What's Death Got To Do With It? The Death Card in Tarot Readings

Death .

Don’t let the skull and carnage fool you. In the Tarot, the Death card symbolizes something different then it does in the horror film of the week.

Here’s a look at how to interpret the Death card in day to day readings... without letting thoughts of the Grim Reaper keep you up at night!

The Meaning of Death

Transition • Ending • Purging

Rider-Waite symbolism

Death (XIII) is the thirteenth card in the Major Arcana. In the Rider-Waite deck (the deck featured in EyeTarot.com and considered a classic deck by most tarot experts), the Death card represents the following symbolism:

The king is trampled by a reaping skeleton horseman, 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, or that death takes us all equally.

The reaper carries a black banner emblazoned with the Mystic Rose which according to Waite symbolizes 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.

Death ( Tarot card). (2010, December 29). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:01, January 19, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Death_(Tarot_card)&oldid=404871540

EyeTarot Meaning

EyeTarot.com defines the Death card as follows:

Transitioning from the familiar to the unfamiliar, from the known to the unknown
Big change
Being in limbo
Ending of a chapter, resolution of a circumstance
Purging emotions, or tossing out unhelpful attitudes or feelings

In a very real sense, our lives consist of thousands of little ‘deaths’. Every time a significant change occurs, something is dying: a way of life, an attitude , a familiar relationship or experience.

To call these changes ‘little’ deaths is not to diminish their significance.

We’ve all experienced the bittersweet feeling of an ending-- yet, how often has an ending, however we grieve it, later led to the birth of something new? Maybe even something better?

What about Death as a purging? When we feel sick, don’t we usually feel better after we vomit? A crude analogy, but an accurate one. The process of the purging, like adjusting to an ending, can be unpleasant and scary while it is happening. But after, the mind and body are clearer, more open to new possibilities.

The Reverse Meaning of Death

EyeTarot.com defines a ‘reversed’ Death card as follows:

Growth stagnates
Anxiety about change
Backwards-looking thoughts or actions

Like many ‘reverse’ meanings in the tarot , it’s usually not accurate to simply reverse the meaning of the upright card. A reversed card can be a more insidious version of the upright meaning of the card.

At first glance, an upright Death card can seem like a negative card to novices. However, by considering the reverse meaning of the card, we see that the upright version of the card (in contrast to the reverse) is intended to be more positive.

Reversed, we see that the Death card represents an unhealthy attitude about change. Change represents movement and growth; the reverse is being stuck in the past or moving backwards rather than forwards.

An unhealthy approach to change can also be represented by the reverse of this card. When you see the Death card and think about the change it represents, do you feel anxious? Do you feel despair and lack of confidence that you can adjust to the unfamiliar? Especially if the reversed Death card occurs in a Celtic Card position related to how you view yourself or conscious/unconscious influence, it could represent the way you react to change.

Death and Self Growth

When we see the Death card in a reading, we should prepare emotionally and physically for a change and try our best NOT to anticipate the change with dread and despair.

Learning to anticipate and deal with change is a great challenge, yet a great lesson. Adapting poorly to change in our lives (having a poor attitude or handling change poorly) causes stress and inhibits clear thinking. ‘Change’ (especially the biggies like career change, or relationship changes) are widely recognized by health professionals as causing depression and anxiety . Longterm inability to deal in a healthy way with change can contribute very negatively to our emotional AND physical health.

A great resource for changing our habitual reactions to change is the book ‘Full Catastrophe Living’ by Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. In it, Kabat-Zinn talks about how to use meditational techniques to deal with change or the ‘full catastrophe’ of life.

By using techniques like meditation to approach change in a healthier way, we can come to see the Death card for what it is: challenging, but transformative.

Learn more about the Death card with free tarot readings from EyeTarot.com

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