Grand Etteilla 1857 · Tarot Card 17
Grand Etteilla Tarot Card 17 — Mortality / Nothingness
Mortality sets a limit; Nothingness removes form and continuity. The card should not be used to predict a specific death, but to address finitude and an irreversible ending.
What is shown on the card?
A skeleton carrying a scythe walks through a barren landscape; behind it stands a tomb bearing a skull and crossed bones.
Printed meanings in the 1857 edition
Mortality
“Mortality” denotes the limits of life and the inevitability of an ending. This is broader than a claim that death is imminent.
Nothingness
“Nothingness” names emptiness, dissolution or the absence of continuation. The card itself provides no further philosophical explanation.
The printed pair and the book’s sentence-building method are historical evidence. Love, work and daily applications are explicitly marked TarotCards24 editorial commentary.
Commentary and difference from RWS
There is no direct RWS equivalent. Card 17 must not be equated with a similarly numbered or illustrated Rider–Waite–Smith card because Grand Etteilla uses its own sequence, printed pairs and sentence-building method.
There is no direct RWS equivalent. Card 17 must not be equated with a similarly numbered or illustrated Rider–Waite–Smith card because Grand Etteilla uses its own sequence, printed pairs and sentence-building method.
Alternative reading: In everyday questions, it may indicate the end of a plan, role or attachment when the context supports an actual conclusion.
Practical interpretation
Love: In relationships, it concerns a definitive ending or the need to release a form that is no longer alive. It calls for clear language without dramatization.
Work: At work, it may mark the expiry of a task, role or organisational unit and calls for an orderly close.
As a person: The card describes a boundary experience more than a personality type; it may point to someone strongly confronted with loss or impermanence.
If this is your card today: Bring one matter that demonstrably has no continuation to a clean close, and avoid unsupported catastrophic interpretations.
Continue exploring Grand Etteilla 1857 Tarot
Frequently asked questions
What does Grand Etteilla Tarot Card 17 — Mortality / Nothingness mean in the first position?
“Mortality” denotes the limits of life and the inevitability of an ending. This is broader than a claim that death is imminent.
What does Grand Etteilla Tarot Card 17 — Mortality / Nothingness mean in the second position?
“Nothingness” names emptiness, dissolution or the absence of continuation. The card itself provides no further philosophical explanation.
What does Grand Etteilla Tarot Card 17 — Mortality / Nothingness mean in love?
In relationships, it concerns a definitive ending or the need to release a form that is no longer alive. It calls for clear language without dramatization.
What does Grand Etteilla Tarot Card 17 — Mortality / Nothingness mean at work?
At work, it may mark the expiry of a task, role or organisational unit and calls for an orderly close.
What kind of person does Grand Etteilla Tarot Card 17 — Mortality / Nothingness describe?
The card describes a boundary experience more than a personality type; it may point to someone strongly confronted with loss or impermanence.