Endings and Beginnings
Death, a time of transition and change, the alchemy of transformation.
Welcome to this edition of Liminal Walker Musings!
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Dear ones,
If you are a new subscriber, a special WELCOME! Today we are returning to the exploration of the major arcana of the tarot. To see prior posts, they can be found in the “Tarot Journeys” section of my substack site. This post is about the Archetype of Death. I feel it is important to set the mood here, for this is not about morbidity. Death can usher in grief, but it can also be a bearer of wondrous beauty.
So off we go… Love to you all!
Preamble
I want to begin this writing a bit differently than other Tarot Journey posts, by sharing a personal experience. A couple of weeks ago I was reminded of a dear friend that passed away ten years ago, she was a soul sister to me! From within, up rose this deep grief and I just wept. Afterward as the tears subsided, I was left with this incredible clarity, an inner remembrance of my own relationship with death.
Around three years ago I had a tangible experience where I sensed within my body that a line had been crossed. One that tipped the scales into a greater degeneration rather than rejuvenation. Even though I started dying the moment I was born, here I felt I had entered dying in a more tangible way through eldering. This is not about leaving the world tomorrow; I could still have many more years. And there is still fear, the animal body naturally desires to preserve itself. Instead, this is a recognition of the death that is present with me. A choice I have made to not follow the societal norm by resisting and fighting it. I don’t want to wage a battle between maintaining youth and getting older. In all honesty I am excited about being in my Crone years. What I found in this meeting with death was a plethora of wisdom. My weeping tears falling upon this intelligence and bringing it to life. That night I had a dream, and I later wrote this poem…
Death
Death in the tarot is mostly about the transformation that unfolds after change, endings and letting go. Rarely does it indicate a passing away of oneself or a loved one. Death here is more a rite of passage, a journey, a transmutation of one’s life. With every relinquishment, there is a resulting renewal. From death a rebirth. Interesting that I am writing this post right after Easter. The phoenix from the Star Tarot has resurrected, risen from the flames.
The Death card tends to come unwanted, for it typically indicates a current or impending change. A metaphorical death, like an ending of a career, relationship, stage in life or belief system. What is unfolding tends to be beyond our control, maybe bringing fear, grief and pain into the equation. However, as I stated in my poem, death is not a curse but a gift. It is an invitation to surrender to this alchemical transmutation that births us into a new expression of being. And, birthing is painful, the labor challenging and difficult. We are, after all, being spiritually, physically, mentally and/or emotionally reformed within this metamorphosis.
Journeying with Death
Cycles of Life
In the tarot, the Death card many times has a skull and/or bones on it. Representing the disintegration of the physical, of our bodies. Death may look ugly and seem brutal. But this decomposition is the fertilizer for new growth. Withering and decaying is part of life. Death making life possible.
Ironically it is resistance and defiance that compacts life into these jail cells of existence. Whereas with death, it touches a remembrance, a tenderness deep inside. Supporting us in seeing the naturalness of impermanence. Change is the only thing we can truly be sure of. In the external world there are the seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. Cycling of the moon, as it waxes and wanes. And in our own world we travel through our seasons and cycles as well, not necessarily matching the outer ones. With death we see it more as autumn and winter. The waning, as a fading away. An invitation to take a journey into a chrysalis or down into the underworld. Maybe a shedding of our skin. A dying and a resurrection.
La Santa Muerte
From the Goddess Tarot deck we see Santa Muerte, the Goddess of Death. Honored mostly in Latin America, Mexico and the southern United States. She arose from a combination of Spanish Catholicism and indigenous Aztec reverence of Mictecacihuatl, the queen of death. A matriarch who reigned over the underworld and afterlife. Native cultures venerated death, understanding it to be an integral and necessary ingredient of the living cycles of the cosmos.
With each passing year Santa Muerte is becoming more affiliated with the Day of the Dead, a holiday held every November 1st through the 2nd. Even though the Vatican denounces her, seeing her as irreverent, her devotees love her non-judgmental ways of honoring all life equally. She is especially loved by those who are marginalized, oppressed or have experienced adversity in their lives, as a patroness of empowerment. For many women she is a symbol of female strength, seeing the feminine as sacred. A trinity goddess, known as La Blanca, La Roja and La Negra. In white she is in her gentlest nature, offering protection and security. Red, she brings passion, love, inspiration and personal agency. Black, she is most mysterious.
Death as a Companion
Having death as a companion brings more poignancy and vibrancy to life. I deeply admire the work of Stephen Jenkinson and I highly recommend his book; I have read it twice now! In Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul, he was reflecting on his time in the “death trade” and said,
“I saw that as a culture we have a withered psychology of coping and accepting where we might once have had a mythology and a poetry of purposed, meaningful dying. This poverty was the constant companion and chimera of almost every dying person I worked with. I discovered that few wanted to die well, fewer still, wisely. Most didn’t want to die at all, and they spent their dying time refusing to do so.”
I find this disquieting, and it doesn’t need to be so. “Can death and life coexist?” is not even a valid question because death is an inherent aspect of life. It cannot be pulled out of it! Focusing only on life creates a polarization, actually limiting the potentiality of our living. Dancing with death, we meet in that liminal place, an open doorway to our fuller expression. A conscious incarnate life.
I want to thank
for her beautiful posts on weeping and the intelligence of tears, Intelligence Is Relation & When We Cry We Do Not Tear.Questions for you:
How is your relationship with impermanence, death and dying?
How do you feel about growing older and aging?
What change is happening in your life right now that is inviting you into a transformation?
Would love to know your thoughts and feelings. Let’s have a conversation…
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Beautifully written Julie really enjoyed this read. I have similar wisdom around death that I have learned from her along my journey of life. The two are so closely intertwined it is hard to tell them apart. They simultaneously unfold each day. I wrote this a while back that I feel you’d find interesting: https://open.substack.com/pub/soulwisdom/p/endings-beginnings?r=a9uns&utm_medium=ios
This is such a refreshing post, Julie. To see Death essentially as a friend. I love that idea.
I like to see Death as an Ally. As a friend who I can talk to and share my life with. I find it still surprising how society fears death, how society still needs to hang onto life. Without death there is no life. Without the winter there can be no spring. Without the letting go of the inner smaller deaths that come our way we can never find what truly inspires us, what uplifts us, what sustains us. And then, we we do die, because we have let go and had many little deaths, we die differently.
Talking about Death is one of my favourite topics.
Thank you for sharing your story and wisdom with us.