Death and The Moon - Similarities

kyle8921

So... I've had my deck of Rider-Waite Tarot cards for about a year now. I really got into them at first, then in the summer I quit believing, but now, I have become interested again...

Anyway, I realized that there are just too many cards for me to remember every card's meaning, partly because so many cards have similar meanings. So.. I have been studying the artwork on every card and have found many similarities between many of the cards.

Well, I can't seem to find explanations online...

So.. in Death and in The Moon, there are two large gray towers, each with a black dot on it. In The Moon, the moon is either rising or setting between these towers. In Death, the moon or sun is either rising or setting between them also.

Any idea what the towers symbolize?
 

phoenixblu

hey welcome to ATF there is a study group for that here somewhere (http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=34124!).... I dont have the deck personally.. but sometimes your best to just say what you see :D

on my deck... death when I read is about situations ending, another door opening. Mainly something coming to an end.. be it an event, phase etc...

the moon is more about reflection and many sides to something... ie. not always what is appears to be, under an illusion... depending on the sitaution I am reading... it can sometimes be taken as time to withdraw and reflect on the situation... depends on the Q.
 

Abrac

I read one place they are supposed to be the gates of Hell. })
 

Alta

phoenixblu said:
hey welcome to ATF there is a study group for that here somewhere
This Forum *is* the study group for RWS. The three major decks each have a Forum. Marion
 

Summersnowflake

Hi kyle8921,

I've also been studying the artwork to try and get a better grasp on the Rider-Waite cards, but I will admit I didn't notice the towers being apparently the very same ones in Death and the Moon.

I don't know if those represent specific towers (like from history or archeology) or even mythology or religion, but they do seem to be a gateway.

I've always thought the sun is rising in the Death card, making the towers the gateway to a better time ahead. They look pretty dreary from this side, but I imagine them to be lovelier on the other side.

The Moon card, as I understand it, is about the journey itself. Unfortunately a journey in the moonlight is full of dangers and obstacles both real and imagined. The landscape on the other side of the gate looks completely unknown, probably because it's in semi-darkness. But the river flowing out from the distant mountains reminds me of Temperance, and there the sun is rising again, so I think the idea is to journey on, keep your footing as best you can and not lose hope.

The moon in The Moon looks curiously like the sun and kind of ticked off about something, I'm not sure what to make of that.

Of all the "scary" cards (death, the devil, the tower, judgement) the Moon is particularly scary to me, because I'm pretty tough when it comes to bearing up to what comes my way in life, but I can get totally pulled under by my own worries and fears, so this one gets to me.

You've made a really interesting observation, now I'm going back again to see what other similarities I've missed! The Rider-Waite artwork is certainly full of clues and hints. It's fun to study!
 

The crowned one

kyle8921 said:
So.. in Death and in The Moon, there are two large gray towers, each with a black dot on it. In The Moon, the moon is either rising or setting between these towers. In Death, the moon or sun is either rising or setting between them also.

Any idea what the towers symbolize?

They represent a gateway.
 

HoneyBea

This is an interesting question, the two towers in the Moon card are the same as seen in the Death card. In the Death Card it shows a ship that moves towards the rising sun that appears between the two towers - representing for us a new dawn.... but in the Moon they represent I think the other side, we have moved through the transition but some how have allowed our experience to move us back to a basic state. However the Moon card is also linked to the High Priestess card and perhaps also the towers are symbols of the two columns she sits between. Now they show that on the Moon card we have moved beyond the veil of the HP and have to confront what it is we find.
 

mystic mal

In symbology The Moon and Death represent the "Womb and the Tomb"
We are "entombed in the womb" when pro-creation is taking place and entombed in the tomb when we die.The towers to me are the only structures that are built representing DNA structure whilst in the womb..these 2 cards are similar because its the pattern of life,birth and death.Also it can represents the "gate of hell" when referring to giving birth and the painful entrance into the World.
 

Starling

The "towers" or "pillars" show up in a lot of the cards. They don't always look the same. In the 9 of Pentacles, for example, they are trees.

They are the same and they are different. Always duality, but the kind of duality changes depending on the card.

I've just checked the Moon and Death and you are right, those towers are identical, so these two cards are much closer in meaning than I would have expected. The Moon is a "night" card. The moon is well above the towers. But it is actually an eclipse because the sun is there too. So, is it day or is it night? Because although we think of the moon as being out at night, if frequently is actually out during the day.

In Death the sun is just rising, or setting between the towers. Once again, is it the beginning of day, or the beginning of night?

Thanks for starting this thread. It is very interesting.
 

patrickjutte

death and the moon

hi,

I think these two cards belong to each other, not just the two towers, but:
Look at the death card, at the right foot of the skeleton there is an arrow that points towards the cave. So, the Fool is entering the underworld and comes out of the underworld in the Mooncard, symbolizes by the crayfish that comes out of the water (from darkness to the light (the Sun)). The skeleton wears an armour, so does the crayfish (his shield). The cards between Death and the Moon (the Devil and the Tower) symbolizers the underworld.

greetings Patrick