Introducing Death XIII
We see a skeleton holding a flag, wearing dark armor, and riding a white, high-stepping horse, around whose feet are four people. Off in the distance the sun is rising / setting behind two pillars. Behind the horse is a river with a boat.
Death represents a final ending. Things will never be the same again. Death teaches us about the transition of what was to what will be.
Symbols & Systems
death
Death is a skeleton, coming to collect the souls of the dead. He wears black armor. Black is not actually a color; rather, it absorbs all colors into it. Like the Black Holes in space, black swallows everything eventually, as does death.
facial expression
The rider has no expression, as we see only the skull, just as death reduces us first to a skeleton, and then to dust. In death, there is no ego, hence the skeleton has no facial expression.
body posture
Death means business. He sits up straight on the horse. He has a mission, and he will complete it.
white horse
White signifies purity and the fact that death purifies and makes way for the new. The horse is a means of transportation – slow, to be sure, but steady.
black flag / white rose
The white rose is known in Christian tradition as the Mystic Rose. Its five petals represent the elements of life: earth, air, fire, water, and spirit.
four people
King – The king is dead, showing us that death comes to all regardless of status, money, and position.
Priest – The priest prays for redemption. He seeks to understand logically what is happening.
Youth – The youth is in denial about the fact that death is here, and so looks away.
Child – The child is the only one who fully accepts death, and even hands Death some white flowers. The child trusts that if Death is here, there’s no fighting it; it’s time to go.
two towers
The two towers remind us of the Moon card (which comes after the Death card). The Moon is the gateway between this world and the next: We enter through a gate (birth), and we leave through a gate (death).
sun
Is the sun setting? Or rising? It can be either, depending upon how you view death: The sun sets, and darkness sets in; or the sun illuminates life after death. Perhaps the sun reminds us that life continues, though not perhaps as we expected it.
path
The path that death takes when it collects the souls and rides toward the towers. It is the path of death that we all take.
river and boat
Signifies flow, change and transition. The river represents the river of death leading us to the next stage. It also reminds us of the River Styx in Greek mythology that carried souls over to the ‘other side’.
gods / goddesses
Death is ruled by all the Gods and Goddesses that rule over the realms of death or journeys to the Underworld.
Female: Persophone, Inanna, Ereshkigal, Isis, Nephtys, Coatlicue, Mictecacihuati, Izanami, Hel, Freya, Proserpina
Male: Hades, Pluto, Hel, Shiva, Seth, Anubis, Osiris, Nergal, Donn, Mannanan, Odin, Thanatos, Aita
number
The number of Death is 13, which in Western mythology and culture is considered unlucky, especially if it falls on a Friday. There are also 13 lunar months in a solar year, and the moon has traditionally been viewed as mysterious and even dangerous.
Astrology
The astrological sign that rules Death is Scorpio. Scorpio rules the genitals, reproduction, and the organs of elimination. Scorpio is ruled by Mars. So we can see the intensity behind this card. Mars also rules The Tower card, which is about sudden change and has similar themes to those of the Death card.
Kabbalah
The creators of the Rider Waite Tarot deck were members of the Golden Dawn, a group that followed teachings based on the Kabbalah. Kabbalists are mystics who believe that God is neither male nor female, and has many aspects. Kabbalah is all about learning why we’re here, the mystery of the universe, and what the big plan is.
Death being the 14th card, it corresponds to the 14th Hebrew letter nun – נ – which in Aramaic means “fish”. Another meaning of nun is bar nafli, “one who has fallen”, i.e., a miscarried fetus. We can also see how it represents sperm, which die as they join with the egg, i.e., they sacrifice themselves (reminding us of The Hanged Man) in order to create new life. Death on The Tree of Life sits on the path between Tipheret (Beauty) and Netzach (Victory).
The name of Death is ‘Imaginative Intelligence’. Imagination is the link between the world of mind and matter. By imagining Death, we can let go of its hold on us.
The message from Death XIII
Death means being in a change process. It’s unavoidable, so what can you do about it?
Ask yourself these questions:
• Do I feel I need to let go of something now?
• What needs to pass away?
• What do I need to eliminate?
• What do I need to grieve for?
• Is it time for a deep change or transformation?
• What needs to give way to something new?
Allow yourself to focus on the fact that a new phase cannot happen until the old is let go of. A tree sheds its leaves to rest and have energy to be reborn in Spring. The Elderly die to make way for the young being born. When we fight death / change, we make our lives far harder. How can you embrace deep change today?
Death XIII reversed
Death is inhibited when we do not allow change to occur, and/or when we do not allow ourselves to grieve for what was. When we get stuck in a process of letting go and not getting to the other side. If you get Death reversed for yourself or someone else, some questions to ask might be…
• What am I fighting so that I stay alive?
• What change am I feeling difficult to experience?
• Am I struggling with death?
• Am I buried in grief? Am I avoiding grief? Do I have an inability to let go?
• Do I need to say goodbye to something or someone?
• Am I having a traumatic adjustment?
• Am I frightened of Death?
If you get Death reversed, you’re not flowing with the change process; you’re stuck and not moving forward. Sometimes we need to grieve to set ourselves free; sometimes we need to hold the grief and yet get on with life.
To sum it all up
An example of the failure to complete the Death process is Post Natal Depression. I often call it Post Natal Trauma, as often the woman did not have a good birth experience. Interventions and stress may have occurred…and then the woman is suddenly a mother. She may not have had the birth she desired, and she may need to grieve this. She may not have received the full flow of healthy hormones to help her connect to her baby. If such a postpartum mother is not fully supported afterwards, she may slide into depression.
PND is becoming more and more common. If it occurs, a death process needs to be acknowledged: The woman is no longer single; she is now a mother. Or if it is a subsequent birth, she is no longer the mother to one child, but the mother to two children. She has no time for herself at the beginning, and this may need to be grieved.
Another case in which I see Death not being acknowledged is miscarriage. I myself miscarried three times before I had my first son. The remarks people made were deeply hurtful and I felt alone in my grieving process. People said, ‘Well at least you got pregnant, just try again’ or ‘But it was early, so it’s not a big deal’. Fortunately I was able to journey the experience and acknowledge and ‘bury’ the miscarried babies. Some women cannot do so, as a miscarriage is not recognized as a death, sometimes even by her partner.
The Death card says that today you must acknowledge deep change in your life. It will be OK if you decide it will be OK.
If death never occurred, life would become stagnant. Death invites you to embrace the death of the old to make way for the new. Death is part of life.
