Death and sacred geometry

[caridwen]

If you look below Death's raised horses' hoof, there's a golden spiral that could have been dropped by the fallen King or the Archbishop.

It bears a resemblance to the Golden ratio - Gold =Alchemy - consciousness - PHI ratio. Also the belt Orion.

The Golden spiral is the template for growth and the mathematical formula for evolution. A physical representation of the Golden Mean ratio, is a continuum that approaches the Infinite, but never reaches it: It approaches perfect balance, the Ideal, but can never capture it. The dynamic essence of any structure using this proportion, is endless motion towards perfection.

It seems to fit the Death card, in a way.

Or do you think it's reading too much into it?

Edited to say: Do you think the woman dressed in white is Strength?

[Grizabella]

I don't understand the symbolism on the Death card much at all because I haven't studied it. I thought maybe that spiral thing was either a staff laid down by the priest or else the king's sceptre he'd dropped. But at very first glance, I thought it was part of a key held by the child. Looking closer, I've seen that the child appears to be holding a bouquet of flowers instead. Your comments on it are very interesting.

[psychic sue]

I always assumed it was the Bishop's mitre. He faces death head on. He has faith (symbolised by the stiff robes, keeping him upright). My own thoughts were that the mitre was a symbol of his earthly status, but in death this is cast aside and only his faith remains. The woman in white is a maiden, symbol of partial innocence. The ego is not yet rigid, but it is still aware of itself. She is unwilling to surrender and so turns aways. The King, completely struck down shows the rigid ego.

The child, representing complete innocence, greets death with a simple offering of flowers.

[Parzival]

It seems to me that the child is unafraid and able to see death as deserving a gift. The others are struck down and defeated (king), certain to understand, possibly superficially (bishop), and terrified (young lady). The spiral seems to be the top of the bishop's staff, certainly meaningful in manifold ways. In another sense, the bishop has yielded his earthly position to the necessity of death. But it's interesting that the horse's hoof is between the crown and the spiral, as if death steps in between material illusion and the "continuum that approaches the Infinite", to cite caridwen's beautiful phrase. Death is the apparent emptiness that bridges two worlds.

[psychic sue]

Just wanted to say Frank, I love your posts and learn such a lot from them. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this card.

[caridwen]

Compare the woman in Death with the woman in Strength. In Death she's dropped her red roses. There's a similarity, don't you think?

[caridwen]

AHA!!!!

Had confirmation that it's not just me who thinks there's a similarity:

"The submissive kneeling woman resembles the Strength card, particularly the flowers in the hair."

This is from a page on Death symbolism:
http://www.tarotpassages.com/old_moo.../oneill/13.htm

Also Lyric, if you are having difficulty with the symbolism, this may add insight:

"Many of the details on the card appear to be drawn from the advanced Templar orders of Freemasonry. There were a number of such advanced programs within the English lodges (e.g., Knight of the Red Cross, Knight Templar, and Knight of Malta), and the original Order of the Golden Dawn society was set up as a sort of advanced Masonic degree program. Two of the officials at the Templar initiation ceremonies are the Sovereign Master (enthroned and wearing a crown) and the Prelate in robes and bishop's miter. "
(same site above)

[caridwen]

This is also an interesting observation:

"There appears to be a cave entrance in the background cliff - right above the ship. There also appears to be an arrow on that hillside, pointing to the cave. The arrow may be mistaken for a spur on the riders heel, except there is a gap between the arrow and the heel and it is not actually attached.

The cave may be a hint at Dante's journey into the underworld, the Mystic's Dark night of the soul,which may be the logical path from the Death card to the Moon, Sun, and New Jerusalem symbols at the top of the background cliff. At the beginning of the Divine Comedy, Dante finds himself is a dark wood, perhaps suggested on the Death card by the black trees near the cave entrance. Dante has become exhausted trying to scale the sheer mountain to reach God. His guide, Virgil, appears and tells him that he must go another way?and leads him down into the Inferno, symbollizing the death of the self needed for the mystical journey. Only then can Dante climb the Mount Purgatory and reach Paradisio.

This may be hinted at in Waite's commentary on the Card (Pictorial Key) where he says: transformation and passage from lower to higher,?that is, from the cave entrance to the top of the cliff. He also states: the exotic and almost unknown entrance, while still in this life, into the state of mystical death.? In Waite's Azoth or the Star in the East (p 190), we find: It is the portentious darkness of initiation, the passage of the soul through Hades, the Kingdom of Pluto...which precedes the evolution of the inner light.?

The reference to Dante's mystical journey may also be hinted at by the rose on Death's banner since Dante describes one of the levels of Paradisio as a great rose. "

[Moongold]

I have been reading this thread with interest, never having studied XIII Death in detail in the RWS.

I am interested in Caridwen's allusion to the forthcoming "dark night of the soul", although I have not read Dante, to my shame. The "dark journey" seems to be implied through XIII's position in the Major Arcana - there are still six cards before XIX Sun - and through the representation of the sun in the far distance in the death card itself.

The Sun can barely be seen. To get to it you have to pass over quite a bit of land, through two towers. The towers are exactly the same as the towers in the Moon card. This is interesting in itself. What do the Towers mean? The Sun in the Death card is also partly obscured by darkness, furthering the idea that there is a long way to go before illumination.

I am interested in Caridwe's suggestions about the woman in the Death card and her ressemblance to Strength. She does indeed ressemble Strength, with the same flowers in her hair. At this stage I don't see her as being frightened, however, just accepting of what is to come.

[Alpha-Omega]

If you look at the top right of the death card u see two towers. I think Those are the same ones in the moon card! What do u think it might mean?