Death in Tarot

 

Anansi Boys - Stock Item 

 

Today I'd like to touch on the subject of Death. Morbid of me, right? Death is something that affects us all, and yet few people feel comfortable discussing it. It is seen as the ultimate personification of the unknown, something to be feared. And yet, it is unavoidable. We can postpone our due date, but there is no escaping it.

 

Around this time of the year, many of us will start preparing for the upcoming Spooky Season, as I like to call it. And yet, what is Halloween, Samhain, Dia de Muertos - call it what you will - without Death?

Death sign - Stock item

Whilst I could go on about literal Death for quite some time, that is a subject for another day. Today I'd like to explore Death within a Tarot context.

 

Death is an undeniable fact that will touch everyone at some point in time. Many people tend to think that when they get the Death card in a tarot reading, it means literal death - that they, or a loved one, is about to die. 

In Tarot, Death means changes and new beginnings. 

Rider Waite Tarot Deck

Death from 'Rider Waite Tarot' - Stock item

"The Death card shows the Messenger of Death – a skeleton dressed in black armour, riding a white horse. The skeleton represents the part of the body which survives long after life has left it; the armour symbolises invincibility and that death will come no matter what. Its dark colour is that of mourning and the mysterious, while the horse is the colour of purity and acts as a symbol of strength and power. Death carries a black flag decorated with a white, five-petal rose, reflecting beauty, purification and immortality and the number five representing change. Together, these symbols reveal that death isn’t just about life ending. Death is about endings and beginnings, birth and rebirth, change and transformation. There is beauty in death, and it is an inherent part of being alive.

A royal figure appears to be dead on the ground, while a young woman, child and bishop plead with the skeletal figure to spare them. But, as we all know, death spares no one.

In the background, a boat floats down the river, akin to the mythological boats escorting the dead to the afterlife. On the horizon, the sun sets between two towers (which also appear in the Moon Tarot card), in a sense dying each night and being reborn every morning."

- source: Biddytarot

Thoth Tarot deck

Death from 'Thoth Tarot' - Stock Item

Death is the thirteenth card, and renders 'total change'. The Death figure wears Osiris' helmet, linking it to the previous card. This is the resurrection - the Hanged Man- has been through the agony, and now there is rebirth; the redemption, the salvation, the change had come to pass. Death is the ultimate operative of the natural cycle, destruction being the force in nature that paves way for the new. Change occurs in life, whether desired or not. This has to be met with acceptance. The card also signifies alchemical transformation, and life and death are illusions from a perspective superior to the human senses. To the universe, as a concept of all-there-is, no matter or energy has 'left' it when an organism dies. 

- source - Hellshaw.com

Themed Decks

Most decks out there are based on either the Rider Waite system or the Thoth system - however the imagery used can vary quite a bit, especially in themed decks. For example, this is the Death card in the Animal Wisdom Tarot:

 

Animal Wisdom Tarot - Stock Item 

This, on the other hand, is the Death Card from the Oceanic Tarot:

Oceanic Tarot - Stock Item

 

As you can see, the theme greatly influences the imagery used - but not the meaning.

 

No matter what deck you use, know that Death is not to be feared. It is but the next step one has to take in life, in order to keep evolving and growing and adapting to the ever changing reality around them.

Until next time, stay safe!

Ros