What's your Favorite Death card? Please describe why

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 06 Jul 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Jennifer	06 Jul 2002
My favorite card in the majors is the Death card. So far, the best one I have come across is the Gill Tarot Death card. It's a hauntingly beautiful angel draped in a dark olive cloak. The facial area appears to be just blackness, but there is actually the reflection of a skull on the cloak. When I first saw this card I had the thought an "angel in disguise". What other death cards have angels on them? *Thanks guys*

Emily	06 Jul 2002
The Death card in the Spiral, my favourite deck, is interesting. It shows the Reaper in a boat, casting nets to gather souls caught in a black sea. The reaper is the Goddess Hecate. In the background is a soul, a woman, looking towards the sky - which I take as the rebirth. The LWB doesn't really go into detail about the Major cards but the book does, and hopefully, I'll be getting that in a few days time. :)

Sally Gardens	06 Jul 2002
I like the stark simplicity of the Death card in the main deck I use, Motherpeace: Against a black background, a skeleton is curled in fetal position on an autumnal forest floor, encircled by a snake that is passing between two birch trees and shedding its old skin. It conveys the concept of rebirth and transformation more clearly to me than the "traditional" imagery - which would make it rather useless for cheesy Hollywood scenes, but, oh, well. ;) I like the concept of the Death card in the Goddess deck - renamed "Transformation," depicting a Goddess who, in her dying, becomes transformed into various species and parts of the world - but for some reason I don't really like the art itself on that particular card. (My favorite card in that deck would probably be the Star.) The MerryDay deck also has interesting and strongly transformational-themed imagery - it calls the Death card "Metamorphosis" - with an Eagle flying into the sky and becoming(?) a Phoenix - and I like the artwork on this one. I don't own this deck, but the more I look at it, the more I'm thinking it's one I might want to.

WolfSpirit	06 Jul 2002
The Shapeshifter tarot does not have a real death card, number 13 is called rebirth, a woman part human part raven represents the death of the old self and rebirth of the new and has lots of symbols in it, I just love the artwork. Another one I love is the death card on Kate Banx tarot, a skull lying in the grass, flowers growing around it and mountains in the background. Just love the idea of the skull going back to nature, I guess. My favourite card in a deck is often the Moon card.

Geenius at Wrok	06 Jul 2002
Hands down . . . the Rock & Roll Tarot. Features a classic portrait of John Lennon, altered to superimpose the barely noticeable image of a skull, the eye sockets coinciding almost perfectly with his trademark sunglasses. Overlaid on it is the lyric, "Imagine all the people living life in peace." A great representation of Death as transformation, not to mention the more literal angle (Lennon the murder victim). I don't like everything about the R&R deck, but this card is one for the record books.

Lee	06 Jul 2002
My favorite Death card is from the Hudes Tarot. A stark skeleton, and that's all -- except that the pubic bone forms a colorful butterfly. -- Lee

Rhiannon	06 Jul 2002
So far I think my fave Death card is from the World Spirit deck. It depicts a woman on a funeral pyre and arising from her body, in the flames, is the phoenix. There are figures around the pyre in various states of emotion including mourning. But my fave thing about the card is one of the figures surrounding the pyre is the Grim Reaper and he is not in mourning... he is bowing down before the power of the phoenix. Great symbolism there! Rhiannon :)

Liliana	06 Jul 2002
World Spirit definately is my favorite in symbolism, also has the greatest Devil :) Rohrig death card is also nice, at the bottom there is a skull, and at the top there is a pale white woman standing with her arms crossed, the traditional dead pose, and what looks like autmn leaves falling heres a link to a pic and a cool story inspired by it http://www.tarotbox.com/ladydeath.html :THP

Jennifer	06 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Liliana World Spirit definately is my favorite in symbolism, also has the greatest Devil :) I agree about the World Spirit Devil! When I first got that deck the Devil card really stood out to me. It has a very real look to it. Probably because the Devil character is mostly human rather than beast. He has a very calm and in control look about him.

Liliana	06 Jul 2002
Yes, I like my Devil cards to have an attractive looking Devil instead of a beast. To me the Devil should be tempting you know. But it is the chained people and the representation of all the other vices on the world spirit that I love, shows things rather clearly Rohrig has a pretty tempting looking Devil too hehe http://www.pebooks.com/graphics/tar18.gif Yes her I go again trying to get more taroholics to buy it ;) :THP

emily2otters	06 Jul 2002
i'm not generally a fan of the osho-zen, but i love the transformation card. it's a dark, many-armed god figure, inspiring awe but not fear. see: http://www.hermes.net.au/yana41/trans7393.jpg

Violet Gargoyle	06 Jul 2002
I have a three-way tie: In Tarot: I would agree with Geenius about the John Lennon Card. Non-Tarot: The Death Card in Froud's Fairy Oracle Deck- simply a shrouded figure (even the face is covered), holding a crystal ball that the figure cannot look into. Non-Published Tarot: In the Peanuts deck that someone has online, the death card is Woodstock falling out of his nest!

AmounrA	06 Jul 2002
This is a nice one.:-)

Geenius at Wrok	07 Jul 2002
Fantastic art . . . just a wee bit alarming for the uninitiated, though.

Faerie Lin	07 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by AmounrA This is a nice one.:-) I've had the priviledge to see some of your cards in bigger detail. Cannot express enough thanks to you. Your death card is so cool, the bubbles form more into human figures as they float to the top. You are always surprising me with your creativity. Lin

kayne	07 Jul 2002
(I can here Geenius At Woork wriggling in his chair as I mention this one...) but my fav death card just happens to come from my fav deck: The Cosmic Tribe! I love how the dove is flying free... Check out the Cosmic Tribe Death Also... to blow my own trumpet and brag a bit... :P I still like both versions of death that I created... Kayne's Celtic Tarot Death and 21st Century Tarot Death

Starfish	07 Jul 2002
Kayne - You have got to get your decks published!! :) :TAW Starfish

Violet Gargoyle	07 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by kayne (I can here Geenius At Woork wriggling in his chair as I mention this one...) but my fav death card just happens to come from my fav deck: The Cosmic Tribe! I love how the dove is flying free... Check out the Cosmic Tribe Death Also... to blow my own trumpet and brag a bit... :P I still like both versions of death that I created... Kayne's Celtic Tarot Death and 21st Century Tarot Death I love th 21st century one, but for some reason I can't get the Celtic one to pull up :(

HudsonGray	07 Jul 2002
Right, the celtic one had a Geocities message saying that the page wasn't available. When I tried the other it took 3 1/2 minutes to come up & all I got was a blue screen with a white box & the message on bottom saying "Done, but with errors on the page". Couldn't see either one of the cards, sorry.

Rhiannon	07 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by HudsonGray all I got was a blue screen PERFECT! It was the Blue Screen of Death! ROFLMAO! Rhiannon :)

catboxer	07 Jul 2002
My favorite death card is this one, from a very early Italian deck which is now nearly extinct. Only four cards remain, and copies or duplicates of the same four are also in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Kaplan refers to it as the Lombard II tarot. In a very unusual contemporary twist, the death image is dressed in a cardinal's hat and robes. He also has two bizzarre tassels hanging from his hat, which I take to be funerary ornaments. Everything about this card is sinister and scary. Death has a long, evil-looking scythe hung over his shoulder. The oversized left hand seems to break the picture plane and extend outward, as if inviting the viewer into the picture. Then there are the words in the banner issuing from the skeleton's mouth. Kaplan says they are "san fine," or "without end;" to me they look more like "son fine," which I believe would be "I am the end." I wish the rest of this deck could be found one day. It must date from shortly after 1450, and an artist's name that has been associated with it is Antonio Cicognara.

SharonElizabeth	07 Jul 2002
My favorite death card is from the Halloween tarot. It features a skeleton with a watering can, watering a burgeouning patch of pumpkins. Behind him sunflowers grow taller than him and smile down at him.

kayne	07 Jul 2002
Alright... trying again... What if I upload it onto Aeclectic? The Majors in Kayne's Celtic tarot are based on the tale of Taliesin and the figure in the Death card is Cerredwen...

kayne	07 Jul 2002
And death from 21st Century Tarot which I have renamed "The Hair Dresser"...

Major Tom	08 Jul 2002
My favorite Death card comes from the BOTA deck. A skeleton walking with a scythe as the sun rises surrounded by severed hands, feets and crowned heads. Death is a card that in my opinion should cause an emotional response in the viewer. })

Starfish	08 Jul 2002
It's been interesting reading about everyone's favorite death cards. I have to say I don't have a favorite - it's one of my least favorite cards in the deck. I prefer the death cards that aren't the stark and scary grim reaper. I guess I'd have to go with either the Halloween Tarot's (previously mentioned) or the Whimsical's (Sleeping Beauty). Although, (gulp!) if I had to pick a scary grim reaper type, I prefer the Gill's - not as scary as some and beautiful in it's own way... :T9C Starfish

Jewel	08 Jul 2002
I would have to say that my favorite death card is from Tarot of the Old Path it shows the reaper on side of the river with an owl flying to the other side where there is a baby ... it gives that message of endings, transformation and new begginings.

Kellinator	08 Jul 2002
I believe I'm with Liliana on the World Spirit. The most upsetting Death card for me is the Buckland Romani , which is a wagon on fire with the Grim Reaper hovering above it. To me, it's a wholly negative Death card which doesn't look to transformation or anything else.

purplelady	08 Jul 2002
I am STILL doing meditations with the majors of the Nigel Jackson deck. My most recent, a few days ago, was Death. So, I might as well respond to this thread with some thoughts on the Death card. I was a bit scared to do this meditation! But, as usual, it Wasn't exactly what I expected, and it really wasn't scary at all. (The only major so far that I've found scary- or unpleasant while meditating on was the wheel of fortune, which made me want to hurl!) The death card wasn't scary. On this card he struck me as kind-of a grateful dead type figure! He's doing a little dance, and he's kind-of cute in a way. He's beating a drum with a bone. He's prancing around a graveyard with the setting sun. I concluded that "Death" was actually the most unemotional card of the bunch. It was peaceful , and all the Emotions of the Life were left behind. They just weren't there and Death was the great equalizer.

Starfish	08 Jul 2002
Purplelady - I just had to comment on your avatar - it's gorgeous! :T9C Starfish

purplelady	08 Jul 2002
oh thank you! Kayne made that for me of course! I'll bet if you PM him , he will create one for you too, if you want. I also love the one he made for "Maan" with the black panther and the moon, I think that one is gorgeous!

Strange2	08 Jul 2002
One of the most beautiful and mesmerizing Death cards that I have seen is from the Margarete Petersen deck. This card really depicts how death is a transition from one state of being to another.

kayne	08 Jul 2002
Thanks Purplelady and Starfish! (Right in the middle of the *death* thread too... :P LOL) I really love that death card you posts Strange2! I am going to have to check out more of those cards too... don't think I have ever seen it before. Oh dear... my wish list seems to be growing again... :)

Geenius at Wrok	08 Jul 2002
Oh, I forgot to mention the Vertigo Death. Definitely way up there, though I think the Rock & Roll Death still has the edge. :)

catboxer	08 Jul 2002
That Margarete Peterson card is dead awesome.

Kaz	09 Jul 2002
dave, that whole deck is awesome, you need it :P this is also a beautiful one, i am one tarot , "the renewer" kaz

Kyrielle	11 Jul 2002
For best expression of the concept, I like the Hudes, the World Spirit, and the Celtic Dragon -- the dragon is shedding its skin. For art, I like the slinky Castelli Art Nouveau woman in her skull-print sheath dress. -- Kyrielle

Sam	12 Jul 2002
the death card is one of my fav's too! i like the one in the new palladini best, b/c it's so beatiful! it's like the grim reaper, staff with that corn cutting thing and all, black cloak, etc. and in the backround, it's red, with daisy's on the ground, and the grim reaper figure is on a horse.

emily2otters	22 Jul 2002
having thought about it a little more, i'd like to revise my vote. :) i love love love the mary-el death card: http://www.mary-el.com/death.html it's what death really looks like, after all.

Maan	23 Jul 2002
I finally now wich death card i like the most!!! Its the death card from the Mat myers art nouveau tarot. The skeleton seems almost female and is decorated with flowers. Ts remainds me a litlle of the DEATH from the terry pratchet novels! :D

raeanne	23 Jul 2002
Hi all, I think I will vote with those who have selected the Gill Tarot Death card. It is very much the “Angel of Death”!

mermaiden	25 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Jennifer My favorite card in the majors is the Death card. So far, the best one I have come across is the Gill Tarot Death card. It's a hauntingly beautiful angel draped in a dark olive cloak. The facial area appears to be just blackness, but there is actually the reflection of a skull on the cloak. When I first saw this card I had the thought an "angel in disguise". What other death cards have angels on them? *Thanks guys* Funny thing, Jennifer, I came into this thread to say that I love the Gill death card too! Is that why you like the death card? Because I had a totally new outlook on the death card when I first saw this one. Before, I never really noticed the death card but when I was looking at some pics of the Gill Tarot, it popped out at me and I was just so intruiged by the beautiful detailing in the robe. :) Now, I find myself sometimes checking the death cards of other decks when I'm looking at decks on the net. :-)

Razz	25 Jul 2002
I'm still using the Whimiscal deck and I do like Sleeping Beauty as the Death Card. I love the symbolism that's tied to Sleeping Beauty. There are so many layers I think tied to it. I liked reading everyone else's responses too! Razz

DarkElectric	30 Jul 2002
I love the death card in Major Tom's tarot. Besides doing a fabulous job of representing death, he also managed to capture the inherent nature of the woman who's photo he used for the card. Who happens to be me.

catlin	31 Jul 2002
I like the Death card in the Hudes deck and the Death card in the World Spirit deck both alike.

The What's your Favorite Death card? Please describe why thread was originally posted on 06 Jul 2002 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.