In reading tarot cards I noticed that they do not seem to recognize death in my readings.

While I was doing tarot readings at a public craft show,
A young boy came up to me and he only had one dollar. I told him I could do a one card reading. I asked him what his question was.

He asked "How am I going to die?"

That is what he wanted to know. I told him I did not know if the cards would answer such a question but I would give it a try. He paid his dollar and I drew one card.

The card drawn was the Devil.



I told him that according to the cards, his death would probably be drug related. His face turned pale. He was stunned. He had just recently experimented with pot and was feeling very guilty about it.


Another reading concerning death:

Once someone asked about how a loved one was doing, and I did a reading on the question and the cards spoke of the loved one as being with someone who loved them very much. (The King of cups).



Later I found out that this particular loved one had passed away and the description of the King of Cups was a description of Jesus to the person I was doing the reading for. (So the King of Cups became the card that signified Jesus) He is all about love. Whatever I had told him in the reading meant a lot to him and very little to me, but it was just what he needed to hear. (I did not even know that the person was dead when I did the reading.)


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I did once get a reading that preceded a death in someone's family though. It included the ten of swords, and the knight of pentacles. The knight of pentacles was receiving something that meant responsibility. (He is the responsible one of all the knights.) I can't remember what the other cards were in the reading, but the cards were still on the table when the phone rang and it was news of the death.

So I am not sure what cards might turn up in the event of a death or if they will predict a death. The closest thing would be a transformation from one reality to another. In truth, there is no death, only a crossing over into another dimension or reality.

The death card itself actually means that change is immanent or necessary. It could mean the end of a relationship or the end of a job or a divorce, but I don't see why in some cases it couldn't actually mean death in conjunction with other cards. Of course a tarot card reader would never predict death, only change.




I have found that just as the Tarot cards do not recognize time, they also don't recognize physical death.

Probably because there is no death, as spirit is eternal.

nice deck!.... death card usually means change from what i've seen as well.....something ending, and anew. in new orleans, i've seen many versions of things happening to this synopsis.

Thank you. This is a deck a friend and me designed with the computer.

This morning I tried to draw a card for the spiritual and daily energy readings but I could not draw any card that had any energy or meaning for me so I decided I should clear the deck.

In counting the cards, I discovered the queen of swords is missing from the deck so I replaced it with my significator card until the queen shows up.

This is my significator card:



Now I wonder where that queen of sword went......

That's very interesting JB. I really appreciate you posting your experiences here as I learn a lot from them.

And, no the cards don't recognize time which is very frustrating for me. Whenever I have people ask "when will I find love" or "when will my house sell" I always tell them I can't find that out. Some people have a system them use to try and do timing readings, but I have never seen them be very successful.

There is a good way to answer those "time" questions. You see, "when" a question that is in relation to situations and events, not time.

A question like: "when will I find the man of my dreams?"

Can be answered like this:

Lets say in answer to that question you drew the Page of cups. (you can answer that question with any card, I just drew this one for this example.)

The page of cups is about self love or knowing how to love yourself. The answer would be:

"When you learn to love yourself you will attract love into your life.

Another example. (I will draw another card at random for this example.)

Seven of wands: About struggle and competition and someone trying to take what you want.

I would tell them that because they believe it is such a struggle and a competition for the right man, they are sending out those signals to the universe and the universe is giving back to them exactly what they are asking for. They will find love when they switch from the competitive mind to the creative mind, and just relax and be true to themselves. Stop trying to force it and stop believing it is so difficult and then it will come easy. All they need to do is to stay alert for that man when he arrives.

This is how to use the cards messages. There is no time, there is only events and energy.

Okay, I get it. Very interesting.......and printing this out to go in my tarot journal. TY!

I drew the Devil for my own answer to the same question. I am sure you know what that means from our previous conversations, JB.

Hmmm, I never thought of keeping a Tarot Journal. Great idea! I think I'll have to start.

I welcome the death card. I find it to normally be a very positive card. It's the Tower that bothers me more. The whole idea of everything tumbling down around me and trying to pick up the piece and move forward.

Of course, now that I think on it. That's what this entire past year and a half has been. Dang....

I like the Tower card. Knock that sh1t down and start over!

Okay, maybe not that drastic.

It really was that drastic for me!

Oh believe me I understand. And, I'm sure it was. I meant that I didn't like the how extremely drastic the change can be with The Tower.

Death does pop up a lot in my readings. But then, I've gone through a whole lot of changes.

The devil pops up every so often. Sometimes I'm getting to controlling as things around my are starting to fly out of control. Sometimes it is to poke me so I take a closer look at those around me.

The tower is a rare thing for me, but it does show up once in a while. I usually start looking at everything and trying to figure out where I need to make changes before the bricks start to hit me on the head.

I've also noticed a pattern in personal readings for cups and pentacles.

I rarely have the opportunities to do reading for others, so when I do, I often get cards I never see and don't really remember the basic meanings. I have to fall back completely on empathy and my gut reaction to the card. Well, I tend to use both anyway. But I start to sound wishy washy and like I don't know what I'm doing when I hit certain cards.

That kinda went beyond the scope of the topic.

That's why I always keep my book handy. I just refer to that or my "key words" paper. I have a list of all the cards with some key words of what the cards mean to me that I can refer to quickly.

Both the tower and the death card are about change.

My how we dislike change.

But change is sometimes necessary in order to move on to better things. It is the way our higher self uses to get us out of a rut.

Sometimes a rut becomes a prison and in prison, the spirit is forlorn, unhappy, depressed, in bondage, and when the spirit is not free, it cannot create or find joy.

Then along comes the tower or the death card of change and we are tossed out of our self imposed rut.

This is a good thing spiritually. The tower is the truth being revealed and it results in a spiritual awakening.

The death card is the end of the old and the begining of the new. It is a necessary change in our lives. It is the procession of events unfolding to their conclusion. Without endings there can be no new beginnings.

When you see these cards they are a heads up to not panic but to prepare yourself for change or to warn you of upheavals in your life that will change things.

Some people don't get warnings. At least with the tarot, we can be prepared to face the changes around the corner.

When I went from doing my own readings to doing others readings I was pleasantly surprised at the new cards that came up. When doing readings for yourself or someone you know and see everyday, the cards coming up don't change much and you see the same cards a lot because that is their energy.

But when a new person walks in with new energy, Whamo! suddenly new cards! It is the absolute best way to learn the tarot, by reading for other people.

When I first started I always referred to my books if I was not sure about a reading on a card.

Sometimes I would see the meaning clearly two hours after they left and would start screaming and hitting myself in the head. Damn! I know what that means now! I often wished I had gotten their phone number so I could call them with the meaning finally becomes clear.

Its really the best way to learn is to do readings for free for others, but always have a book handy for when you get stuck. I use the Power Tarot book a lot, its a great reference.

I do refer to a book when it happens. But I often feel like it gives a bad impression. And it is interesting how I later get told how accurate that gut reaction to a card I wasn't as familiar with was.

I was doing a reading for a guy once and it was a five card reading.

I knew what his question was and four of the cards were addressing that question quite well and I was explaining those cards to him. But he noticed that I was ignoring one of the cards showing. It was in the number one position which was past influences. It was the ten of pentacles.

I did not have any idea what it meant in his situation.

He asked me what that card means. I admitted that I was not sure what it meant in his situation but all I could do is tell him what it general meaning might be. I said I thought it had to do with a family inheritance.

His eyes popped up and he went into this long story about how his family had cheated him out of his portion of the family inheritance and how he had been thinking about going there and getting it straitened out.

So sometimes if a card does not seem to make sense you just need to go with a general meaning and ask questions about it to see if it has some meaning to the person you are reading.

Oh I hate that! That happens to me and I'm yelling, "oh sure! Nooooooooooow it becomes clear!"

Always go with the gut reaction no matter how hard it is. I have done readings with people I know and I'll pull a card. My gut reaction will tell me something that I THINK can't possibly be true because I think I know this person. My gut reaction is always right.

Yes, when you have a gut reaction and it is really strong, it is probably the correct thing. It is the pictures that are the language.

If you are really stumped on a card just look very closely at the picture and describe it. While describing it, the meaning will often become very clear and it may not be close to the traditional meaning of the cards as described in books.