XIII · Major Arcana
Death
Arawn
An ending that is structurally a doorway, whatever it feels like from this side.
Upright
Something is genuinely over. Stop negotiating with it. What is being cleared away is making room, and the new form cannot arrive while you are holding the old one upright.
Reversed
Not used in Raynebow readings - reversals are off in the product. Shown here for reference.
Clinging to what has already died, or a transition dragged out until it hurts more than the cut would have. Fear of change disguised as loyalty.
Keywords
endings · transformation · transition · release · the otherworld
The Welsh story
Arawn is king of Annwn, the Welsh otherworld — not a hell but a country of feasting and white red-eared hounds. He and Pwyll exchanged shapes and kingdoms for a year and a day, each living the other's life entirely, and returned as lasting friends. Annwn borders this world closely; crossing into it is a transformation, not an ending.
On the card
The clean end of something.