Scorpio Tarot: Death
I think it’s fair to say that as far as the study of astrology is concerned, Scorpio is having a moment right now. Perhaps the Astro Poets, Alex Dimitrov and Dorothea Lasky, sum it up the best in their recent book: “With its moody, occult, rainy-day black-light black-nail-polish essence, in some ways Scorpio and astrology go hand in hand.” So it only makes sense that such an iconic zodiac sign would be associated with one of the most iconic cards in the Tarot: #13 Death.
Whenever this card appears in a reading, everyone is quick to point out that it doesn’t mean that you and/or someone you care about will surely die imminently. This interpretation flies in the face of the illustration on the traditional Rider-Waite deck: a skeletal figure riding a pale horse, indiscriminately mowing down whatever kings, queens, children, or priests stand in their way. In his “Pictorial Key to the Tarot,” Arthur Edward Waite explains that the card “has been said to signify the ascent of the spirit in the divine spheres, creation and destruction, perpetual movement,” in short, anything pertaining to “change and transformation.”
In this respect, the parallels to baseball are clear, even before looking at the Baseball Tarot deck. The World Series comes to a close during Scorpio season (at least in the current 162-game schedule), so the sign encompasses the transition from hectic, tense, and exciting playoff baseball to the cold, long, and arduous offseason. Of course, this year’s offseason will likely be quite lively in its own right, with the specter of labor stoppage looming on the horizon. But such celestial pursuits as tarot and astrology are not concerned with petty matters like collective bargaining agreements.
The analog to the Death card in Mark Lerner and Laura Philips’s Baseball Tarot is, somewhat predictably, Retirement. “After years immersed in the beloved game, with a mind and heart filled with memories both sublime and haunting, a time of transition has arrived.” The focus of this card should not be on whatever might be ending, but the feeling of “letting go, and ideally, an openness to what lies ahead.” I can imagine that the times of “major catharsis” or “death-rebirth experiences” evoked by this card would be right up the alley of most Scorpios.
We’re still early in the offseason, but we’ve likely already seen the most impactful retirement of a Major League player that will occur between 2021 and ’22: Aries catcher Buster Posey. After sitting out the 2020 season due to COVID-19, the former NL MVP and three-time World Champion decided to hang up his spikes on the heels of a magnificent comeback season. Not only did he make his seventh All-Star team, he also posted the second-highest OPS of his 12-year career, spent entirely with the Giants. The fact that Posey decided to end his career after the season, rather than returning for a “farewell tour” in 2022 (for which he would have been paid $22 million) shows that he does not have a Scorpio’s true understanding of the concept of retirement.
Next time, I’m returning to my in-depth looks at the 2021 signs with the second-place (overall, but leaders in the Positive Polarity) Libra Scales!