Death: tarot card meaning
Death is card XIII of the Major Arcana, associated with the element of Water. Drawn upright it speaks of transformation, endings, rebirth; reversed, of resistance to change, stagnation, holding on.
Upright meaning
transformation, endings, rebirth, letting go
An ending clearing space for what wants to begin -- release what the journey no longer needs and let the new life in. Almost never literal.
Reversed meaning
resistance to change, stagnation, holding on, fear of endings
The ending you keep postponing is the source of the weight -- prune what has finished, even if you are not done mourning it.
Vedic and astrological correspondence
| Planet | Mars / Pluto |
|---|---|
| Vedic graha | Mangal |
| Zodiac | Scorpio |
| Element | Water |
In a three-card reading
In the past position Death describes the current that carried you to where you are; in the present position, what is most alive in the situation now; in the future position, the direction things tend toward if nothing changes. A reading weighs it against the other two cards rather than on its own.
Questions
What does Death mean upright?
An ending clearing space for what wants to begin -- release what the journey no longer needs and let the new life in. Almost never literal.
What does Death mean reversed?
The ending you keep postponing is the source of the weight -- prune what has finished, even if you are not done mourning it.