Death As Death?

Barleywine

I came across some interesting observations in Paul Fenton-Smith's Tarot Masterclass that I wanted to get opinions on. He says:

"If the Death card appears with at least three of the following cards, it can signify a physical death: Ten of Swords, Six of Swords, Four of Swords, Three of Swords, the World, Judgement, the Tower . . ."

This seems rather prescriptive and I'm wondering how much hard evidence there is for it. In my cartomancy material, the Ace of Spades is the traditional death card, but not by itself. My main experience with tarot in physical death situations has been in the timing of expected deaths, not in predicting untimely ones. The convergence of a tarot reading and an unexpected death would seem to be a fairly uncommon experience.

Given the modern, more complex spin on it, I'm more inclined to see Death as the antithesis of the line from Game of Thrones: "Winter is here, Spring is coming (eventually)." Reversed, it might be more "Winter abides. Don't put your hat and gloves away just yet." I would be more likely to see something with active Mars energy as exposure to risk of death (through accident, etc) - Tower especially. I haven't looked closely at life-threatening illnesses related to "parts-of -the-body" cards.

Do you have any reliable (or at least likely) indicators that you use to warn of something as dire as sudden death?
 

Padma

I have had, in the past, Death and Nine of Swords come up for an aunt who was dying a slow death from cancer, and these were the outcome cards.

Death card with Emperor reversed for the death of a grandfather of a friend of mine.

Death, 3 of Swords, Tower as near future event cards for my father, when my uncle (my father's best friend and b-i-l) died of an early morning heart-attack.

And lastly, Death and Sun as predicting death of an animal, once, and death of a person, once - in both those cases, death was a great reprieve from suffering.

ETA I just realized at a reread of your question that I didn't really answer it properly. My markers for sudden and unexpected death are the Tower showing up with (beside) Death, along with either 3 of Swords or the 9 of Swords. Or both.
 

Ace

Not SUDDEN death. But recently, I read for someone about her Dad who had Stage 4 cancer. I got the 8 of cups--a person moving away from the 8 cups and climbing a mountain. (In my deck of choice, the World Tree Tarot, the person sees bubbles rising from the top of the mountain--indicating new possibilities. Also: the moon is over the mountain, so the man is walking TOWARD the Moon.)

I saw this as her Dad was dying very soon. I didn't want to say it so baldly, so I just said that he was resigned and accepting of his death. And that comforted her.

Barb
 

Edward Tarot Hands

I saw this as her Dad was dying very soon. I didn't want to say it so baldly, so I just said that he was resigned and accepting of his death. And that comforted her.

Barb

nice :)
 

Grizabella

I've lost so many close friends and close family members in the past couple of years that, if the Death card appears, I'm not surprised. But I actually don't have any readings where I can say I predicted it with my cards for any of my clients.

To predict actual Death, I'd need more than just the Death card. Death, Chariot, Tower---auto accident, plane crash, skydiving accident. Judgment might fit in there, too. Any one or all of those along with the Death card.

Usually I wouldn't really see Minors in the mix for something as drastic and irreversible as real death. But 4 of Swords, 3 of Swords, 10 of Swords might apply. Death plus any of those. Death+9 of Swords might indicate a brain tumor or other condition that's an injury to the head or it could indicate it coming after long suffering. The 5 of Swords + Death and another of the Majors I mentioned might mean fatality after a physical fight with someone else.

Like with anything else, it depends on the question, the spread, and surrounding cards. :)

ETA: I thought of another one. Death plus the 7 of Swords could mean death in the commission of a crime. Still, though, it would need more than just those two cards.

Another one, Death plus the 8 of Swords would be really ominous, wouldn't it?

OK, I'll quit now. :p
 

Ruby Jewel

I came across some interesting observations in Paul Fenton-Smith's Tarot Masterclass that I wanted to get opinions on. He says:

"If the Death card appears with at least three of the following cards, it can signify a physical death: Ten of Swords, Six of Swords, Four of Swords, Three of Swords, the World, Judgement, the Tower . . ."

This seems rather prescriptive and I'm wondering how much hard evidence there is for it. In my cartomancy material, the Ace of Spades is the traditional death card, but not by itself. My main experience with tarot in physical death situations has been in the timing of expected deaths, not in predicting untimely ones. The convergence of a tarot reading and an unexpected death would seem to be a fairly uncommon experience.

Given the modern, more complex spin on it, I'm more inclined to see Death as the antithesis of the line from Game of Thrones: "Winter is here, Spring is coming (eventually)." Reversed, it might be more "Winter abides. Don't put your hat and gloves away just yet." I would be more likely to see something with active Mars energy as exposure to risk of death (through accident, etc) - Tower especially. I haven't looked closely at life-threatening illnesses related to "parts-of -the-body" cards.

Do you have any reliable (or at least likely) indicators that you use to warn of something as dire as sudden death?

I have heard of the VII Swords as a card indicating that something is "stealing" your health, as in cancer.
 

Barleywine

I also think it's unethical to try to predict it. I'm mainly interested in scenarios where the Death card came up with other cards (such as Paul Fenton-Smith mentions) and an untimely death may have followed even though not predicted. The question is whether any cards other than the ones he mentions came up in the reading, and whether the combination may have presaged the event. I thought the statements Fenton-Smith made were a little bold, so I wanted to see if our collective experience shows anything different.
 

Intotouch

I have had Death appear when someone close to me died.
 

BeyondtheVeil

10 of Swords, The Tower, 5 of Pentacles, 5 of Swords, 3 of Swords, etc

Luckily, I haven't had Death appear as Death.

I've had 10 of Swords, The Tower, and 3 of Swords. {Heart attack}

I've had 10 of Swords, Judgement, 5 of Pentacles and 5 of Swords.

4 of Swords, 10 of Swords {lingering death}. Meaning sick and then death

I can't remember exactly what they were in what order.

Usually it's mostly swords cards. It may or may not show up with the Tower. I haven't had it the same way yet, so it is hard to say for sure. Maybe because intuition plays into it?

Interesting question and thread!
BTV