meanings of the Death card

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In any case I do think the Tower and Death share some similarities. I would be interested in reading some other thoughts on Death, especially what other cultures than the ones we've already discussed have to say about it. If Shiva is pictured usually as dancing on the dead bodies of his believers, what does that have to say about the"small deaths" in Hinduism, as opposed to the big end-of-the-world death I mentioned. What does Death mean in other cultures? How does the idea of reincarnation connect to the capital letter END that the Death card is?

closrapexa said:

I would be interested in reading some other thoughts on Death, especially what other cultures than the ones we've already discussed have to say about it. If Shiva is pictured usually as dancing on the dead bodies of his believers, what does that have to say about the"small deaths" in Hinduism, as opposed to the big end-of-the-world death I mentioned. What does Death mean in other cultures? How does the idea of reincarnation connect to the capital letter END that the Death card is?

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If you're interested in a gorgeous take on the idea of Death as reincarnation - have you seen the Shadowscapes Death? It's a phoenix in flames - I've never seen a more gorgeous way of expressing that Death is the beginning of new life.

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd465/tarotlucy/Shadowscapes/maj13.jpg

veniteangeli said:

If you're interested in a gorgeous take on the idea of Death as reincarnation - have you seen the Shadowscapes Death? It's a phoenix in flames - I've never seen a more gorgeous way of expressing that Death is the beginning of new life.

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd465/tarotlucy/Shadowscapes/maj13.jpg

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Hmm.... weeellllllllllll

It's a nice card, I'm not saying it isn't, but I have a little problem with the Phoenix as Death. It kind of makes me think too much about those overly New Age decks where death isn't death, but Transformation, or something like that. Even though the Shadowscapes doesn't go that far, the Phoenix is still kind of a "temporary" death for me, too much a symbol of regeneration rather the Death, which I feel kind of misses the point of Death.

Moderator Note

Some meta discussion posts have been removed from this thread. Other posts that were solely on the Tower have been split off into a separate thread, which can be found here. Please keep all future posts on the subject of Death, and if you mention another card, please relate it back to the topic of this thread.

To add more to the discussion. Paul Foster Case gives a very good explanation for the RWS Trumps in his book Learning the Tarot. I recomend reading the book but here are some excerpts to add to the thread:

"Every new invention, for example, throws countless old devices
upon the scrap-heap. Hence the Tarot pictures the Imaginative Intelligence either as a reaping skeleton, or as a
skeleton rider upon a white horse. The latter is Mr. Waite’s version. The horse represents the Eternal Progress of the
Universal Radiant Energy in Evolution. Before its rider a king has fallen, to symbolize the passing away of the ancient
delusion that authority is vested by divine right in a hereditary royalty. A priest, a woman, and a child are about to fall.
They are the old false notions about religion, the status of women, and the rights of children. All these things shall
pass away before the advance of new ideals, developed in the race consciousness by the transforming power of
Imagination. In the background a sun is rising between two pillars. Readers who have a pack of Tarot cards should
compare this with the eighteenth trump. It is the promise of a New Day, dawning beyond the watch-towers of the
Known."

The shadowscapes Death card above linked is very beautiful.

I see Death very much like a Phoenix indeed. If Death was just death, that would be quite literal for a symbolic system like Tarot, wouldn't it?

If the Major Arcana is taken as a journey, it would definitely stop at the Death card. So in a way World is the end...

I dont think the World is the end,the world is ever evolving,ever moving, I dont see any card in the tarot as ''done forever and ever and ever''....
although the Tower at times came somewhat close

DesertRebel said:

......I dont see any card in the tarot as ''done forever and ever and ever''......

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That's obviously a correct observation. The universe is in flux, constantly changing. As Heraclitus wrote, "Change alone is unchanging." The Tarot tends to focus on a finite time segment, in which some things appear to be final but actually are an intermediate state, subject to further developments. I think that the immediate focus of the Death card is, ummmm...., death (termination, ending). However, it obvously is not a "done forever and ever and ever" event. If we conflate the meaning of the Death card with ideas such as hope, resurrection, change, transformation, transition to a new state of being, we weaken its immediate significance as a termination. Of course, any approach to Tarot may be whatever one prefers. I'm just stating a personal preference which makes sense to me: Death = death. Too simplistic? Maybe so, maybe not.

ETA. In order to avoid misunderstanding, I probably need to emphasize that I think of "death" as a termination of something, not necessarily a literal "kicking the bucket" or "buying the farm."

LRichard said:

ETA. In order to avoid misunderstanding, I probably need to emphasize that I think of "death" as a termination of something, not necessarily a literal "kicking the bucket" or "buying the farm."

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Understood.

As for something ever ending, I agree with the comments above. For me, the closest thing to an end is World, but it's not the END of all things, nothing is. I doubt even the most sceptical physicians could state that.

I love this forum!

Death means 'death' but as such can be read in as many ways as the word is expressed and understood in the context of everyday idiomatic usage. That is for example as the end of something [e.g., the play died a death after a week's run]; or to something that is the cause of something to end or fail [renewed hostilities have struck a death blow to any chance of peace, asking me to cook is the kiss of death for any dinner party]; it can mean a failure to respond [if a comedian or performer dies a death on stage, they fail to get the expected or desired response]; a warning of danger [a death trap, dicing with death, poisonous]; an extreme degree or superlative [e.g., tickled to death meaning very pleased, bored to death very boring, love to death very strong affections or feelings for]; to feel unwell or hungover [I feel like death]; a bad or unpleasant experience [a fate worse than death]; etc., etc., etc.

So death means death, but the meaning of 'death' in the particular must be drawn from its full semantic range dependent upon context and question. That may of course include 'death' in its mortal sense; as a reminder of our mortality it is also an occasional reminder not to put off until tomorrow what we can do today, and sometimes perhaps of our ultimate equality

death:
not the last card
in the deck