To me, the Death card represents the absolute end of a chapter in one’s life, and implicitly therefore – a new beginning!
Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a book about a seagull who believes there is more to life than simply existing. Refusing to conform to the restricting life of the flock that has cast him out, he continues to pursue his ideas independently, learning more and more until eventually he has learnt all he can from his current life and must move on.
This card shows a solitary seagull (Jonathan) leaving behind the flock he no longer belongs to as he moves up and on towards the next stage in his life.
I have represented the flock as grey and static, symbolic of the uninspiring, limited present situation. In contrast, Jonathan (the 13th gull) is pure white and shown in full motion, propelled inevitably to leave behind this life that he has outgrown. As he ascends, the blue background tones increasingly lighten, to validate his faith in the promise of a brighter and better future ahead.
As the gulls in the book who escort Jonathan to the next world remark, “One school has finished, and the time has come for another to begin.”