Death and Tower in the same reading!! Scared! Please help...:(

Kaminari

Ok, so I am sort of confused and scared. I've been getting Death and Tower cards together in the same reading a couple of times now. I fear that it means physical death of myself or a loved one.

At the moment I am going through some big changes. I am finally facing my fear of something that has been holding me back for about a decade now.
I should also add that for the past 1.5 years I've been in a very bad situation job wise. I've been employed for about 3 months out of that time and the job was horrible and didn't work out for me. My physical and mental health has been on a steady decline during that time too. I suffer from an anxiety disorder and this past year and a half has been pure hell.

I don't know what to do with my life and I fear the future. Once I decided to face my fear of something that has been bothering me for the past 10 years, I decided to do a reading and I got Death and Tower together in 2 readings, and separately in other readings too. Now I am scared. I realize Death means change but I read somewhere that getting Death and Tower together means physical death or serious illness.

Can anyone please shed some light for me on this?

I would appreciate it a lot, thanks!!
 

nisaba

Your very own fear of the future is what the cards are reflecting, I think. There have been various threads about how cards work, and there seems to be a majority opinion that the concerns of your own subconscious has a lot to do with it.

Perhaps these cards are trying to tell you that its past time to sit around worrying only: it is time to master your fears enough to get up and do something: apply for bulk-jobs, find a new therapist etc.

No two cards together always mean anything. Whoever told you that wasn't all that familiar with Tarot. Meanings shift depending on the context. your context includes not only whatever question you asked at the time, but your emotional and financial situations. That being the case and with the information you've given us, I'm very strongly inclined to believe they are reflecting what you are already experiencing, plus probably saying "if you don't take positive steps to change things now, it will get even worse".

My heart goes out to you - but I don't think you're going to die. I *do* think your life needs some serious work at the moment, and I know it will be hard for you.
 

Gidgee

Kaminari said:
Ok, so I am sort of confused and scared. I've been getting Death and Tower cards together in the same reading a couple of times now. I fear that it means physical death of myself or a loved one.

At the moment I am going through some big changes. I am finally facing my fear of something that has been holding me back for about a decade now.
I should also add that for the past 1.5 years I've been in a very bad situation job wise. I've been employed for about 3 months out of that time and the job was horrible and didn't work out for me. My physical and mental health has been on a steady decline during that time too. I suffer from an anxiety disorder and this past year and a half has been pure hell.

I don't know what to do with my life and I fear the future. Once I decided to face my fear of something that has been bothering me for the past 10 years, I decided to do a reading and I got Death and Tower together in 2 readings, and separately in other readings too. Now I am scared. I realize Death means change but I read somewhere that getting Death and Tower together means physical death or serious illness.

Can anyone please shed some light for me on this?

I would appreciate it a lot, thanks!!

Firstly Kaminari, I feel for you at this obviously very tough time.

Death and Tower cards can appear very frightening but from what I understand very rarely will mean physical death.
I get the feeling that they are turning up for you to tell you that you really need to break down barriers that you may have put around yourself and that you may need to actually let go or shake off past ways in order to free yourself from your anxieties. The tower basically needs to be toppled and rebuilt - you need to get to the foundations of your problems and thoughts in order to try to find a more positive way to be. Death is perhaps saying in order to be this new happy person you need to have a Tower momement.

I really wish you well Kaminari
B :)
 

Tarot Eon

Death and the Tower -

Things that were previously left in the past (left for dead) are being brought back to life (Tower).
 

Areanwen

Well, I think you kind of hit the nail on the head yourself:
You're going through big changes...
and your have a lot of chaos going on right now...
That sounds liek Death and teh Tower to me, but I could be wrong.

Here are my other guesses:
Death and the Tower might represent a need for a large change (death) or else it will bring about dismay (tower).
Your situation right now, such as teh problems described in your first post (Tower) demand that you break away from everything that has the potential to make you suffer, all relationships that hurt you (death).
Things you thought you had left behine (death) are still taking a heavy toll on your psyche (tower) and you need to be thorough when making a change this time (death).

As it's been said - nothing is absolute. You questions and what you expected to get out of this answer where probably two of the biggest factors here, but they are not the only ones. Ultimatly, the cards don't matter so much, it's what teh cards show you. You might as well be using inkblots on yourself - what's important is they show you what's in your head, and your thought processes plus what you know is what will most likely lead you two your answer.
If you have a good bond with your deck, one thing I find to be verry useful is to shuffle the feck and then ask it nicely to show you what your deck wants you to see. You don't need a spread for this, you can just go until you feel done. It works amazingly for me. You can also simply ask why does it give you the answers it does.
 

Cat*

Kaminari said:
At the moment I am going through some big changes. I am finally facing my fear of something that has been holding me back for about a decade now.
[...] My physical and mental health has been on a steady decline during that time too. I suffer from an anxiety disorder and this past year and a half has been pure hell.

I don't know what to do with my life and I fear the future. Once I decided to face my fear of something that has been bothering me for the past 10 years, I decided to do a reading and I got Death and Tower together in 2 readings, and separately in other readings too. Now I am scared.
I understand why you are scared. Interestingly, I had to think of the one reading where I got Death and the Tower together (a two-card reading, nonetheless!). It has been one of the most unambiguously POSITIVE readings I've ever gotten. When you are in a bad situation already, a big sudden change (Death/Tower), both unexpected (Tower) and natural (Death) can actually mean that things are finally going to be better. At least that's exactly how it was for me with that reading. The final breakthrough to change for the better.

You write that you finally decided to face an old fear of something that has held you back for more than ten years now. Getting Death and the Tower in a situation like that feels decidedly positive to me. You're finally letting the fear die which may result in sudden changes for the better. That may still be a bit scary because "better" may be simply very unfamiliar to you, so you'll probably need some time to adjust, but all in all I can't help thinking that in this case these two "bad" cards could actually signify something very good.

(That said, maybe it would still be helpful to post the entire reading so people could have a look at the whole picture? It can be misleading to take cards out of the context of a reading.)

Best wishes to you and your future! :)
 

rwcarter

Kaminari said:
I don't know what to do with my life and I fear the future. Once I decided to face my fear of something that has been bothering me for the past 10 years, I decided to do a reading and I got Death and Tower together in 2 readings, and separately in other readings too. Now I am scared. I realize Death means change but I read somewhere that getting Death and Tower together means physical death or serious illness.

Can anyone please shed some light for me on this?
First, welcome to Aeclectic!

Here in Using Tarot Cards, we can address the various/general meanings of the two cards together. In order to discuss how the cards specifically apply to your situation, you would need to post your entire reading in the Your Readings forum. Take a look at the Posting Guidelines before posting your reading there though.

As for Death and the Tower appearing across multiple readings, the meanings could be wholly positive, wholly negative or somewhere in the middle. As a positive, Death indicates an ending that needs to occur so that something new can begin, and the Tower indicates the crumbling of an edifice that was constructed of false beliefs. For someone who's addicted to drugs or alcohol, the pair could represent hitting rock bottom so that one can start anew. For a battered spouse/significant other, it could represent finding the courage to move away from the person who's doing the battering.

A negative interpretation of Death is fighting a change that needs to occur and the Tower could represent a sudden and catastrophic result of those actions. For example, the cards could speak about someone who needs to take better care of themselves (physically) and who is unable or unwilling to do so and then suffers a heart attack or some other serious physical illness. Or it could address someone who's in a stressful job who really needs to leave that position but can't and then is felled by some stress-related condition.

A somewhat neutral interpretation of the pair is realizing that one needs to bring some situation to an end (Death) before other factors or players do so first (Tower).

Hopefully the responses you've gotten and will continue to get will allay your fears about those two cards. I also invite you to peruse the Table of Contents - The Cards sticky Note at the top of this forum and read through existing threads on both cards. You'll find a range of meanings and interpretations of the cards that don't involve death or serious illness.

One other thing. I'm one who believes that the cards show what will happen if current energies continue. We all have free will and therefore have the ability to change the outcome seen in the cards. So what's shown in the cards isn't written in stone. If you don't like what you see, change the outcome. Just by going right instead of left, you've changed the energy of the situation and therefore the outcome of it.

HTH,
Rodney
 

Thirteen

You know, I'm beginning to think that people with anxiety disorders should not do tarot readings. You admit that you are not in a good state to see any answer that is not overwhelmingly positive in a good light. This means it is not, repeat NOT a good idea to lay out cards with images like death, crumbling towers, devils, men with swords in their hands or people left destitute out in the cold. So the first thing I'm going to advise you is to put away the tarot cards. Put them away and leave them be until you no longer have an anxiety disorder. Because the thing about Tarot cards is that they tell you the truth. Flat out, and as best they can with what they've got--including pictures of death, towers, and men with swords in their backs.

So put the cards away and get help. Meaning someone you can talk to about your problems and maybe get something to ease the anxiety, at the very least.

Next, on the issue of Death: the deck has to have cards for every aspect of life--and death is part of that. But please, stop scaring yourself to no purpose. Death very rarely, in my experience, means "death" as there's rarely any point in the cards predicting that. What can you do, after all, if they tell you that great-grandma is going to pass away tomorrow at the age of 102? There are, however, decks which have a phoenix rising from the ashes instead of Death, and you might think about getting one of those decks if Death scares you that badly. That's an accurate depiction of what the Death card means. How do you feel about that?

Another thing you can do to make yourself feel better is shuffle the deck well. Lay it out into 4 piles--one of work/money, one for career/philosophy, one for communications/intellect, one for emotions/family. Go through each pile and find both the Death and Tower card. That is the topic those cards are relating to. That is where the change and revelation are going to come from.

Death = Change. One thing ends, another takes its place. DO NOT forget that second part--something else will take the place of what was lost, that is part of the prediction. Tower is revelation--a sudden lightening strike that makes you realize an important truth. A shake up is certainly coming. You can't avoid that. But you can prepare. It's time to ask the cards the right question. Not what's coming, but how you can best face and deal with what's coming, survive it and be a better person for it. Because the cards want to give you good advice. So ask them the right question so they can help you, rather than scare you.
 

Hannafate

And remember: Nothing is as bad as Fear makes it seem. Even Death.
 

Kaminari

Thanks Everyone for shedding some light on this.