The Death Painting

According to Eden Gray and other authors on the subject, it is uncommon that this card actually represents a physical death, rather it typically implies an end, possibly of a relationship or interest, and therefore an increased sense of self-awareness.[1][2] In fact, Gray interprets this card as a change of thinking from an old way into a new way. The horse Death is riding is stepping over a prone king, which symbolizes that not even royalty can stop change.[3] The card, drawn in reverse, can be interpreted as stagnation and the inability to move or change according to Gray.[4] According to A. E. Waite's 1910 book The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, the Death card carries several divinatory associations:[5] 13. DEATH.—End, mortality, destruction, corruption; also, for a man, the loss of a benefactor; for a woman, many contrarieties; for a maid, failure of marriage projects. Reversed: Inertia, sleep, lethargy, petrifaction, somnambulism; hope destroyed. In Astrology, the Death card is associated with the fixed-water sign of Scorpio and its ruling planet, Pluto