Liminal/New Liminal Tarot - Death

[Bodhiseed]

 

13 – Death

 

A figure cloaked in black reaches out with skeletal hands. A part bird- part human animal seems to lean into the cloaked figure. Its human leg is an ashy color.

 

We all lose things – keys, cell phones, reading glasses, our coffee cup – but these are generally small losses that produce little more than annoyance or frustration. But then there are the greater losses – the job that was fulfilling and provided a livelihood that ends, divorce, the death of a much loved pet, or watching a parent or spouse’s memory being wiped away by dementia. These kinds of endings constrict our hearts and our bodies, making it seem as if an internal fire is burning away the emotional attachments we’ve had to people, places and things. We try desperately to hold on, but sear ourselves even more as we cling. The process of grief can be exhausting and take a significant amount of time as we move through denial, anger, bargaining, and depression. When we embrace acceptance, our emotionally burned spirits collapse into the arms of Death, seeking peace (white dove). It whispers to us that life must be lived forward. Gratitude for the experience of what was can help us heal and move on.

 

“Freedom is gained in releasing. Life is change.

Our white knuckled grip from clinging

to avoid that which is inevitable

brings great suffering.

Our hands tire and ache.

When we finally open them, allowing our fingers to stretch,

we exhale and soften.

Everything softens.”

 

~Mary Jane Dodd