Death in Tarot: Transformation, Renewal, and the Eternal Cycle

The Death card is perhaps the most misunderstood archetype in the tarot. Its name alone often causes unease, yet anyone who has spent time with this card knows it does not speak of literal death so much as the sacred process of endings, transformation, and rebirth. 

The Death card is my personal archetype, one that seems to shadow me through life, nudging me to let go when I cling, and reminding me that cycles must complete before new ones can truly begin.

In Lieselle’s Eternal Tarot Deck

The Death card emerges as a vivid meditation on the inevitability and necessity of change. The central image is a two-headed phoenix shaped into the infinity symbol: a creature that embodies renewal, burning to ash only to rise again, endless in its cycle. Unlike the fearsome skeleton rider of the Rider–Waite–Smith deck, here Death is not a faceless force arriving from the outside. Instead, it is a symbol of eternal continuity, a reminder that destruction and creation are not separate but intertwined. 

In the version I have created, the imagery whispers of the profound opportunity hidden within collapse, the way every ending quietly prepares the ground for regeneration.

Supporting this are symbols that press more urgently on the psyche: the moth drawn irresistibly to the flame, an image of the inescapable pull of change, and the hourglasses, grains slipping steadily down to remind us that time is finite. Unlike the Rider–Waite–Smith card, which often gives us the sense of a grand cosmic procession... the black-armoured rider, the fallen bodies, the rising sun in the background; my Death card pushes closer to the personal. 

It asks not only that we recognise change as inevitable, but that we feel its urgency. The moth does not deliberate over whether to approach the flame, just as we cannot endlessly delay the transformations that call to us. The hourglass insists that life is short, and if we resist the ending of one chapter, we risk squandering the chance to write the next.

Death in the Rider–Waite–Smith

The Rider–Waite Death card, by contrast, presents Death as an external, undeniable presence. A skeletal knight rides forward in black armour, a banner of white roses held high. Around him, kings fall, children gaze in innocence, and clergy bow in resignation. The message here is sweeping and universal: no matter our status, our innocence, or our piety, change will come for us all. What softens the starkness of this image, however, is the horizon. Beyond the scene of endings, the sun rises between two towers, bathing the sky in gold. The promise is simple yet profound: endings are never final. From death comes dawn, and from loss comes renewal.

Juxtaposing the two versions reveals an interesting tension. The Rider–Waite–Smith Death card feels archetypal, almost impersonal, insisting that change is a force greater than us, one we cannot control or evade. Lieselle’s Eternal Tarot reframes the archetype more intimately, drawing us into our own agency within transformation. The phoenix does not wait passively for the end; it embraces death, burns willingly, and takes its place in the cycle of rebirth. Where Rider–Waite shows the collective inevitability of change, my card reminds us of our personal responsibility to embrace it.

I think both perspectives are interesting. Together they hold the paradox of the Death card: change is both greater than us and yet lives within us. 

We cannot escape transformation, but we can choose how we meet it. 

We can resist until we are dragged forward, or we can step into the flames like the moth, trusting in the phoenix’s promise that from the ashes something new will always rise.

For me, the Death card remains a teacher of courage. It asks me to honour what has ended, to grieve if I must, but never to confuse an ending with annihilation. Every hourglass that empties clears space for renewal. Every flame that consumes is also a beacon. And every phoenix, even two-headed and eternal, teaches the same truth: life is change, and change is life.

Embrace Transformation with the Eternal Tarot

Lieselle’s Eternal Tarot reimagines the Death card as a phoenix of renewal, reminding us that every ending prepares the way for new beginnings. Each hand-illustrated card carries this depth of wisdom, guiding you through life’s cycles with clarity and courage.

Discover Lieselle's Eternal Tarot