Just as The Tower is Gehenna's personal, archetypal card; Death is mine. Synchronistically, years before I knew anything about Tarot or even metaphysics, I took the name "Palehorse13" -- the Pale Horse being Death in the biblical book of Revelation; 13 being the number of this card's position in the major arcana. So, we both thought it would be fitting for me to do the write-up for this one. Or perhaps more accurately, we wanted to let Death have a say in his own bio ;)
Death is one of the most misunderstood cards in the Tarot. Most explanations have to start out by saying it does NOT typically refer to a physical death. I'll start mine out by saying that while this may be true, physical death, and the process represented by the Death card and archetype, are variations of the same process.
The Death card usually indicates some sort of imminent change and personal transformation in the life of the querant. It's a Water card, indicating that the change is more like the flowing of a river, than the sudden, unprecedented and violent fiery explosion indicated by the Tower. Much like a river flowing over a boulder, the force of Death breaks all stagnant things down until they either stop resisting change, or willingly start moving. It is the swirling currents in the sea of infinite probability which I sometimes refer to as "Eternal Transition." The symbolism on the Rider Waite version of Death shows the king, the Pope, a peasant woman and a child, falling before the ominous, skeletal horseman. All classes, institutions, people and structures are subject to change; that which refuses to evolve, begins to die.
Usually when we think of Death, we're more likely to see the "breaking down" side of things. This is because the fear of and resistance to change, up to and including physical death, is deeply ingrained in western culture. However, the rebuilding, the resurrection, is equally a part of this card. Peeking up behind the ominous imagery, we see the Sun, indicating that while Death, the great leveler, brings all things down to their zero-point, there is always a new day on the horizon. Scientifically speaking, it is said that all things within a closed system are subject to entropy. Therein lies the key to why we perceive Death as entropy and decay: this world itself is a closed system with a paradigm based on the fear of change -- and so everything in it is dying. Open up the system, any system, and it begins to evolve; to move toward LIFE, toward greater complexity and order.
To overcome Death is not to "defeat" him as an opponent, but to accept him unconditionally, and then bring him onboard as an ally. When we start breaking down our own static beliefs, structures and patterns voluntarily, relinquish all attachments to "things as they are" and allow Death to point out our stagnation in all its forms wherever they're found, we stop running away from Death, and begin running toward Life. Paradoxically though, the aversion to stillness and need to be constantly in motion is another form of stagnation to acknowledge -- or be confronted with. At the point where we grow tired of running and desire to take a break to rest and re-evaluate, Death will be there to provide it, before picking us back up again like an old friend, to begin anew.
