DEATH § JUDGEMENT § SEVEN OF CUPS
Death is the 13th card in the Tarot and it depicts a full transformation from one material reality to another. In music, a rhythmic sequence is only resolved by the first note of the next sequence and, as such, every beat owes its identity to the mystical and powerful glut between the two. We are in the full throes of an unavoidable process between the end of one way of being and the start of the next. There is no better guide than Death to summon us through this deep and, to be honest, dark time. As a metaphor the Death card offers the opportunity to create deep change within ourselves. Now is the time to change something in our character, to come to terms with embedded flaws and narcissistic tendencies. Of course, at this current moment, it also means physical Death and what may or may not come after. Each of us is undergoing very real transformations and those eager to play that first note of the next sequence, those who accept the gap, the unsolvable mystery of existence, will be the most resilient. Be warned, however, that those who can not accept this intense void will make of themselves a formidable foe instead.
We are fortunate to see the Judgement card. This is a powerful beckoning, a magnetic pull that can assist us with exactly what we require at this moment. Judgement is a call to rise, to stretch, to use our own willingness and volition to reach that next height, to play that first note of the new sequence. Judgement calls to us from across the void, a simple and beautiful song that gives us not only the belief in ourselves that we can survive our grief but also transform the world that created that grief. Judgement calls to us to reach up, to use our willingness to become a new version of ourselves, a version we may not even have known we desired, but one that makes us feel more like ourselves than we ever have. This is the call and now is time to answer it.
We land in the conundrums offered by the Seven of Cups. We are likely to be unsure of what to do with who we and our closest friends and allies have become, and the permanent changes that have taken our former world from under our feet. While it is wise to prepare oneself for an extended period of uncertainty, it is most beneficial to recognize the options for building toward societies and cultures capable of honoring our highest goals. As the novelist and poet Dorothy Allison once penned: Survival is the least of my desires. What comes next is a whirlwind of grief and transformation and possibility. We require faith and vision and the wisdom to know one never travels without the other. May we believe it possible to journey without a compass this time.
illustration by Karla Rosas
