April 19, 2010 - Death

Today was an early day so rather than starting my day with a card, I chose my card at the end of the day, asking what lesson should I take from today to promote my happiness.  The Death card is what came up.

The Death card in the Tarot seldom refers to actual death but it does herald endings.  I'm not very good at endings.  If I was a song, I'd be a Prince song, with an ending that goes on and on and on.  And I suspect the last few years have been encouraging me to find peace with ends since they are inevitable.

The Death card can be about transitions, changing status, moving from the known to the unknown, waiting in an in-between state (I actually wrote a poem today called Mr. In-Between).  And this card can also be about eliminating excess, getting back to basics and concentrating on essentials.  Finally, this card is about inexorable forces, going through what cannot be avoided, riding your fate, and accepting the inevitable.  All of these have been my lessons the last few years, including an ending that brings great change.

In the Jane Austen Tarot, the death card depicts the death of Henry Dashwood, the father of Elinor and Marianne, the two sisters and heroines of Sense and Sensibility.  In the short term, Henry Dashwood's death negatively effects the girls emotionally and financially.  They lose the house and status they were accustomed to as well.  Yet from this one end, such repercussions come, bad and good.  The two women might never have found true love without their father's death.  This too is hard for me, to hope for good amid the bad.  At this point, I can't say this way was the better way.  I miss the things that are gone, the people too.  And yet, gone they are and this is my life now.  What's gone is gone.  We can only keep walking along our path.  As Machado said, the path is made by walking.  So our paths are made by our feet and our movement and motion.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring.  I'll keep you posted.