XIII Death – Matter and Antimatter Every particle has a corresponding antimatter particle. Antimatter has an opposite charge to ordinary matter, like the negatively-charged electron which has a positive antiparticle known as a positron (familiar to all viewers of Star Trek!). When a particle meets its antiparticle partner they annihilate each other in pure energy, which then goes on to form other particles.
But here’s the weird thing; although we know that antimatter exists, the universe is made up entirely of ordinary matter. Where’s all the antimatter? No-one knows. Antimatter particles are created briefly in particle accelerators, but they are quickly annihilated and changed into other particles. There’s a theory that in the very early days of the universe there were almost equal parts of matter and antimatter. But because there was slightly more matter, it quickly annihilated all the antimatter and we ended up with a universe composed solely of matter.
We might all like the idea of vanquishing physical death like matter destroying antimatter, but would it really be so great? Matter and antimatter may destroy each other, but out of that combustion comes new energy and new forms. This is part of the constant dance of change that is our universe, and the Death card represents the destructive part of this cycle.
As human beings we are constantly changing and adapting to our environments, but paradoxically we also resist change because we find it fearful. Even if the change is clearly for the better it often comes with a certain amount of resistance. Perhaps because change is essentially a form of death and it reminds us of our own mortality. The Death card requires us to let go and allow the change to happen. It may be something real and tangible, or it may simply be an outworn idea of ourselves. The fear, once faced, releases us to the process of change and we can transform like the particles that compose our bodies into pure energy, into something completely new.
Death Questions: What do you need to let go of? What is changing? What is dying? What are you resisting? What are you most afraid of?
Death Things to Do: Mourn. Clear our some stuff. Do something that scares you. Sit in the dark.
Death Quotes: Death is the sanction of everything the story-teller can tell. He has borrowed his authority from death. Walter Benjamin
Death destroys a man, but the idea of death saves him. EM Forster
Death is a Dialogue between,
The Spirit and the Dust. Emily Dickinson
Change begets change. Nothing propagates so fast. If a man habituated to a narrow circle of cares and pleasures, out of which he seldom travels, step beyond it, though for never so brief a space, his departure from the monotonous scene on which he has been an actor of importance would seem to be the signal for instant confusion.... The mine which Time has slowly dug beneath familiar objects is sprung in an instant; and what was rock before, becomes but sand and dust. Charles Dickens
Death Movies: Death Becomes Her “'Til death do us part! Well, you girls are dead. And I'm parting.”
American Beauty “I feel like I've been in a coma for the past twenty years. And I'm just now waking up”
The Seventh Seal “Nothing escapes me. No one escapes me.”
Donnie Darko “I hope that when the world comes to an end, I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to.”
