Death Keywords
UPRIGHT: transition | change | endings | transformation
REVERSED: refusal to let go | fear of change | personal transformation
Death Description
The Death Tarot card features a skeleton in black armor riding a white horse, symbolizing the inevitability and enduring nature of death, and the purity and power of the horse. The skeleton carries a flag with a white rose, signifying beauty, purification, and the cyclical nature of change and transformation inherent in the concept of death. This imagery underlines that death is not solely an end but a passage to new beginnings, embodying the cycles of life, transformation, and rebirth.
The scene includes a royal figure lying dead, with a woman, child, and bishop appealing to the skeletal messenger, highlighting the universality of death's reach. A boat in the background suggests the journey to the afterlife, echoing mythological narratives of transition. The setting sun between two towers on the card illustrates the daily cycle of death and rebirth, reinforcing the theme of perpetual change and the natural rhythm of life and death.
NOTE: The tarot card meaning description is based on the Rider-Waite deck and Decoding The Cards