DEATH
"Catharsis & Transformation"
Rider Waite Tarot
Pamela Coleman Smith
1909
Water – Pluto
- upright -
· Endings
· Change
· Transition
· Transformation
· Emergence of A New Life
· Letting Go
· Release
· Starting New Phase
· Leaving Bad Situations
· Changing Views
· Fear of Change
· Stuck in Old Habits
· Avoiding Change
· Resisting Change
· Stagnant
· Repeating Old Patterns
· Holding Onto Outdated Ideas
· Not Letting Go
· Failure to Adapt
· Inner Purging
- Reversed -
Water – Pluto
Rider Waite Tarot
Pamela Coleman Smith
1909
- upright -
· Endings
· Change
· Transition
· Transformation
· Emergence of A New Life
· Letting Go
· Release
· Starting New Phase
· Leaving Bad Situations
· Changing Views
- reversed -
· Fear of Change
· Stuck in Old Habits
· Avoiding Change
· Resisting Change
· Stagnant
· Repeating Old Patterns
· Holding Onto Outdated Ideas
· Not Letting Go
· Failure to Adapt
· Inner Purging
An old chapter of your life is ending.
You are now ready to make the necessary changes in your life.
Accept the pain that may come with the loss of the old.
All clinging, every “no” prevents you from living life fully.
What outdated relationships or ideas are you clinging to?
I now say:
Yes to Death, Yes to myself.
The Death card does not mean physical death. Instead, it generally points to radical external transformation. The art of letting go, difficult as it may be, will liberate you. Death shows you two faces; one destroying and tearing down, the other freeing you from old bonds which have become confining, preventing Life.
— GERD ZIEGLER, Tarot: Mirror of the Soul (1988)
Anima Mundi Tarot
Megan Wyreweden
2017
01. With endings come new beginnings. The Death card brings with it transformation, radical elimination, and rebirth.
The past is behind us, the future is ahead. Death asks us for total cleansing, for abandoning the old in favor of the new. He breaks habits and reconstructs new pathways in the mind. He asks that one let go and move on, close one door and open another. He is the purge, cleansing us from within.
Death signifies profound metamorphosis and transmutation. He is the shedding of skin, purification through destruction. He demands transition, change and renewal. He destroys in order to rebuild.
02. Death joins us to nature. The consciousness that isolates us from the world will be obliterated; though the body will decay, that only means that it is feeding other creatures.
Each death brings new life. Since we will not know what happens to our bodies once the spirit has left them, what we really fear is the destruction of the personality. It is the ego that sees itself as separate from life; because it is only a mask the ego does not wish to die. It wishes to make itself superior to the universe.
If we can accept death we will be able to live more fully.
The Muse Tarot
Chris-Anne
2020
White Sage Tarot
By Theresa Hutch
2018
03. Death signals that one major phase in your life is ending, and a new one is going to start. The past needs to be placed behind you, so you can focus your energy on what is ahead of you.
Death asks you to let go of any unhealthy attachments you have in your life. This is an important part of life, so learning to keep moving forward is one of the lessons Death teaches us.
Death, with its subsequent rebirth, is not only a possibility but a necessity. The moment has come, to “die”, to tear down the old architecture and to build a new life.
04. Death shows us the precise moment at which we give up the old masks and allow the transformation to take place. It shows you are going to go through a major change, transition, or transformation.
This can be a scary time because you may be unsure of what will happen in the future. Even if you are scared, welcome the change with open arms, because you are opening the door to new life events.
Spolia Tarot
Jen May
2018
Voyager Tarot
James Wanless & Ken Knutson
1985
05. Death card can signify a sudden and unexpected change.
Death happens to everyone, no matter who you are, how much money you have, where you live, or what color your skin is; it is the same with a significant change. You may find yourself caught in the path of a sweeping change and cannot escape its effects. Although the upheaval may feel unwanted and painful, this massive change could bring with it new opportunities for you.
Rider Waite Smith Tarot
Pamela Colman Smith
1910
Ethereal Visions Tarot Luna Edition
Matt Hughes
2022
- Turn Around -
06. Death reversed means that you have been stuck in old habits and resisting the necessary change.
You could be worried about letting go of the past, or you could not be sure of the changes that you need to make to go forward. Resisting the change and holding onto the past can limit your future, which can cause you to feel like you are in limbo. You should take some time to assess the ways that you have been approaching changes in your life. Life moves on, so fighting the necessary change is only going to leave you with regrets.
07. Death reversed offers you the opportunity to embrace change rather than resist it. See what wonderful possibilities become available to you as you say yes to changes. As you learn to release the past and surrender to the present, the future becomes brighter.
08. On a deeper level, Death reversed can show that you are going through a massive personal transformation, often in private and out of view from others. You are releasing what no longer serves you – removing fear and limiting beliefs, changing old habits, or, undergoing a physical purging and transformation.
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