Death
Keywords: Death, transformation, end of a cycle, resurrection, deep sleep, rest, reflection, going beyond the known,
Death is the card of transformation where what was changes shape as in the sacred 12th number that stands for the principle of wholeness suddenly a force enters the 13th which is numerological stands for death which is there to create change and transformation as death which is just a portal to what lies beyond the known and present. Like the moon's 13 revolutions in an earth year, the moon stands for the changing nature of how everything constantly changes shape like life and death as we know it. But death can be a dividing line in so many other ways, on other planes of existence as we understand it. When we leave someone or are left on the mental or emotional plane by a form of death or separation.
Death is not only a separation from the physical plane often it is an indication of leaving something behind to either rest in what leaves you for a time and then experience the rebirth of something else and the resurgence of life from the absence that has haunted you. A knowledge that nothing is in its form forever except the eternal soul everything changed dies and is reborn in another form to new life.
Dying is a bit like going to bed to sleep, we extinguish our daytime consciousness to go to the regions of the subconscious to return to what we came from or vice versa. In nature, we see the same process of life and death, the greenery that loses its life in the autumn comes back and greens up in the spring all living things leave their seeds to grow and develop in an infinite cycle where death is the dividing line between the two extremes..
The symbolic death is giving up one's ego and letting one's higher self come to the fore in The process of leaving something for something more valuable and higher in the spiritual sense allows us to distinguish between what is for something deeper lying more important and what does not have of the world or potential towards what we are giving ourselves for. Sacrifice is something that we may not generally feel comfortable with as it is a symbol of loss rather than entering into a process of transformation where something has to be given up in order to be gained. Seeing death in its white pale face is the process as we take the beginning of life for granted we find it difficult to take the end of this and the transformation from being alive and not existing on this plane. we want contact with the spiritual while we fear what will come and leave us which is a paradox in this case for what is spiritual exists beyond this physical plane. but when we reconcile with death and the state that reminds us of our own mortality.
In The Garden Tarot I have illustrated death with a scarecrow. The scarecrow, like the shape of death, is not real but for many it is real in that it frightens us that it has been given a real shape so that we do not approach these thoughts or remind ourselves of its existence. Like the holes in the cloak of death, we see through its unreal character; and like the freshly ploughed fields of autumn awaiting winter rest, the seeds of the cut pumpkin testify to the longing for when new life will sprout from what has been dead, which will be resurrected in new sprouts that will become pumpkins again.
In professional life, death can be linked to those who are close to death and the dividing line between life and death. As funeral entrepeneurs, priests, mediums those who channel those who are on the other side. farmers those who both sow new life and reap those who are sown. slaughterers, soldiers and other military personnel who prepare to take life and give their lives in battle.
`"Uppright"
This card shows the final destination, death or decay, destruction, sickness, transformation, settlements, shifting and dissolution. The card also shows rebirth after decay, spiritual transformation, not holding on to things, renewal and ending of old patterns, and a resting phase before starting new experiences.
"Reversed"
This position shows unwillingness to move forward, fear of starting over, staying in the same rut and negative attachments.