Death (XIII) and goddess Morena (Marzanna)
Very often people who are not too familiar with the tarot cards and their meanings feel quite a strong resentment when the Death card appears in their readings. It’s no surprise really, just the name of the card can give one the chills, plus its image has been significantly affected by popular culture, and more specifically films which assimilate the tarot’s Death with the actual passing of the characters on the screen.
But in reality, it’s not such a bad card to see in one’s reading, especially, when life’s been giving us lemons. The card foretells transformation. It can relate to our inner world that will bring a shift in our consciousness and self-awareness, but also it may indicate changes to external circumstances, be it work or home related. One phase is ending for a new one to begin or as Seneca put it “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”
The card’s advice is to let go of what no longer serves us, learn from the past and move towards the future.
Similarities to the XIIIth card of the Major Arcana can be found in the Slavic goddess Morena. Often compared to the Greek goddess Hecate or Roman Ceres.
The Slavic ancestors believed that she was the goddess of death and winter. But as with many Slavic deities there are two aspects to her, and so she was also seen as the goddess of spring and rebirth (putting aside the discussion whether there are in fact one or two goddesses).
As with every end comes a new beginning, allowing the light to pave its way through the darkness, as spring comes after winter and the world’s transformation commences. Morena takes away the dark and gloomy wintertime to allow seedtime, planting and harvest. The Death card triggers a positive but often unexpected change that will bring spiritual awakening, in a way the springtime of our lives.
Both represent the end and the beginning at the same time, and both encourage us to start anew and step onto a brand-new path of exploring the unexplored.
[Art: Source: Internet, artist unknown]