When does a death card really mean death?

Nemia said:

I tried I don't know how many times to post an answer here but somehow am not allowed. Weird. I'll try again.

Click to expand...

Don't cut and paste from word.
Change your wording a bit...
Known issue; see the general help section ! http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=264019

ANYWAY - I'd say on the whole not unless the question asked had something in it that could possibly result in death. If you are reading for someone who is seriously ill for instance, and they ask about their next Christmas... If the sitter asks if the car they are thinking of buying is a good idea and it has dicey brakes... The context in thespread will usually tell you.

I am not one who likes the title change to "transformation" and the rest - but it CAN simply mean that; end of one thing and start of another.

No chance, no matter how I try to change the text.

I put my answer on my blog.

http://mataswintha777.tumblr.com/post/156886590618/the-meaning-of-the-death-card

Sorry! It's not that important but... I like the Death card and HAD to have my say ;-)

Thanks for all the interesting insights. I have been caught up with work. I wlll give feedback this weekend I need to digest all this info first

As others have said, it rarely means actual death just on its own. However, if I got Death, Tower, and Chariot together and I was planning a trip by car, train, plane, or boat I think I'd change my plans.

I once had a friend who thought I was silly to fear flying. She said it wouldn't matter whether I flew or not. If I was meant to die in a plane crash but I hadn't gotten on a plane, one would just fall out of the sky and kill me anyway. As I sat in my RV in Oregon a couple of years ago in an area where planes don't usually fly over, there were F-16's on two occasions that flew over very low. As I sat there listening to the roaring coming closer and closer and closer, you can bet I was wondering if she was right and that death was imminent.

But back to the Death card. Others have mentioned more cards that might also mean death, but as everyone has said, not the Death card alone. Maybe if that were the only card you drew when you asked about your health or something in a one-card draw might mean it.

Sometimes it's really obvious. I do a three-card draw each day, usually with the Centennial Smith-Waite, and I hardly ever pull the Death card.

When my mother was dying, the first card I pulled the day before she died was Death. The other two were the 6 of Wands (her, triumphing over the long illness that robbed her of the enjoyment of daily life), and the 5 of Pentacles (me, impoverished by losing her).

Thanks very much Denever for sharing your personal experience with the death card in the literal sense.

That gives me a good idea that death can sometimes really mean death. Did you know what it meant then, or it was in hindsight if you don't mind me asking.

Grizabella, got it. I just pulled a chariot card two cards after death in my other reading so am very perplexed about the yarn that's being spun.

Gregory, agreed on how I feel transformation but still, it feels like a rather dark card to get. It makes me feel that it's not something I'd like.

Sunchariot, I guess physical death is also something that's hard to break to a querent.

Nemia, thanks for the link to your blog. It's a nice read.

Padma, l, I have some of these cards you mentioned in a recent reading where death was the first card
But I Fong know what to make of it. I got the sun.

Moon paw, Faced with it in my own reading, I really don't know what to make of it.

Barleywine, whatever it is.. it seems that
death is the end of something

Carojulie. Thanks for pointing out the different scenarios death may apply and not mean physical death. I agree with you. That's why I find it a hard card

Headincloud I'm sorry about your loss. Will bear in mind about 10s of swords

Lefou that's the tricky part. There are so many instances, so many transitions in life where the death card may apply then

I don't mind at all, Noob. I knew exactly what it meant. My mom was 92 and she'd recently been admitted to hospice. She asked for me and my sister a couple of days before our next scheduled visit because she knew she was dying. We rushed down to be with her because we knew it, too. I drew those cards in my hotel room the next morning, and she died the day after that.

I was so used to the idea of the Death card not meaning literal death that I just stared at the card for a while before I drew the other two. I've often drawn cards that were very accurate about what was going on in my life or that answered very clearly whatever question I asked, but this was a whole new level of literalness and accuracy.

That said, if I drew it again tomorrow, or six months from now, I wouldn't worry that it meant another actual death.

Noob said:

Thanks very much Denever for sharing your personal experience with the death card in the literal sense.

That gives me a good idea that death can sometimes really mean death. Did you know what it meant then, or it was in hindsight if you don't mind me asking..

Click to expand...

I guess your case illustrates how spot on tarot is.

I rarely draw the death card but in a most recent reading (I have listed it in "Your Readings") I drew it when I asked about a relationship. Some cards after seem positive so i don't know what to make of it.

I'm very troubled. When I first asked this question in UTC, it was purely out of curiosity

Now I don't know how to apply to my situation

Denever said:

I don't mind at all, Noob. I knew exactly what it meant. My mom was 92 and she'd recently been admitted to hospice. She asked for me and my sister a couple of days before our next scheduled visit because she knew she was dying. We rushed down to be with her because we knew it, too. I drew those cards in my hotel room the next morning, and she died the day after that.

I was so used to the idea of the Death card not meaning literal death that I just stared at the card for a while before I drew the other two. I've often drawn cards that were very accurate about what was going on in my life or that answered very clearly whatever question I asked, but this was a whole new level of literalness and accuracy.

That said, if I drew it again tomorrow, or six months from now, I wouldn't worry that it meant another actual death.

Click to expand...

I just wish to say here some of you have so much info and knowledge to share that I can only say thank you for the enlightenment. And honestly, that's how I feel about some of the input. I don't have anything to add, because I don't know better.

But I definitely know more now after you learned readers have shared.

The only thing I can say sometimes is really thank you, cos wow, I didn't know all these. Especially Barleywine's input. You must be a scholar! You tell me about the historical origins of meanings behind some of these cards. Grizabella has also given a healthy dose of sensibility which must be honed from reading and life experiences. SunCharity's inputs always have a sense of sensitivity, humanity and kindness, while headincloud's is pragmatic and clear to understand. Gregory's posts sometimes make me smile cos of his wit and also because his willingness to share is touched with kindness

I really sometimes have nothing to say beyond thank you because I'm new to reading and haven't had the wealth of experiences in seeing different scenarios in which the cards apply
differently.

Though this may not be apparent as I'm off duty when writing in this forum, I'm a trained journalist and as they always say in the newsroom: if you have nothing substantial to say, don't say something for the sake of saying something.

I will still try for the sake of abiding by these rules but I just want to explain i am not being difficult or anti-establishment.

Death once showed up in a reading. I didn't realize until later that it meant a missed miscarriage, so there is one example. (I thought it meant that the couple's life without kids was ending.)