Death card/ hidden cave

blown-up image

Thirteen, if you go to post before yours, Galadrial shows you where you can view blown-up image of Death card.
G.

Could the reason for the cave being inconspicuous be symbolic with our preoccupation of the self, the ego?

Just a thought.

Thank you all for your imput, very interesting.
G.

This opens up a new set of ideas for the card.

Perhaps the river is the River Styx and the cave is therefore the entrance to the underworld.

If that is so then Death may be seen as deciding that which should be permanently done away with (to the underworld) and what should be saved and taken into the bright new future on the skyline.

Does it look to anyone else like there is a river flowing between the two towers? If it is then is are the blueish lines above the horse's leg a waterfall? If so, what is the black area above the bishop's hands?

I'm not sure that is a cave- the river actually looks like a water fall, which is symbolic of :

waterfall symbolizes a rebirth

A waterfall is a positive dream symbol that suggests a cleansing of negative emotions or psychological issues-

Water generally represents the unconscious and the emotions. A waterfall is a positive dream symbol that suggests a cleansing of negative emotions or psychological issues. Just a simple visualization or a daydream of standing in a waterfall makes a person feel energized and refreshed. If the waterfall in your dream is overwhelming or too powerful for you to enjoy, it may represent emotional energy and unconscious drives that are very difficult to effectively cope with on the conscious level.-
Source: Dream Lover Incorporated, http://www.dreamloverinc.com

Click to expand...

The ink blots we are viewing almost look like trees and perhpaps a cave- all depends on the viewer, but if it is a cave stuck in a water fall, I would be prone to go with 13's assesement in how it relates to Plato's Cave- we understand and see only that which is show to us, and on a deeper level Plato Cave discusses the how the blank slates of our minds are impressed upon, shaped and molded by our culture- all our intellectual"understanding", is learned and is not a part of us when we are born- what we see, how we percieve it- even the reality of it has been shape and molded by all the people we interact with from birth. Death is like taking off all those clothes, becoming naked again, and understanding an aspect of humanity that few "if any" have experinced, it is the only real authentic experince- unadultrated- that we will ever experince, because few have lived to tell us how to intrepret what we see, and experience in the process.

I think that the cave is not associated with the watefall (unless you are referring to the black square adjacent to the horses knee. The cave is arched and a little way above the ships sail.

Does anyone else see a gray snake forming the edge of deaths saddle with its head between death's thigh and the horses neck?

I've heard of this before. I've got the RWS deck and I've never been able to find any real indication of a cave, although I do see an arrow. All I see is a few bold pen strokes and that's it.

I can't see a cave. I see what may be an arrow; however with Colman's work (here and in her children's-book and other illustrations), she did use what appears to be pen and ink for outlining figures with, as Lyric says, some rather bold strokes.

It's, of course, impossible to say what her intentions were for those background images, and I would tend to think that any interpretations are up for grabs by the viewers...which is what makes these discussions so interesting.

I don't have the facility to scan in a blown up image, but it seems that it could easily be seen as a cave entrance to me

The cave (if cave it be) is right above the ship's flag and right next to the trees. You'll see trees, and then wavy lines that "seem" to imply a cliffside, and then a little black arch. Looks like the letter "D" turned on it's side. That's the cave.

Or maybe not. But that's really all the spur/arrow could be pointing to.

And yes, that is a snake on Death's saddle. Which, like the cave, relates to the underworld. As does the myth of Kore/Persephone, which the Death card can very much relate to. The world goes into winter, and Kore goes underground into the underworld. When spring comes--as it will (Death leading to rebirth, Winter to spring), then Kore will return from the underworld. She will emerge from the cave.

This was all part of the great, Eleusinian mysteries--that change over from life to death and back to life represented by Demeter's daughter going underground and then returning. Very apt.

And I agree that the ship and the river bring to mind the River Styx, again reinforcing the Kore/Greek Underworld connection.

Could it be remincient of the Fool and his stepping out of the cave? The cave is now barely visable. In the very distant past. Something about innocence being gone? Cynicality?

That is, if you interpret it as a cave. It could very well be that the arrow is only his spur, and the cave an interesting pen stroke as the artist was finishing off the cliff side.

I think it is a stretch, but it does bring out another aspect of the card.