Death

Death (XIII)

Death (XIII) is the thirteenth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It is used in Tarot card games as well as in divination.

Description

The Death card commonly depicts a skeleton riding a horse. Surrounding it are dead and dying people from all classes, including kings, bishops, and commoners. The skeleton carries a black standard emblazoned with a white flower. Some decks depict the Crashing Towers from The Moon with The Sun rising behind them in the background. Some decks, such as the Tarot of Marseilles, omit the name from the card.

Rider-Waite symbolism

• The king is trampled by a reaping skeleton horseman, as the Pictorial Key to the Tarot describes him, which appears to be a personification of death. The fall of the king may represent the importance and magnitude of the critical event of this card.
• The reaper carries a black banner emblazoned with the Mystic Rose, which according to Waite symbolises life or rebirth.
• As in other cards, the gray background may indicate uncertainty surrounding this event.
• The bishop may represent faith in the face of death, faith in the divine plan, and faith that "God works in mysterious ways".
• The maiden seeming distraught by the fall of the king represents the sorrow and great pain that often accompanies death.
• The child, seemingly entranced by the occurrence, may represent bewilderment or curiosity.
• In the darkness behind, according to Waite's PKT, lies the whole world of ascent in the spirit.
  • Although some believe the New Jerusalem appears as a silhouette across the Sun,^[1] it does not appear clearly enough to be certain and may instead be the tops of The Moon's mountains.

The Grim Reaper as a personification of Death is a common motif in European iconography; here, he illustrates a poem on the danse macabre.

Interpretation

A. E. Waite was a key figure in the development of modern Tarot interpretations. However, not all interpretations follow his model.^[2]

Some frequent keywords used by tarot readers for the interpretation of Death are:

• Ending of a cycle ----- Loss ----- Conclusion ----- Sadness

• Transition into a new state ----- Psychological transformation

• Finishing up ----- Regeneration ----- Elimination of old patterns

• Being caught in the inescapable ----- Good-byes ----- Deep change

According to Eden Gray and other authors on the subject, it is unlikely that this card actually represents a physical death. Typically it implies an end, possibly of a relationship or interest, and therefore implies an increased sense of self-awareness — not to be confused with self-consciousness or any kind of self-diminishment.^[3][4]

References

Further reading

• A. E. Waite's 1910 Pictorial Key to the Tarot
• Sir James Frazer The Golden Bough
• Hajo Banzhaf, Tarot and the Journey of the Hero (2000)
• Most works by Joseph Campbell
• G. Ronald Murphy, S.J., The Owl, The Raven, and The Dove: Religious Meaning of the Grimm's Magic Fairy Tales (2000)
• Riane Eisler, The Chalice and the Blade (1987)
• Mary Greer, The Women of the Golden Dawn (1994)
• Merlin Stone, When God Was A Woman (1976)
• Robert Graves, Greek Mythology (1955)
• Joan Bunning, Learning the Tarot
• Juliette Wood, Folklore 109 (1998):15-24, The Celtic Tarot and the Secret Tradition: A Study in Modern Legend Making (1998)

External links

• "Death" cards from many decks and articles to "Death" iconography
• A discussion of Tarot Death as it was portrayed during the 2002 sniper incident