The Death card (Major Arcana card 13) is arguably one of the
scariest cards to pull from the tarot deck. It often appears depicting a
skeleton or grim-reaper-looking character. In addition, it is not uncommon to
find some sort of destruction in its wake. When that card comes up in a
reading, querents understandably cringe. In order to ease their concerns, I quickly
point out that in the vast majority of cases, this card does not mean physical
death.
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| Morgan Greer Death Card |
Phew! Right?
Wrong.
My explanation rarely soothes my client. The reason for this
is because the person often already knows what ‘death’ is pending in their
life, and they are quite averse to it.
Put simply, the Death card means change. It means
transitions. It means endings. Sometimes
these are what we consider positive changes – for instance becoming parents for
the first time. (A certain freedom and innocence ends.) Other times (more often
than not) it is a challenging situation.
When Death shows up in a reading, the Universe is telling us
to accept the fact that some aspect of our life – it could be work, love, your
thinking, your plans, etc – is about to undergo a significant shift.
And people (including myself) don’t like that.
Without a doubt, I am a bonafide ‘Don’t-move-my-cheese’
kinda girl. I loathe change. I do. I fight it and fight it and fight it. And
you know what? I always lose. Always.
However, I am noticing that as I gain more experience in
life, the ‘fight’ is leaving my game. I am developing the ability to identify
when my fight will bring me the results I seek, and conversely – when it will
take my power.
And that is an important lesson to remember with the Death
card because ultimately we don’t possess the power to prevent most of the major
changes that occur in our lives.
What we can control though, is our response and outlook
regarding it.
Upon closer examination of this card, you will see that this
while this card does shake things up, it
almost always offers something in return. These prominent offerings include such
things as a white rose, a sunrise, a light, and even an outstretched helping
hand.
This is the area where we can have some control in the
process. By choosing to acknowledge and accept this ‘gift’, we can shift our
focus to a more positive aspect of the situation. This doesn’t mean we have to
like what is happening in our lives. Rather, it means we are choosing to focus
on the positive, and draw strength from the new beginning that is rising out of the unavoidable ending.
