13-Despair – Upright Salem Deck

Your Chosen Card – Despair Upright Salem Deck

When upright, the Death trump signals a period of significant change and transformation. A new seed is sprouting in your life. One chapter is ending and another beginning. This necessary process should not be denied or avoided. The major theme of this card is ‘out with the old to make way for the new.’ Have courage to face the unknown because new life awaits you. Keep in mind the biblical admonition: ‘Except a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone: but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit’ (John 12:24, KJV).

Keywords Upright: Transition, transformation, a sprouting seed, major change, endings, renewal, a necessary change, propagation, a sprouting seed, new growth, the closing of a chapter, shutting a door, entering a new stage of existence, liberation, release, metamorphosis, transfiguration, moving on, the need to let go, an inevitable ending, the natural cycle of life and death, courage to face the unknown.

Key XIII: Death
Myths/Archetypes: Osiris. Dionysus. The Angel of Death. The Eleusinian Mysteries. The phoenix myth. Transfiguration. Easter. The Resurrection.
Dates of Scorpio: 23 October–22 November (tropical); 16 November–15 December (sidereal)
Astrology: Scorpio, the Scorpion (a Water sign ruled by Mars and Pluto)
Numerology: 4 (Emperor) = 1 + 3 (Death) = 2 + 2 (The Fool)

Hebrew letter: Nun (a sprouting seed; a Hebrew word meaning to propagate, bear offspring, perpetuate life, continue on to a new generation, increase; also posterity, a son or an heir). The pictograph of Nun resembles a human sperm. In Aramaic, the word nun means fish, a symbol important to Christianity. This card reminds us that death is part of the natural process of engendering new life.

When Despair is upright you can pretty much take it that life is going well but that’s when life takes us by surprise.  If Despair is unclear it may help to choose a card from the Major Arcana to provide more insight into what it is Despair is trying to tell you.  If you had a particular issue in  mind, or want to seek clarification on something else, you can also choose again to get more guidance.

This chosen card is part of your upright card reading for Despair using cards from the Salem Tarot Deck. You will find many more tarot pages that will be of great help if you need tarot card meanings. Use the search at the bottom of the page. We have some amazing tarot books for you to browse. Please see below.


Here are some snippets from a few of my favorite books

Portable Magic
Book Details
Portable Magic: It will be found that with Tarot cards of the usual proportions for example, the standard Rider Waite deck the circle of the zodiac trumps is almost exactly the correct size to enclose the four Aces of the altar. The elegance of this relationship is at once apparent when the circle is laid out around the cross. No space is wasted within the circle, and the ritual layout of the cards is rendered as compact as it could possibly be made, so that it takes up the least area on the working surface for a given deck of Tarot cards. A deck of large cards will require a bigger working space than a deck of small cards, but the efficiency of the layout is preserved in either case.

Tarot Books

Complete Book of Tarot: Myth 8: The Death card means that you or someone close to you is about to die.

Development for Beginners: desires are manifested. At the time of death, the astral body permanently leaves the physical body.

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Development for Beginners: desires are manifested. At the time of death, the astral body permanently leaves the physical body.