Arcanum 13: Death
Closing a chapter
An ending makes room for something new, if you allow it to happen.
A figure in black armour on a white horse, carrying a flag with a white rose, passes an old traveller, a woman and a child, who look at him without fear. In the distance the sun rises between two towers. This is about closing chapters, roles and habits, and the space they leave behind.
Gifts and potential pitfalls
- Gift
- You recognise when something has run its course and can calmly bring it to a close. This leaves you energy for things that fit who you are today.
- Shadow
- The familiar feels safer, so you may prolong something that ended long ago. You may also close a matter too quickly to avoid a difficult conversation.
- First step
- Give away or discard one thing that has served its purpose, and thank it silently.
In a pair
When this arcanum is at the centre of a shared matrix:
Together you take off old patterns like heavy armour and breathe more easily.
In the karmic tail
When this arcanum appears at one of the three points below the centre:
Something ended long ago, yet you keep attending the same meetings for months or hold onto things “just in case”. Sometimes the opposite happens: you leave without a word before things become awkward. List three things you keep out of habit and set a farewell date for one.
Where this arcanum appears in the matrix
The centre and other points are sums, so this arcanum can appear for many different dates. Three points depend directly on the date:
- Point A (personality): birth day: 13.
- Point B cannot have this arcanum: there are only twelve months.
- Point C (sum of birth-year digits), 1900–2026: 1921 (1 + 9 + 2 + 1 = 13), 1930 (1 + 9 + 3 + 0 = 13). Number of such years: 4.