The Devil

I've studied this card out of context, and it's seemed to mean the Voice of our Adversary. Whether that's the external hating oppressive force or the internal self-loathing that takes over and would corrupt and destroy every aim, that's how the Devil has manifested.

I have placed less focus on the standard notion of enslavement by material things, material desires. It seems to be less spoken to by the card's image. However, there is a link between the idea of the "loose chains" and the voluntary enslavement and this card's idea of wrongness. The three-eyed (ram? goat) is either stupidly cruel or happily unaware of the third eye that has been placed upon it in a jeweled pile. The snake is malevolent and all-too-human in its eye, but the snake has been on many cards before and hasn't had a malicious reading.

Death, then Alchemy; then the Devil and the Tower. Why does Alchemy sit in that string of darkness, enslavement, eruption, and misfortune? Is it more negative than it seems? Is it not just a reaction but a catalyst?