meanings of the Death card

Death, to me, is not stopping. It's simply a change or transition of energy. It is the rebirth of our soul, it says eternal life. You never know when the dark shadows of death will come to usher away the energy but when it does it will be swift and decisive. Death happens in an instant in time, and after it's over there is a longer span of time for which to enjoy the positive cleansing... To enjoy the change. I think death leaves us with a sense of security, and comfort in knowing that it's really not the end... Just a new beginning to embrace.

SilverSquirrel said:

.. Do you mean as in Clothos, Lachesis, and Atropos, spinning, clothing, and of course snipping away the "excess" as the spinning wheel turns? I can see your point there. Crowley's rendition (painted by the talented Frieda Harris) of the trump as mentioned earlier with the spiralling forms being created as others are reaped down evokes the wheel sorta kinda.

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Hmm, that's really interesting, SilverSquirrel -- I hadn't been thinking in terms of the Three Fates, but that's a terrific spin to put on things ("spin" -- "Wheel"...didn't even mean to make a pun, but I'm gonna leave it, I think...).

I'd meant more just that both the Death card and the Wheel of Fortune card to me usually signify changes coming -- changes that are often big, that are often unbidden or the product of external forces, and that are often on their way pretty much without waiting for a go-ahead from anyone. I've been thinking of them as odd companions of a sort in that they share the above traits, at least in general, but they often seem to have (or are assumed to have) almost opposite effects/natures: that is, I think they can sometimes get oversimplified as "Wheel, good...Death, bad." I don't personally think it's as basic as all that, but I feel like it does get short-handed into that at times (well...I admit to often thinking of the Wheel as "good" myself, but I think of Death as much more far-ranging in effects, and not just as "bad").

Hmmm. Interesting discussion. I would think that the Death card could also be a good indicator of the need to make that kind of a change. The need to take that big scythe and cut something out that is damaging you.

Another thing that comes to mind might be, on a literally world scale, the overthrow of a government (see the king lying on the ground behind the horse).

Just a couple of thoughts.

I was actually surprised years into my sporadic tarot studies to realize the Wheel had a positive standing with most people, according to books and what I read on the internet. To me, being resitant to change and feeling rather put out by the idea of massive changes beyond my control, the Wheel was automatically a negative and ominous portent of dissatisfaction. So I was quite happy to revise this and add the element of "good luck" and "going with the flow" and "seizing the day," etc.

I can see Death in two lights from here, actually. One, in the sense of the seasons, changing inevitably from summer to autumn then winter then spring, and carrying all life in the stream of change. And another, in that sense that sometimes one is "spinning your wheels" and going nowhere, shutting out the change and creating false stasis in order to avoid growing. That stultifying and stasis is a kind of Death, too, imo. Maybe the shadow side though.

Death card is a forced sacrifice, it can be a great spiritual transformation if you have the strength to let go, it can mean actual death, the older generations moving on. Humans naturally fear the unknown, and so Death is our greatest fear since it is the greatest unknown. Humans also fear change, and death is change. When the Death card is turned my first thought is fear, what could they be fearing?

I'm currently re reading The Tarot of the Bohemians by Papus.

Death is Mem which is a woman. It is the maternal and female. Creation necesitates equal destruction and therefore Mem designates all the regenerations that have sprung from previous destruction, all transformations and consequently death which is regarded as the passage from one world to another.

13 is the centre between Yod (creation) and Ayin (destruction).

It is placed between the invisible and visible worlds.

So Death is both Destroyer and Creator. Which we see in the Thoth depiction of the card where the skeleton both destroys and simultaneously creates.

http://www.tarotseer.com/spreads/Thoth_Death_2.jpg

For me Death means death, end, termination, finality; symbolized by an image of the Grim Reaper. Professional readers may need to find something positive in the card. In the RWS there is the sun on the horizon in the background. Is it rising or setting? It is between two pillars, which may symbolize the Gateway to the East, in which case it would be the rising sun, a symbol of hope, resurrection, renewal, etc. However, I really believe that the cards primarily mean what they indicate. Death may precede a transformation, but there are other cards for transformation: the Wheel indicates change, which may be a transformation; Temperance suggests an alchemical transformation (spiritual alchemy, of course); and Judgment portrays a resurrection from death. I just let Death mean termination and rely on other cards to indicate what may follow. Reading too much into a card may cloud its primary significance and introduce unnecessary and possibly confusing redundancies.

LRichard said:

Reading too much into a card may cloud its primary significance and introduce unnecessary and possibly confusing redundancies.

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I agree that Death does not mean Rebirth. Death means Death.

In the RWS there is the sun on the horizon in the background. Is it rising or setting? It is between two pillars, which may symbolize the Gateway to the East, in which case it would be the rising sun, a symbol of hope, resurrection, renewal, etc.

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However there are two pillars in the background as you rightly point out. The pillars start with the High Priestess then the Hierophant, then Justice and Death. The rising/setting sun continues in Temperance. One of the pillars gets blasted in the Tower and we see them again in the Moon which I view as the other side of the High Priestess, So the pillars take us on a journey or path and we end where we started: the World or eternal return.(ouroboros)

However like the Thoth card, I think the RWS also features rebirth as in the sun is rising so a new day dawns even as death nochalantly treads a King, Strength and the Pope into dust.

However, I really believe that the cards primarily mean what they indicate. Death may precede a transformation, but there are other cards for transformation: the Wheel indicates change, which may be a transformation; Temperance suggests an alchemical transformation (spiritual alchemy, of course); and Judgment portrays a resurrection from death. I just let Death mean termination and rely on other cards to indicate what may follow.

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Although there are some minor repetitive meanings to some cards, I agree that each has its own separate meaning. Death does not mean Resurrection. However, Resurrection is only possible because of Death. So perhaps each card is necessary or each is the sine qua non to those subsequent.

I see Death in the transformative aspect as well as the "loss of life" aspect. Often something has to die in order for something better to live. For a snake to grow, it has to periodically shed the old, tighter skin. The new skin is tender for a while, but eventually it toughens up and the snake can go about it's business--at least, until the next shedding takes place! To gain a promotion on your job, the old job has to die away; can't hold two positions at the same time. New house or apartment? Gotta leave the old one first. Same for a new car, new clothes (especially if you've had a change in weight), new knowledge (once your mind is expanded, it can't go back to its original dimensions. Cancer patients who opt for chemotherapy do so with the understanding that some good cells are going to die along with the cancer cells, hair will be lost, apoetite affected. The payoff? (Usually) prolonged life.

I've also had Death to show up in readings as:

--physical ending of some sort
--pregnancy
--marriage
--major move/relocation (possibly near a large body of water, like a sea, ocean, bay, lake)
--something occurring during the time period of Scorpio (approx. Oct. 20-Nov. 20)
--someone with the sun or rising sign of Scorpio

The card imagery will give you aditional meanings, especialky if you don't use a RWS or RWS derivative.



T.

It's an interesting card... perhaps the most misunderstood one with the Devil.

To me it's the renewal of things. How many little deaths we do have in our paths? How often we are afraid of them? It's definitely a new beginning; whether it is positive or negative, well, that's up to you and the circumstances.

What puzzles me at the moment is the Tower. If it is also a good-bye, what's the difference from Death?