how to interpret DEATH

I am rather confused about whether Death symbolises actual death or whether it is a mere and difficult change in circumstance. I know not many readers would tell their sitters if something like that did come up but in a reading can't death actuall mean death sometimes? And if so how do you distinguish between reading in the cards the actual death of a person or a "death" of a situation?

etherial dreams said:

I am rather confused about whether Death symbolises actual death or whether it is a mere and difficult change in circumstance. I know not many readers would tell their sitters if something like that did come up but in a reading can't death actuall mean death sometimes? And if so how do you distinguish between reading in the cards the actual death of a person or a "death" of a situation?

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For me, Death has never meant an actual death so far. Instead, an actual death was signified by the 10 of Swords and possibly by the Tower (both in a situation where I already knew about someone's serious illness). This might be different for other readers, though.

I usually assume that the cards are NOT talking about actual deaths, unless the question/situation already implies it (as in my case with the serious illness, for example). And even if an actual death is a distinct possibility in a situation, I'd also look to the other cards to see if the Death card refers to a person or a situation.

thanks-that helps a lot

a sudden unexpected chage of direction, surrendering ,Fateful endings(breakups).

It's not Either/Or

etherial dreams said:

I am rather confused about whether Death symbolises actual death or whether it is a mere and difficult change in circumstance. I know not many readers would tell their sitters if something like that did come up but in a reading can't death actuall mean death sometimes? And if so how do you distinguish between reading in the cards the actual death of a person or a "death" of a situation?

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You seem to imply that Death has to be always an actual Death or always a difficult change. The fact is, the Death card can come up for either. Now *usually* it will come up for a difficult change. That's it's more common meaning. But it would be incorrect for us to tell you that Death never comes up for an actual death.

It can come up for that. When it does, however, you usually get other hints. Most simply, your querent could say, "I've a sick old aunt in the hospital and I want to know if she's going to be leaving us soon." And, well, there you go. Usually that's the way you know--because the person will be asking you about a life or death matter, not just whether they should take a new job or if this relationship they're in is going to work out.

You'll also get other cards that might signal illness or time in the hospital--like 4/Swords or Judgement. Or maybe that 10/Swords.

There are instances when the cards try to signal something important, and if that's the case, you'll usually get one card over and over again, meaning the cards have a message for you and you need to ask them about it. If you got the Death card over and over again, set it out, asked the cards what it was about, then got some alarming hints--like 10/Swords--then the cards might be warning you about a real and unexpected death. But in most cases, the cards answer the question or subject the querent wants to know about. So if they're asking about a new relationship, it's HIGHLY unlikely that the Death card means anything more than the relationship is going to radically change (i.e. come to an end) rather than that someone will pass away.

etherial dreams said:

I am rather confused about whether Death symbolises actual death or whether it is a mere and difficult change in circumstance. I know not many readers would tell their sitters if something like that did come up but in a reading can't death actuall mean death sometimes? And if so how do you distinguish between reading in the cards the actual death of a person or a "death" of a situation?

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The Death card simply means that something will come to an end. Usually that that thing is meant to end to make room for something better that is to come. It could be a job that comes to an end, a relationship...It does not have to mean negative change, just change,...the end of a life cycle...the end of one chapter or one's life and the starting of a new one. It could also indicate graduation, which is the end of one's time as a student in school. Or marriage could signal the end of one's life as a single person, with something better that follows.

While the Death card can in theory refer to the end of one's life, physical death (where that person "goes on to a better place"), that meaning for the card is extremely extremely rare. And only likely if you ask about the health of someone who is ill. I personally have seen it come up only once in five years where I truly felt it meant actual death. I really found it very hard to give that reading and that news at the time. But even then, that future changed (through some work on the part of the querent after the reading) and it did not come to pass.

The way you distinguish between which meaning a card has, when there are more than one way to read it, is always through your intuition. When you can imagine more than one meaning, you just have to feel inside which is the right one.

Babs

I got the Death card for an unexpected change in my professionnal life - I got a job offer and this ended my previous way of making money. It was a very positive change.
I also got if as a sign that a difficult period will end - when I was waiting for a certain development and I wasn't sure how it will go...I was getting Death card a lot, the final answer was positive for me and the period of stressful waiting finished.

But I also got the Death card as physical death - before going somewhere abroad I was asking how it would be for me and as outcome I kept getting the Death card. I just couldn't make any sense of it and it was coming over and over...and then, when I was abroad, my mother died. So, yes, this card actually predicted physical Death without me specificially asking or even thinking about my mother's health or something. I just wanted to see how the trip would be - it ended with my mother's death.

Death is a is the moments before a transformation...and that would of course include a literal death transformation It is the end of any cycle be it life, love or a job. For me personally; what is key here is: it is going to happen no matter what. It is out of your hands. What matters is how you respond to the death card, and that transformation, not the transformation itself as that is happening no matter what you do. If the death card comes as a future card you will have time to prepare and might even know what is changing. Often the card will represent what you fear, within the change, thus your response to the inevitable becomes quite important. Keep in mind death is not the transformation...but the moments before.

The Absolute End; Full Stop.

Death means death and that's that.

Yes it means change and maybe transformation too but it ALWAYS means the death of something and that could be anything including physical death.
I would say that usually it doesn't mean physical death of a person but it could do.
Death is not always sudden and not always unexpected but it is something that is inevitable and unavoidable (everything and everyone dies). Sometimes death is a merciful release, maybe it's the end of a job that you've wanted out of for ages, sometimes death comes out of the blue (the other cards may tell you that) but it's usually a difficult experience even if it's 'for the best' and it always involves a period of grieving and of getting over whatever it is that is lost or that has died; I've found that many people overlook this aspect of death, especially if it's a something that has died and not a person. It's important to give yourself time to grieve for your loss, no matter what that loss is.