Death (Tarot card)

"Death card" redirects here. For the playing card, see Ace of spades. .

Death (XIII)

Death (XIII) is the thirteenth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It is used in Tarot, tarock and tarocchi 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, or that death takes us all equally.
• 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.

Pop culture

• Death is the name of a boss in The House of the Dead III, depicted as a hulking security guard zombie with a club covered in human skulls. All bosses in The House of the Dead games are named for tarot cards of the Major Arcana.

• Death 13 is the name of the Mannish Boys Stand in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, appearing as a grim reaper with a clowns face that drags it's victims in its nightmares, when they go to sleep near to his user. Most of the other Stands are also named after Tarot Cards.

• In the video game Persona 3, Death is represented by Pharos, a strange boy who visits the protagonist at night. Notable mythological figures included are Samael and Thanatos.

• In Persona 4, Death is represented by Hisano Kuroda, an old lady who is convinced she is Death after her husbands passing.

• In the Virtua Fighter series, Death is the name of one of the six branches of Judgment Six, the antagonistic sponsors of the fighting game series' tournaments. This particular branch manufactures atomic, biological, and chemical weapons.

• In the series Death Note, Near is seen playing with Death tarot cards when he deduces that the 'Thirteen Day Rule' is a fake.

• In the SNES video game Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, the Death Tarot card depicts a black-winged Grim Reaper skeleton wearing a tattered orange robe, holding a huge scythe and stepping forward. On drawing the card after liberation of one of the towns, it decreases the Reputation Meter by 2 points, and summons said Grim Reaper skeleton to wipe out weak enemy units, sending all the experience points from slain units to the main character when used in battle.^[2]

Interpretation

A. E. Waite was a key figure in the development of modern Tarot interpretations. However, not all interpretations follow his model.^[3]

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.^[4][5]

Other versions

• In X/1999, a manga by CLAMP, the Tarot set Death is Seishirou Sakurazuka.
• In the Mythic Tarot deck, Death is depicted by Hades.

References

1. ^ Death: Sources of the Waite/Smith Tarot Symbols
2. ^ Ogre Battle - Tarot Cards
3. ^ Ithell Colquhoun. http://www.ithellcolquhoun.co.uk/1694/
4. ^ Gray, Eden. The Complete Guide to the Tarot.
5. ^ Bunning, Joan. Learning the Tarot.

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)