(Originally posted on Kickstarter as a campaign update for Other Worlds Tarot)
The day the proof deck was delivered to me, I did two readings. Until that moment, I had still been comparing my imagery to that which I had drawn from and was trying to move away from. It made me realize that even though I *created* this deck, I still have to learn to think of it and its messages in its own terms.
To that end, I’ve been doing a lot of single card pulls for myself. I’ll be sharing some of them (and maybe some pairs too) here.
Today I pulled 13 – Death
In pop culture representations of tarot readings, this card is often used to signify danger and maybe the death of a person—even the person receiving the reading. I think it’s also becoming popular knowledge that it rarely (?) denotes a literal death.
In Other Worlds, Death is robed in yellow. It is a nearly starless night though a full moon shines above. The moon reflects the sun’s light, and the sun always rises.
Death is passing through the night, they are in motion. The path they walk is a nebula cloud, and it not only expands in the figure’s wake but also peeks out in front of their robes, showing the next steps to take.
Paradoxically, nebula clouds form from the debris of a star gone supernova (i.e., dead) AND become “star nurseries” where new stars are formed from the very same material. This is the perfect metaphor for the wisdom within the Death card—things/ideas/dreams may naturally die, yet within the remains of those can be found where we are being led next. Take a few steps back inside of the nebula cloud, that which has died. Honor and understand it and spend some time mourning the loss. Give the nebula a little time to grow, to change from star debris to star nursery. Be still while some of the nebula cloud reaches in front of you, guiding your first next steps toward what will be born.
