Are you afraid of the Death card? You are not alone as this is the tarot card that most people fear cropping up in their reading. It’s hardly surprising that this fear has been exploited and in turn perpetuated in many a movie where a reader looks distraught as she reveals the card she has just turned over, and lo and behold it is the Death card and we know the poor character for whom the reading was conducted is going to be the next to die. Being the most feared makes the Death card the most well-known of all tarot cards, but also the most misunderstood. The Death card has so much more to it than being a harbinger of death. In fact, in two decades of readings, I have seen indications of death and loss in the readings I have conducted, but never once has this been connected to the appearance of the Death card. Some online readings even go as far as not including this card in their spreads. So what is it that scares people about the Death card?
Well, first of all the name does not help; it is called Death after all and what scares people more than death? This has resulted in some readers referring to the Death card as Transformation or Change. While I can understand why they do it, I don’t feel it is necessary to do so. In addition to the name, I guess the image on the card also does not aid the perception people have of its meaning. If we look at the classic Rider-Waite Death card shown on this page, we see the pale rider riding into town and beneath him lies a dead body. Yes, this may appear to be death, but if we look, we see that not everyone is dead or even dying. What the skeletal rider on this card seems to be heralding is a new age, a new time. To read more about the meaning, please look at the full Aquarian Insight Observations and Meaning of the Death card.
So at its core, this card signifies change and transformation. Yes, change can also be scary, after all, as much as we sometimes crave change, most people are creatures of habit; new situations, jobs, people etc can be difficult to deal with at first, even when we want the changes. The Death signified by this card is the death of an old situation and the birth of a new one. Of course with the change comes grief for the comfort of what was, but I also see hope here. I can tell you this from my own personal experience. I spent many years stuck in the limbo of chronic illness and the appearance of the Death card in my own reading did not make me think my health would take a turn for the worse, but instead I saw a much needed change. My health actually improved and I was able to leave the house and even begin to work again. While these were all things I had longed for, they were not easy adjustments to make.
So, if you see the Death card in your reading, open yourself up to the changes that are coming. Good or bad, change is how we progress and move forward in life. The other cards in the spread will help show not only where the changes will come or are needed, but how we can make the most of them.