Death card/ hidden cave

I came across an article on the net concerning the Death card. I did a search here to see if had been discussed before but couldn’t find anything, so here goes.
Apparently there is a cave hidden in the RW deck. If you look to the bottom of the rider’s foot, there is an arrow which points to this cave. It is above the ship.
There were a couple of ideas as to why it is there.
One was that it could be a hint at Dante’s journey into the underworld. (Death and rebirth of the ego?) Apparently Virgil finds him lying exhausted in a dark wood possibly suggested on the Death card by the black trees by the cave’s entrance.

The other concerned Jesus’ resurrection or rebirth in a cave.

The fact that it is hidden so well on the card, what do you think that symbolizes?

Look forward to your views,
Gloria.

Wow Gloria this is the kind of stuff I love. I have never seen it. Time to get out the magnifying glass. Any chance you could link to the site you mention?

Yes you will need a magnifying glass Firemaiden. I always thought the arrow to be a spur at his ankle.
I came across this some weeks ago, but didn't post because I assumed it was a well-known thing. But will try to back-track.
Gloria.

Firemaiden,

the Dante theory/ cave meaning was based on research by Robert O'Neill.

He has a book Tarot Symbolism, which is reviewed on Aecletic.
G.

A blown up image of the card, in which the arrow and cave can be readily seen, can be viewed at www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/xr/ar13.htm

Plato's Cave?

Wow. Son-of-a-billy-goat! Arrow...boat...but where's the cave? That's pretty well hidden there.

I'll take a stab and say that maybe it refers to Plato's cave (hey, why not?). That's the argument that a person raised in a cave (like we mortal folks), only sees glimpses of the firelight, shadows and such from the "perfect" world. And really can't understand or believe in that perfect world until he's taken out of the cave.

That kind of thought would seem to fit with the Qabbala idea of moving and transforming from the Earthly to the transendental. Death is a form of metamorphosis, a way of exiting the cave and moving on (like the skeleton on the horse) to the next level.

Cave is also a very feminine symbol, in some schools of thought. A return to the womb/underworld/unconsciousness so to speak.

isthmus nekoi said:

Cave is also a very feminine symbol, in some schools of thought. A return to the womb/underworld/unconsciousness so to speak.

Click to expand...

Hi isthmus nekoi,

your comment reminds me of H.R. Giger's painting "Pump Excursion I", which was chosen for the Fool card in the "Giger Tarot". It can be seen at www.wicce.com/hrgigerpix.html . In an interview with J. Karlin, Giger says of this card, "He's going out thinking about where he came in."

galadrial said:

In an interview with J. Karlin, Giger says of this card, "He's going out thinking about where he came in."

Click to expand...

lol, that's one way to put it!

Actually, on this topic, I once read in National Geographic some time ago that Neanderthals (so we are talking H. sapiens I think..... augh, too long ago I studied anthro) did bury their dead and further more, in some of these burials, the humans were found in the fetal position.

hmm

regarding the fetal postion ,
my history teacher i recall asking us that very question, why in the world would you bury your dead in the fetal postion,

i said hmm
1. they didn't know why they died so wanted to bury them as fast as possible /bent up
2. it was a return to the womb
3. to save time on their move across the country
he said that sounds good , (or something to that effect, and then asked anyone else eheh )

shamans since time began and before have always used a natural opening in the ground to "travel" "journey" with their consciouss.
and joseph cambell in his power of myth video said that the water represented the female yes,
but also the unconscious/subsconscious
and in that story he was telling ,
a person was telling another to awaken and he pulled her out of the water she was trapped under.

also it is a legend to become a shaman , a person has to die and be reborn in his life, it used to be literal death but it is also symbolic death

and for the jesus cave,
it is much debated rather he died and ascended,
or faked his death using self hypnosis to slow down his breath and not feel any pain.

for the former the death card is a big step to moving forward in one life away from the spiritual and to the divine, by letting their old selfs die, (why it comes after the hanged man )

and if the latter,
well do we really die? and do we really come back ?
that is the question asked, of the death card
for some we don't know,
for others we don't believe
and for some who do know they are considered the fool.