and ignoring how it supposedly relates to magic. I like the potential it has to bring up things that we're already sensing. I don't think what we interpret from an ambivalent image is innocent at all; it is always influenced by what already exists as content in our minds, and that can be used to our advantage if we learn to see it.

That is also why I kinda love the classical art memes I upload every Sunday. There is something endlessly entertaining about taking something that was created hundreds of years ago and finding new meaning in it.

To me, it just further proves that images are polysemic and that we interpret them depending on what's populating our minds at a specific moment. We do this not only individually but collectively as well. We assign meaning to images depending on historical context. I know this is all objectively obvious, but I feel like it's interesting to revisit from time to time.

So next time you're about to go on a date with someone and feel a little ambivalent about them, please draw a tarot card and let projection do the rest! You won't be disappointed.