Death rides a white horse beneath a black banner with a white rose; kings fall, while the sun rises between two towers. It is rarely physical death: it is an end that clears the way, a transformation, a door that closes so another can open.
An ending that clears the ground for what must be born.
Waite’s keywords (1911): End, mortality, destruction, corruption; the loss of a protector; plans that fail.
Reversed
Reversed, the end is resisted: clinging to the past, stagnation, a change that drags on painfully because it is not accepted.
Clinging to what is already gone, a transformation postponed.
Waite’s keywords (1911): Inertia, sleep, lethargy, petrifaction; hope destroyed.
In love
Upright A relationship ends or is transformed completely; an old way of loving dies so a new one can be born.
Reversed Clinging to a relationship that is over, fear of change in love.
In work
Upright The end of a job or project; a radical change in your career that opens new doors.
Reversed Fear of change at work; staying in a dead-end job.
In money
Upright The end of a financial phase; old sources dry up and new ones appear.
Reversed Resisting necessary financial change; holding on to losses.
At home and in the family
Upright The end of a chapter in family life: a move, children leaving, a house changing.
Reversed An ending at home that no one dares to accept.
On your path
Upright Spiritual rebirth: the old self dies so the true self can be born.
Reversed You refuse the inner change that is already happening.
Its counsel
Upright Let it end. Make room for what is coming.
Reversed Stop clinging. What you hold on to is already gone.
Correspondences
- Arcana
- Major Arcana, card 13
- Element
- Water
- Number
- 13
Dreams that carry this card
The Serpent · Blood · Bones · The Dead · The Grave · Death · Black · Thirteen
The Major Arcana
The Fool · The Magician · The High Priestess · The Empress · The Emperor · The Hierophant · The Lovers · The Chariot · Strength · The Hermit · Wheel of Fortune · Justice · The Hanged Man · Temperance · The Devil · The Tower · The Star · The Moon · The Sun · Judgement · The World