Reading tarot can be a really exciting experience. Your heart races with each card being drawn, your expectations and hopes are floating in the air, and your hands shake. Then, you get one Major Arcana card that worries you: the Death card.
The feeling of unease slowly starts to creep up on you. That’s completely understandable—after all, who likes to even think of death? However, don’t let the card’s name fool you; it has one of the most positive tarot meanings in the whole deck!
Let this article be your tarot guide and help you understand the Death card better. Keep reading!
Death Card Keywords
Upright card (keywords)
Endings, Failure, Letting go of attachments, Mortality, Profound change, Severe illness
Reversed card (keywords)
Delayed endings, Depression, Living unaware, Long terminal illness, Resistance to change
The Death Tarot Card Description
If you’re using the Rider-Waite tarot deck, you will recognize this card instantly. It features a skeletal figure, also known as the Grim Reaper—the personification of Death.
This Messenger of Death is riding a pale or white horse and carrying a black flag with a White Rose of York. This detail is a nod to the Wars of the Roses, which occurred in the 15th century between the houses of York and Lancaster. Around the Grim Reaper and his horse, you can see a bishop and several dead or dying people.
Some other Death card designs show the Grim Reaper holding a scythe, with or without his pale horse. Still, no matter which deck you use and how this card looks, it will have a universal meaning—so let’s learn more about it!
Death Upright Meaning
When you see it in its upright position, this card symbolizes the time of change and spiritual transformation. Contrary to what you may think, It doesn’t mean physical death, even in a health reading—it’s more about new beginnings and new life. Only in some extremely rare situations will this card represent a literal death.
The upright Death card can have several other general meanings. You may need to have an open mind and make a major change in your life, or an unexpected change might happen to you, even if you don’t want it. These changes can be stressful and uncomfortable, but they are necessary for you to connect with your higher self.
Interestingly, some tarot card decks, such as the Visconti-Sforza Tarot, call this card “The Card with No Name” to clarify that this card doesn’t represent the actual death. This is more evidence that the meaning behind the death card is more positive than you might think at first.
Love Meaning
If you use tarot to better understand your love life, the Death card is one of the most significant cards for you. For example, if you’re in a relationship, this card could mean it’s approaching its end. Not many people want to hear this, but ending relationships that make us unhappy is much better than staying in them.
Of course, the Death card can also mean that your relationship will go through a positive transformation. For instance, you might get engaged soon, which would be the end of your dating phase but the beginning of something much better.
If you are single now, the Death card can represent a new love interest that will mark the end of your single life. Or, maybe you’re still stuck on someone from your past, and it prevents you from moving on. There is no shame in that—everyone moves on at a different pace. However, seeing the Death card tells you it is time to let go of the past and accept that it’s over.
Career Meaning
The Death card can also represent new career and personal growth opportunities. You may get a chance to advance at your current job; alternatively, there might be a career change opportunity for you.
Making the decision to change your career path can be scary, especially if you have already established yourself in the existing career path. However, just because you have spent years doing one thing doesn’t mean you should keep doing it forever. You should embrace change, given that the change in question is good for you, especially long-term.
Finances Meaning
With big changes in your career, it’s hardly surprising that you will experience changes in your finances. If you go through with a career change, you might experience a few rough months, but after that adjustment time, you will be in a much better place financially.
Reversed Death Card Meaning
Now, it’s time to learn more about the meaning of the card when you see it in a reversed position. Often, a reversed card represents some negative patterns, which is indeed the case with this card.
For example, the Death card in a reversed position represents a fear of change, a lack of spiritual growth, and a reluctance to let go of old habits. It can also be an omen of a difficult time ahead of you. In some extremely rare cases, the upside-down Death card can symbolize illness or death, but it’s not too common.
Love Meaning
In a love tarot reading, the reversed Death card shows that you are bad at letting go of certain things from the past. It might be an ex-partner or someone you loved, but they didn’t love you back. For those in relationships, a reversed Death card symbolizes past issues you can’t stop thinking about.
Maybe you fell out with your partner a few months or years ago, perhaps after they made a mistake. You act like you have forgiven and forgotten, but you can’t help but bring up those issues and mistakes whenever you argue with your partner. If this is the case, it’s time to decide whether you will truly let go of these resentments—or let go of your partner. Life with resentment is not an option.
The reversed Death card can also be an indicator of your low self-esteem. You may be stuck in a loveless relationship because you don’t think you deserve better, or you might be single and too scared to pursue a relationship, thinking that no one could like you.
Career Meaning
Career-wise, you might be afraid of any significant changes. You are in your comfort zone, and leaving that comfort zone terrifies you, even if there are some necessary changes that you won’t be able to avoid.
Your inability to leave your comfort zone and let go of old patterns might cost you significantly as you miss out on great opportunities. In the long term, you will get stuck in one place and be unable to advance in your career.
Finances Meaning
In the financial context, the reversed Death card symbolizes potential financial loss. Your financial resources might dry up, forcing you to seek new income sources. That might be stressful at first, but it could prove beneficial in the long run.
Other Cards With Death Card
When you get the Death card in your tarot spread, its meaning will also depend on its interactions with other cards. Some of the most interesting card combinations are discussed below.
The Death and The High Priestess
The High Priestess card is a symbol of hidden wisdom. When you see this card in the same spread as the Death card, it tells you that you can only become wiser, stronger, and more powerful if you allow yourself to change. You can’t cling to your old behaviors and expect to grow as a person.
The transformation and changes you experience will also reveal some hidden truths about yourself and the world around you. You must trust yourself and follow your intuition to unlock your full potential through the spiritual transformation. Some parts of you will die, but you will be wise enough to see the necessity behind the process.
The Death and The Wheel of Fortune
Both of these cards are your reminders of the cyclical nature of life. When paired together, their message is even stronger: the changes you might be resisting are inevitable, and the sooner you accept them, the less painful they will be for you. Death is the only way to get reborn, and the end is the only way to begin something new.
These two cards also remind you that nothing lasts forever. Everything changes, and everything ends. Enjoy good things while they last; remember that bad things won’t last forever. Even if you are at rock bottom, a time will come for you to rise above and reach new heights. When you feel like you are at the top of the world, don’t think that you are invincible.
The Death and The Tower
This is another powerful duo that symbolizes the inevitable changes. These changes might seem disastrous initially, and you may feel like everything around you is collapsing. Everything you know will crumble before you, but it won’t be the end of the world for you—it will be an opportunity to rebuild yourself and your life.
So, think about the things in your life that no longer serve you and your well-being. Are you holding on to them out of habit? Do you know that letting go of these things will free you? It will be messy, painful, and chaotic at first, but it will bring you peace in the long run.
The Death and The Moon
The Moon card, just like the Moon itself, symbolizes everything mysterious, hidden, and subconscious. This card also symbolizes hidden enemies and dangers. When combined with the Death card, the Moon card tells you that you will learn some uncomfortable truths and even get hurt and betrayed by people you trust.
This will bring a lot of pain and hurt into your life. However, it will make you stronger and wiser in the long run. It will encourage you to make some necessary and long-overdue changes in your life. You will get rid of everything and everyone who sabotaged you, and the people and things you have left will be your true friends and allies.
The Death and The Hanged Man
The Hanged Man is a striking card that represents the change of perspective and the act of letting go and surrendering yourself to the higher powers. Together with the Death card, it shows that you can’t keep resisting some things and changes. These are inevitable, so embrace them and learn how to make the most of them.
This act of acceptance will also teach you to see things from a different perspective, and things that looked like the end of the world earlier will start to look different once you accept them.
The Death Card and Its Astrological Sign
The Death card has strong connections with several zodiac signs, the most significant being its connection to Scorpio and its ruling planet, Pluto. This connection is no coincidence—Scorpio and Pluto represent rebirth and transformation, concepts deeply linked to the Death card.
Rebirth and transformation are painful, but that pain will set you free and help you transition into a better version of yourself. Both Scorpio and the Death card are also symbols of what’s unknown and mysterious. There is an aura of darkness around them, but that darkness shouldn’t scare you—it is a part of you as well.
Conclusion
Now that you know what the Death card means, make sure to listen to its message. Not every message from this card will be pleasant, but don’t think negatively about it. Instead, use the message as a guide on how to get a fresh start in life, embrace new experiences, and stop wasting your energy on preserving the status quo. Instead, use that energy to live your life to the fullest and reach your potential.
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