Dreaming about
the devil

For many people the devil is the clearest picture of evil there is, the tempter, the accuser and the enemy of everything good, painted among the flames of fire and brimstone for centuries. Dreaming about the devil usually points to temptation, guilt, or a person or habit with too much power over you. It rarely means anything supernatural, but it does mean something in your life feels wrong enough that your mind reached for its strongest image.

What the devil did in your dream decides the reading. Being chased by him is about fear, being offered a deal is about temptation, and fighting him is about resistance. The form he took matters as well, since a horned figure in flames and a well-dressed stranger with a familiar smile send the dream in different directions. And if your dream was full of smaller dark figures, the page on demons may fit better.

What dreaming about the devil means

The devil does three jobs in the stories people grew up with, he tempts, he accuses and he owns, and a dream tends to cast him in one of them.

Temptation

In the stories most of us grew up with, the devil makes offers. A devil dream that feels like one is often about something you're tempted by right now, an affair, a drink, a shortcut at work, an easy way out of a hard choice.

Guilt and accusation

He is also the accuser. If the devil in your dream was pointing a finger, mocking you or reminding you of what you'd done, the dream may be about guilt, deserved or not, and the voice in your head that keeps the score.

Something with a hold on you

"Better the devil you know" is what people say about staying in a bad but familiar situation. A devil dream can be about a familiar trap of that kind, a drinking habit, a debt or a partner you know is bad for you and still can't leave.

Dreaming of the devil in human form

The devil as a charming man in a good suit, or as someone you actually know, is a dream about a person you don't trust, someone who seems helpful but brings out the worst in you or works against you. Ask who the face, the voice or the manner reminded you of. If it was your own face, the dream is pointing inward, at a side of you that you'd rather not admit to.

Dreaming about the devil chasing you

Being chased by the devil is about running from something you fear, guilt that's catching up with you, or the consequences of something you've done. One theory of dreaming argues that chase dreams are the brain rehearsing threats,^[6] which may explain why this one feels so physical. Nightmares like this that wreck your sleep for weeks are worth mentioning to a doctor, and the guide on how to have fewer nightmares gives you things to try first.

Dreaming about fighting the devil

Fighting the devil, or standing up to him, is a dream about resistance, often to a habit, a temptation or a person who has been pressuring you. Many people have this dream when they're finally saying no to something. Losing the fight suggests you feel outmatched, but the fact that you were fighting at all is a good sign.

Dreaming about making a deal with the devil

Signing a contract or shaking hands with the devil is the old Faust story, giving up your soul for knowledge, power or success. In a dream it's usually about a trade-off you've made or are weighing, a job that pays well and costs you your values, or a compromise that felt clever at the time.

Dreaming about the devil at the foot of your bed

Seeing the devil in your bedroom, while you lie unable to move, is very often sleep paralysis, the state where your mind wakes before your body does. It's common, frightening and harmless, and dark figures in the room are one of its best-known features. If that sounds like your dream, read up on the sleep paralysis demon, which covers why the figure appears and how to get out of an episode.

Dreaming about the devil according to Jung and Freud

Both men's ideas about what hides inside a dream have an easy target in the devil.

Jung: the devil as shadow

Jung described the shadow as everything in you that you refuse to see, and said it tends to show up in dreams as a figure of your own sex.^[1] Read through that idea, the devil is the shadow at its most extreme, and the devil in human form, a stranger in a good suit who looks a little like you, is it with a face on. The useful question is what the devil in your dream does that you would never allow yourself to do, and whether it horrified you or tempted you a little.

Freud: the wish in disguise

In Freud's account a dream hides a wish behind a disguise, and the devil is a very good one.^[2] He lets you stage the wish (the affair, the drink, the shortcut) as an offer from someone else, so the dream can say yes or no without you having to admit you wanted it. So he would ask what the devil offered, and whether you could imagine wanting it if nobody were watching.

The biblical and spiritual meaning of the devil in dreams

The devil in the Bible

In the Gospels, the devil takes Jesus into the wilderness and offers him bread, power and every kingdom of the world, and Jesus refuses each time.^[3] In the book of Job, Satan is the accuser who stands before God and argues that Job is good only because life has been kind to him.^[4] And the letter of James says to "resist the devil, and he will flee from you".^[5]

Questions to ask about your devil dream

How you met the devil, and what he wanted from you, are the parts to look at first.

• What form did the devil take, and did it remind you of anyone?
• Did he chase you, tempt you, accuse you, or fight you?
• What did he want, and did you give it?
• What are you tempted by, or feeling guilty about, right now?

Before reading a dream as heavy as this one, Oniri asks about what's been weighing on you, so the devil gets read against your own life and not a sermon.