Death
Death
This card has a lot of symbolism, and with a card so full of images it can be hard to really see all of the message; thus I believe that this card is the most feared. People see the word death, or the skull rider and the movie reel in our heads begins swimming with every movie that had a "psychic" who "read" cards and portrayed the protagonists doom, or those nearest to the antagonist's doom. This card is not at all gloom and doom to me, rather it can be very comforting.
For now we will bypass the obvious image of the rider, and instead look to the flag the rider carries. The black in the flag not only draws your eye to the object on the flag, but the nature of the flag's colours are important. A black background with a solid white image, the idea here shows balance or opposites; much like a yin and yang. While black is a grounding colour, as it absorbs all light, white is the colour that reflects all energy and is thus why white is used to remove negativity and encourage forgiveness. A blossoming flower often depicts spring and renewal, and a winter white flower often is a flower that blooms in winter marking the start of the earliest moments of spring; and mixed with the symbolism of colour in this card the blossoming flower inspires a feeling of rebirth and starting fresh and new. It should also be noted that the flower here is circular, much like everything else in life as a cycle. This reminds us that things keep moving, and learning how to adapt and change makes us wiser and helps us on our ultimate life path.
The horse that the rider is on is another great use of colour and image to get an important concept across. The horse, standing tall, has his leg in mid trot. A horse is not going to trot if it is exhausted or in a rush, this shows that there is not rushing the ideas behind this card even when there is trauma all around him. The colour of the horse, again being white, is important as it reminds us of the purity of the horse, much like the white knights of England used and thus riders on white horses were heralded as saving one from something bad.
In the far back right corner, gates to a city with a sun rising can be seen. To many this imagery may go unnoticed, but it helps to build strength in the understand that the world keeps moving on in spite of the trauma around the rider. The sun is always rising and setting, and the wheel forever keeps turning, and so we must not stay frozen in the traumas that lay at our feet but accept what has happened, learn from it, and learn how to move through and past in order to continue on our life's path and purpose.
This concept that is building is further solidified as we look to the boat, still in the dark of the early hours, is heading towards its next destination. One could argue that this boat is trying to fish, but there are no nets out and the sails are up with winds pushing them; boaters recognize this as a boat heading towards a destination, possibly even exploring new land.
The rider is very unique, a skeletal figure sits upon this trotting horse as though it were a living breathing man; this is how the creator(s) of this deck want us to understand that this is most likely the incarnation or embodiment of Death itself. The black colouring furthering this ominous feeling led more credence to the idea that this rider is to be Death. Interestingly, it is the armor that the rider wears that makes us really think about what the artist(s)/creator(s) wanted us to know about this rider. The armor is that of a knight or possible a royal, or this armor could be symbolic of the idea that armor is protective, and thus Death can not be killed. The idea that Death is not portrayed in a dark shroud with a scythe is an interesting choice to make mention of.
Besides and around the rider we do see a King (emperor) who appears to have passed on, his crown and gold scepter have fallen, symbolizing lost power and control.. The queen(empress, fool's mother) is stricken with fear and is surrendering to Death, but the child(possibly even a representation of the fool) has no fear because his youth and naiveté prevent him from understanding what is going on. The religious figure(Hierophant) shrouded in gold, having no fear of death because of his faith, holds his hands upright as in a stance of offering, possibly in a plea for Death/the rider to accept the King's soul as an offering or to take this soul with him to an eternal and peaceful resting spot. The idea here is that death does come, as part of the cycle of life, but since Death is depicted here as a knight the impression is left with a reader that Death's responsibilities make for a purification of sorts. This starts building on the concept that this card is not about death in the literal sense, but rather that all things have a time of ending that can allow for purification and rebirth.
The path of death represents transformation, restructure and rebirth. Scorpio, the zodiac sign of intensity, rules the Death card. This intensity can manifest as desire, motivation and determination, or as feelings of vengeance, suspicion, intolerance, and violence.
If the Death card comes out on the first card of your reading in the positive position, you need to prepare for a major change and understand that transformation is knocking at your door. You are asked to step away from the past because a new opportunity is opening for you. If you do not listen, you might learn a lesson that will be painful. If the Death card shows up in the outcome of the reading in a positive position, you will face the future, and accept the changes you need to make, and you will let go of an old lifestyle that was not working for you.
The Death card is enumerated thirteen, the number of transformation — the end of an outdated way of thinking or of an outgrown lifestyle that was not good for you.
Death - Reversed
If one reverses the ideas of the Death card, then the idea that something does not come to an end, or it does not die is the most obvious choice. This initially seems like a great thing, especially if its a favourite TV show, book, or particular phase in your life where you feel comfortable. You don't really want something to not end, after all nothing can be great and perfect forever. Without the downs we can not understand or appreciate the ups. Without an end, a beginning isn't as magnificent. This stagnant aspect defines the ideas behind complacency, and complacency has no passion or spark; which means creativity is lost.
If we see the reversed as a blocked interpretation, does this card allow for the death or ending of something? The real energy of the card here is about that time of grief that leads to re-birth. If this is blocked, then the querent can't grieve. They can't face or relieve the pain of loss. They remain at one end of the tunnel, refusing or unable to transverse it and pushing away the chance at re-birth.
This can also mean that the querent may be in a state of depression that stems from the refusal to accept change. Depression of course having its own complications, can indeed lower our natural vibration thus manifesting or attracting lower vibrating energy causing a cyclical result.
Timing is 1 – 30 days.