Quite possibly the most feared and misunderstood in the tarot deck: Death…

The traditional Rider-Waite deck depicts Death as a skeletal knight in dark armor mounted on a horse. Before him the Pope prays (or perhaps he is welcoming him?). Next to him a woman swoons and falls over, yet her young child stands undeterred. Underneath the feet of death’s horse lies the King, whose crown has fallen from his head and rolled away.

Without actually referencing this card while I was crafting it, I managed to include several of the same elements. You’ll notice the photo of JFK’s son in the corner, dressed in bright blue, saluting at his father’s funeral. Also, hidden under the left wheel of the car is a postmortem photo of JFK’s head with it’s brains exposed - a parallel to the fallen crown of the King. JFK himself is illuminated by a combination halo/cross-hairs. The cross in the cross-hairs is also a double reference to his being Catholic - and to Jesus being the original martyr murdered before his people.

Lee Harvey Oswald looms in the background. This is the photo which in Oliver Stone’s JFK they show being faked. If I remember correctly, there’s something about the way the shadows fall that doesn’t match between the head and the body. Oswald in this case stands in for the Angel of Death - even though I really don’t think he did it. As he said, “I’m just a patsy” - which I think is an apt thing for Death to say. Like if you were the Grim Reaper and you had to go harvest souls, you’d probably have a lot of people all pissed off at you. And you’d always have to be like, “Hey man, I’m just doing my job. This comes all the way from the top. I’m just a patsy.”

In the upper right corner we see the famous diagram of the Magic Bullet theory. This theory was pioneered by now-Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter - curiously “spectre” is another word for ghost. The Magic Bullet diagram reminds us that no matter how unfair or implausible Death may be, we can’t change it. We can argue all we want, but getting shot is getting shot, no matter how you slice it. In the background is the grassy knoll in the chaotic aftermath of the shooting. It stands for the state of utter confusion and turmoil that death places us in.

Despite popular opinion though, the Death card in tarot readings almost never means literal physical death. It usually points to really dramatic transformation, to being completely humbled by an extreme passage into a new state of being. It may be uncomfortable and it may seem violent, but in some way that’s difficult for us to really understand, it’s necessary. When it happens we’ve got to just go through it and see what awaits on the other side. There is hope, there is new beginning and potential. This is symbolized by JFK, Jr. saluting in his little blue coat.

This card may be combined with others for new interpretations and shades of meaning. For example, the Secret Society card is often associated with the real-life assassination of JFK. People want to look beneath the surface and figure out “what really happened” and “who did it.” All noble and important sentiments, but the death card reminds us that theorizing after the fact will never change what has happened. Another supporting card is the Divine Chaos card. These two cards taken together indicate a radical and possibly explosive change which may be difficult to understand - a revolution of sorts - but one guided by a higher power.

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