You Think it’s the End, but it’s Really the Beginning

(Examing new beginnings with the Death card in the Tarot)

When newbies to the Tarot come across the Death card, I can see how it might be a bit off-putting. So here comes Mr. Death strutting in on a white horse standing over a dead public figure, holding some strange, black flag with a white, 5 pointed rose on it.

Then there’s a pope feeding the horse water, as if he is responsible for keeping death or change alive. There’s also a little girl sitting on the ground next to a standing bishop, both begging for death not to devour them. Creepy stuff right?

Not necessarily.

The card isn’t about death in a literal sense, even though death is a part of life that we all have to face. It’s more about the ending of things.

But an end is also a new beginning.

Let me first break down the meaning of the symbols on the card.

One one hand it is believed that the 5 points of the rose represent the 4 elements plus spirit. But there is a historic meaning behind the flag, too. It’s centered around what’s called the “War of the Roses”.

During the 15th century a war between two branches of the House of Plantagenet broke out in England. Those rivals were the Lancaster and the York branches. It was…