The Death Card and How It Can Help You LIVE

It’s no surprise that the Death card in the tarot fills people with dread, seeing as no one goes through life untouched by the brutal cruelty of it. However, the presence of the Death card is often an invitation to live life more fully rather than an indicator of the end of life. Are you ready to open up your mind and heart to the vast world of the death card, and live life more fully because of it?

The Number 13, the Number of Personal Growth

The Death card is the 13th card in the deck and is seen with the roman numeral XIII written on it. 13 has often been thought of as an unlucky number in modern times, but why is that? Many believe it is because of its relationship to the cycles of the moon and female bodies. The moon goes through 13 lunations in a year; A female body will have 13 menstrual cycles in a year. 

What if I told you that the number 13 was actually a number of personal growth?

The number 1 in numerology represents the self, as well as new beginnings. The number 3 represents growth, learning and curiosity. And the number 13 is therefore a number of personal (1) growth (3). However, it’s not the personal growth of massages, facials and canceled plans.

This personal growth is more akin to the pruning of a plant. Removing leaves and branches from a plant can feel like the opposite of growth, especially when you’re removing bits that seem healthy! However, when you remove the branches that are no longer serving the plant it then has the ability to give water and nutrients to other parts, thereby reviving the plant and making it grow to new heights

The kind of personal growth we see in the Death card works in much the same way. It’s the reminder that in order to become who you are going to be, you must let go of the parts of you from the past. Growth is not always linear and it’s not always easy, but it is always worth it.

Which Tarot Card Are You?

Death, as a Metaphor

As you begin to dive deeper into the tarot you’ll come to realize that the Death card is very rarely about literal death, and more so about metamorphosis.

Traditional Rider-Waite-Smith tarot decks usually depict this card with an image of a dark rider on horseback with people weeping at his feet. However, on more modern tarot decks you might see something like a butterfly or a pregnant person on the Death card. These images symbolize the deaths and rebirths you can experience while still physically alive.

A caterpillar completely liquifies inside its chrysalis and is then reformed and reborn. Humans may not go through a total body transformation akin to a butterfly while pregnant, but it is true that the maiden dies so that the mother can be born with the birth of her child.

And in more subtle ways, we go through transformations constantly in our lives. From the growing of our bodies, to the loss of our teeth, to the outgrowing of one’s old beliefs; nothing ever truly stays the same, and the Death card is  proof that nothing is supposed to!

Death, as Nature

The easiest way to understand the Death card as a part of life is to look at the trees outside your window. Year after year they blossom, grow leaves, change color and lose their leaves. This tangible ebb and flow is as good a representation of the Death card as any. It’s also a constant reminder that you are not meant to be in constant bloom. You need your time of rest, hibernation, grief and loneliness, just like the trees.

The nature of life itself is that everything is changing. As soon as you notice this present moment it is gone and replaced by another. Death is as normal and as natural as life, as present as each breath you take.

Death, as LIFE

Do you love life? At the very least, are you appreciative that you get an opportunity to live?

Life exists because of death. The two are opposites, equals and yet absolutely the same (if you know how to look at them). Without the overarching knowledge that we will die, we wouldn’t have the concept of being alive.

It is an inevitability that death will touch your life, from grandparents and parents dying, the death of pets, and your own eventual death. We all know what comes at the end of this road and yet we turn our faces away and ignore this truth.

The Death card asks us to look directly at death, both literal and metaphorical. Resistance to the concept of death is resistance to the concept of life. It’s only when you stop ignoring death that you can truly feel alive.

How to Work With the Death Card

How do you leave a party? Are you the type to make the rounds saying goodbye to each person, or do you quietly leave hoping to go unnoticed? How do you end a relationship? What about the end of a job? Moving to a new city?

Endings are all around you, which means you have an almost constant ability to work with the Death card! Next time you leave work try to slow down and notice how you feel. Pay attention to the way you move through the space, the way you do or do not say goodbye to your coworkers. The same can be done in the morning as you get ready to leave your house. Are you distracted, rushed, present or preoccupied?

How to Deal with the Death Card in a Reading

Spend the next few days taking notice of the little endings that permeate each and every day of your life. Notice the ways in which you shy away from them and see what happens when you give greater attention to the endings.

Death is a scary thing and the death of a loved one is always going to be painful, but ignoring death doesn’t make it go away. The Death card in the tarot asks us to walk alongside death, not as an enemy, but as a companion.