Continuing the series of diving deeper into each tarot card, we are now at Death’s metaphorical door. This blog series is also being continued on the podcast. Click here for the directory of episodes. You can also find the Wolf Child Magick podcast on all major podcast directories. Don’t forget to follow and review to help boost the show!
Previously, we approached the threshold with the Hanged Man. The Hanged Man helps us set up and receive the energies of Death in a way that will be helpful. The Hanged Man helps us find clarity in the discomfort, which is naturally going to come with Death. The Hanged Man helps us relinquish control and find our wild spirits past the spaces we know. All of this is needed as we approach the Death card.
Looking at the numerology to start, we see originality, breaking of old patterns or habits, thinking outside the box, and transformation on both internal and external levels. This is all going to be seen and needed with the Death card. As we willingly enter into these energies, we allow the Destruction to show us the way to rebirth, instead of just being a loss of some kind. Click here to read more about the numerology of 13.
In this post, I will break down all the ways that I read this card and then discuss the symbolism seen across my collection.
Destruction Leading to Rebirth with Death
Death marks the physical Destruction that has been building throughout the entire second line of the Major Arcana (the Destruction line). Here, we cannot turn away. The work of Death has begun. Hopefully, the Hanged Man has taught us how to surrender and relinquish, because the destruction of Death is coming, even if we are kicking and screaming the whole way through it. Whether through tarot, or the hard lessons of life, we learn that we do not have control over these cycles. All that we can do is try our best to make the best of it, and see the opening of rebirth on the other side.
The first way that I read the Death card is about as straightforward as it gets- loss makes way for renewal. The old in all things must give way for the new. New beginnings only come from endings. This is one of the biggest reasons why I discourage perspectives or narratives like love and light, or good vibes only. There is no such thing. Life and Death walk hand-in-hand. To make it a thing is to reject and displace many things that could teach you radical understandings.
Main invitations with Death:
1. Loss makes way for renewal- the old must give way
2. Sacrifice means that our spirit can begin again, cleansed, interconnected, and invigorated
3. Entering into our evolution is to let go of what is holding us back- find your courage to soar to new heights
The next way that I read the Death card is: sacrifice means that our spirit can begin again, cleansed, interconnected, and invigorated. When working with the Death card, we see and understand that growth doesn’t come from our comfort zones. Maturing and gaining wisdom don’t come without hardship. Staying small and the same doesn’t lead to depth in our wild spirits. Sacrifice, whether willingly or unwillingly, gives room to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, dry our eyes, and look to a new day.
I want to be very clear when I say that, as much as the conceptual and spiritual approach to Death is beautiful, it often does not feel that way, if ever. In real time and real life, the Death card is hard to sit down with and share energies. It is hard to let things go. It is OKAY to grieve decisions and actions, even ones that we know are the best for us and our futures.
To share a brief story with you: in 2009, I knew I needed MAJOR changes in life. The relationship I was in needed to end. I needed to change colleges as well because I was failing at Metro State University, and I am normally a good student. So, I decided to move to Greeley to be with friends and have a new beginning. If it was just leaving the guy and packing up, that would have been much easier. The hard part was that I had a Great Dane that was bonded to me. She slept with me every night and went everywhere with me when possible.
When I knew this relationship was over and that I needed a change, at first I couldn’t perceive leaving her behind. However, once I looked a renting a place for myself, and the tiny college living spaces (no yard or grass, just fences and concrete), I knew I couldn’t bring her with me. The house we inhabited was a big mountain home with a huge yard and a creek, with access to hiking trails. Taking her from that kind of living to a tiny room or house with no yard, where I would be gone all day would have been cruel to do to her.
So, I had to decide to leave her with my ex. I had to sacrifice what I wanted for what was best for her. I don’t regret the decision, but that was, to this day, one of the hardest things I have done. I still have her collar, and even though she has since passed away (this was 2009), I think about her often. I try to tell her spirit I did what I did because of how much I loved her, and I hoped she understood. That sacrifice did allow me to begin again. I met old friends, made new friends, and thrived in college. I formed bonds that I hold today with professors, and found my writing more than ever. Leaving that life was the best thing for both of us, even though it was hard as hell. Trust in what may come. Don’t hold on simply to keep things the same in life.
The last way that I read the Death card is: Entering into our evolution is to let go of what is holding us back- find your courage to soar to new heights. The minute that we begin to let Death lessen what is not serving us, our evolution begins. We will see this when we move from Death to Temperance. When we can embrace the process (taught to us from the Hanged Man), we emerge into the light more wild, aligned, and connected to the energies that serve our spirits.
Those energies will come. What we must find is the courage to let the process unfold. This is why I spend much time around the Hanged Man, because the Death card is the process, but the Hanged Man teaches us how to move through it. If we can find the courage to invert ourselves and be in suspended discomfort, we can find the courage to let the Death cycles move as they will. We cannot control them. We cannot change them. What we can do is bear witness and be present so that we grow and learn and rewild through the process.
Symbolism and Imagery of the Death Card
The Death card is one of the cards in the Major Arcana where the imagery is all over the place. The freedom to work with Death and pull from the collective unconscious means that the symbolism comes from many different sources. Some imagery will be repeated, and some themes will show up in almost every card. Let’s take a deeper look.
From the top, we have Death from my newest deck, the Nightmare Before Christmas deck. We see the gates into the cemetery in Halloween Town, which represent the threshold into change, transition, and transformation.
From the Guardian of the Night Tarot, we see an owl (wisdom) taking a mouse from its thorny nest. The thorns did not protect the mouse, a lesson in being willing to change things for the ultimate good.
From the Dark Wood Tarot, a skeletal figure with a scythe and hourglass cuts through the forest. The Vampire Hanged Man has been cut from her hold and now becomes ashy in color, sprouting wings. The child represents the young stage of life, and the innocence of looking at Death without judgment, which we are called to do. The cycles of the hourglass are unending.
The Marigold is the Death card in the Herbcrafter’s Tarot, and the scene shows a celebratory altar at Día de los Muertos. The scent of the flower is used to help the souls now departed find their way to their family home after burial. The Monarch butterfly symbolizes transformation with the cycle of life, death, rebirth.
In the Crow Tarot, the spirit of the crow has risen from the lifeless body. It flies towards the clouds, and freedom is obtained. The poppies symbolize remembrance, sleep, funeral rites, the Underworld, and the quieting of the body.
The Wild Unknown has one of the more macabre scenes. The bird here is not just dead, but decaying. I always feel this grisly image shows a forced reckoning. Stumbling on this in the woods would be shocking, but now we cannot turn or look away. We confront and see the cycle taking place. What we don’t see is the decaying that is actually enriching the soil for new growth.
There is so much to unpack in the Mystical Dream Tarot depiction of Death, here named Wise Fox. The skeleton and the woman represent the dance between life and death. The angel sits on the whiskers of the Fox, pulling the intuitive senses away from the perception of deep loss and into the fact that a new beginning is possible. Fox symbolizes cunningness, transformation, and a connection to the wisdom of nature, cycles, and time.
The Bird King Tarot shows the cycles moving. The great beast has fallen, and now the birds are on top, scavenging and taking what they can from the body of a great and mighty creature in life.
The Deadhead’s Moth is shown in the Death card, an Omen of Death from the Spirit Animal Tarot. The Moth was sometimes seen as an omen of Death, a messenger from the Spirit world, a spirit that has passed but returned to earth, or a symbol of immortality. The Moth is naturally associated with magick, spirits, inner visions, and the darkness of night. Moth tells us that the cycle doesn’t end, just changes.
The Ostara Tarot shows a vulture with human hands. The hands represent manipulation and control, but the Vulture is the clean-up crew of the wilderness, eating the dead and rotting meat, helping to maintain the health of the ecosystem. The two together show the spectrum of what is needed, and what is frivolous in times of death.
From the Tarot of Dragons, the dragon has stripped the people and animals down to the bone. One of the people was clearly someone of power, with the crown and the sword. Death comes for all things, and power or might can’t stop it. Only a willing surrender can ease the process.
The Hush Tarot shows a Bateleur Eagle, able to fly for long periods and even perform acrobatics in the air. This animal shows us that one of the things that can truly help our process with Death is to keep a vision on a higher and longer view than what is right in front of you.
Our final two are the Shadowscapes Tarot, which shows a Phoenix, much different than many of the other images. Here, the image radiates positivity and rebirth. The cycles and spirals in the sky and beneath the branches are a reminder that the bird will burn to ashes again, but rebirth follows like it always has.
From the Grimalkin’s Curious Cat Tarot, we have another Dia de los Muertos scene. The bones of the cat are where the energies of divinity and rebirth are found. The skin has fallen away, and the bones reveal the authenticity of life, and the beautiful story that is life. The beautiful flowers remind us that we can only see certain things when other things have fallen away.
So, we have seen a lot of symbolism, but there is one thing I want to point to that we have seen in almost every image- wings or a winged creature. All but the first image from the Nightmare Before Christmas tarot has wings of some kind, and some of the frills on the gate look wing-like. Either way, wings represent transformation, vision, transcendence, and freedom. All of these themes will ultimately be found with Death. It just takes time, patience, and love.
Thanks for reading!
Ashlie McDiarmid
Hello there! I hope you liked this blog post. As a tarot and oracle reader, my goal with my blogs is to offer you content, resources, and access to the tools that have transformed my life.
I believe that your own intuition is the deepest form of knowing, but here in my little corner of the internet, I share insights based in intuition and instinct. I share my love for nature, witchcraft, and the wild spirit.
- If your spirit is at home in wild places
- If you feel the need to claim your autonomy as ritual
- If you want to more deeply trust your own intuition
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