I agree with kwaw (great post about Death, by the way) in that I see Death as an end, even though I can philosophically wax on as I did in my previous posts about how regeneration may be inherent in the full spectrum of Death, but the actual event or person can't foresee that kind of rebirth, nor, in away, should they try to. If I use the worms metaphor again, an animal dying may provide nourishment to plant life and thus begin the cycle of life anew, but precious good that does to it as it's dead, gone, kaput.
I wrote before that Death is the first of a two stage process, and that step is very important, not less than the next step, that of the rebirth decks that call their Death "Transformation" limit themselves to. In a sense the entire Tarot deck talks about the cycles of life and transformation and death and rebirth, there's no need to "prettify" a card that is so important to the overall "Tarot story."
I don't know if the symbols are that universal, either. Westerners may see Death as a cold, forbidding concept, but in Japan for example, every year cherry blossom festivals are held in cemeteries. In China, dead ancestors are seen as "temporarily gone" but command high respect from their living relatives who leave offerings on altars dedicated to them. Spartans lived for Death, if it came in wars defending their country. Hindus are perhaps best known for their beliefs about reincarnation, but many other cultures hold similar values such as the Druze, and Christians in a different form. Jews believe in the resurrection of the dead in a parade to Jerusalem at the coming of the Messiah.
That's philosophically speaking; practically speaking (as in, in a reading), Death as Death comes to remind us not that better things are to come after the Death, but that the Death itself is important. Like those cultures I mentioned, Death calls us not to be afraid, but to revel in the experience of Death, of the End. Like in the Thoth, for example, where the Death is happy and dancing, I can totally see the Thoth's Lust in a place we can't see, enjoying the show to the fullest; that kind of ecstasy of the end is what Death calls for.
"Transformation" is like replacing one burden with another, Death is the complete lifting of that burden, not knowing what others will come after.
