Something Spooky - Ten of Swords and Death together

[Fallon]

Has anyone else noticed that people die that you know when the ten of swords and death appear together in a reading. Or is that just me? Sometimes it's in the life of the person I'm reading for or sometimes I ask a question about one person/topic and it happens, and I hear of a passing that is unrelated.

[gregory]

Cards speak in context. So - no.  And seeing a death that is unrelated to the reading suggests that the reading isn't properly focused.

[DanielJUK]

I've moved this thread to Individual Card Meanings as it's the perfect place to discuss cards and combinations of cards like this 🙂 

[Misterei]

5 hours ago, Fallon said:

Has anyone else noticed that people die ... when the ten of swords and death appear together in a reading. ...

You do you. I had a friend who got Moon when someone was going to die. Different readers have different takes on this.

 

For me it would depend on on context.

Death + 10 Swords in a relationship reading is the death of the relationship. Not a literal death. I've gotten that in divorce readings. But there's more than just those 2 cards. It's the whole spread pointing toward divorce.

 

To predict an actual death?

I would need more than those 2 cards. Plus context. For example Empress + Death + 10 Swords + 4 Swords and maybe Tower for a miscarriage. Similar grouping with Chariot for death by car crash. Kinda spitballing here. I've only actually read miscarriage and expected deaths [i.e. family member in Hopsice]. For expected deaths, Death card is there ... but not necessarily 10 Swords. Depends how prepared the family and the dying person is.

 

When it's a random death vibe ... I get the Death card alone. Like reading for a mortician. It was a career question.

Death + 5 cups when the client lost someone who wasn't close, just a person they knew so they felt a little sad.

Edited May 18, 2024 by Misterei

[November]

It always depends on the context. 

 

9 years ago I was doing a reading about my paternal grandfather who was suddenly taken ill and went in a coma, so I was wondering if he'll ever wake up. 

 

I still used to read with reversals at that time and my question was: what will happen to grandpa? I draw 3 cards showing his past (The Hanged Man), present (The Moon) and future (The Emperor Rx). 

 

The first 2 cards were clear to me, but the last one wasn't.. Anyway my grandpa passed away the third day, so I interpreted The Emperor Rx as my family losing their eldest member, their "patriarch". 

 

So you see, it's not necessary to get the Death card to show someone passing away, it can be any card, it depends on the context as well as what the cards mean for you. 

[Chariot]

23 hours ago, Fallon said:

Has anyone else noticed that people die that you know when the ten of swords and death appear together in a reading. Or is that just me? Sometimes it's in the life of the person I'm reading for or sometimes I ask a question about one person/topic and it happens, and I hear of a passing that is unrelated.

I've not had that happen to me, but as @Misterei pointed out, each reader develops a unique relationship to the cards.  If this Death/10 of Swords card combination is a reliable indicator of physical death for you, then it works for you.  Tarot is a language, between you and the forces out there, and you will derive the meanings as they work out for you.  I think that's why it's so important to read a LOT.  It gives you practice.  

I have had the Death card mean physical death of a person appear only twice in my many years of reading Tarot (since the mid 1970s.)

Both times it was an unexpected death, so I wasn't asking about it or focusing on it at all.  Both times I was doing a Celtic Cross reading, and both times the card appeared in the 'what will happen next' slot (number 6 in a 10-card layout.)  In neither instance did it make any sense in the context of the question asked or the rest of the response.  It seemed really random.  I tried to interpret it as something that was coming to a natural end, regarding my question, but the connection didn't jump out at me.  (If I had known about clarifier cards back then, I would have drawn one and possibly been more enlightened.)  But later in the day, both times, I found out a person I knew quite well had died. These weren't people in my immediate family or circle of friends, but I did know them, and certainly hadn't expected them to die.  (Both heart attacks.)

I have never read for an instance where I was expecting a death to occur ...hospice, etc.  So I don't know what would appear in that instance.  

I don't fear the Death card. In fact, I get it quite a lot.  It is usually very obvious what it refers to ...either upright or reversed.  Something that should be gone—and once it's gone, it won't return.  It's usually a relief, although it can be a bit upsetting if I have been clinging to whatever it is.  But it's the natural end of this event or thing, and I need to accept it's done, and move on.
 

The 10 of Swords is an interesting card for me.  In the language I've developed with Tarot, the upright card nearly always means something bad has been ongoing but it's now reached its lowest point, and things will begin to improve.  It won't get any worse.  Yay!  The reversed card is more troublesome for me, because it usually means things WILL be getting worse before they get better! 😞

I know for some people the reversed 10 of Swords means whatever happened wasn't actually that bad after all, but the reversed 10 of Swords is a big 'oh dear' card for me.  However, I usually am quite cheered up by the upright version.  🙂

[Misterei]

2 minutes ago, Chariot said:

I know for some people the reversed 10 of Swords means whatever happened wasn't actually that bad after all, but the reversed 10 of Swords is a big 'oh dear' card for me.  However, I usually am quite cheered up by the upright version.  🙂

This is a bit like Lenormand where Mice and Cross [2 of the worst cards] are actually best when close to the Person card. With mice close it means you may recover what was lost/stolen. With Cross close you can deal with the hardship.

 

Interesting take on 10 swrods. I don't read reversals but your take makes a lot of sense to me.

[Misterei]

5 hours ago, November said:

... my question was: what will happen to grandpa? I draw 3 cards showing his past (The Hanged Man), present (The Moon) and future (The Emperor Rx).

This is interesting that you got Moon as harbinger of death. Like my friend.

[Fallon]

20 minutes ago, Misterei said:

This is interesting that you got Moon as harbinger of death. Like my friend.

 

I got the moon with death before finding out a family member had cancer and she died a few years later even after going into remission for awhile.

[Misterei]

13 minutes ago, Fallon said:

I got the moon with death before finding out a family member had cancer and she died a few years later even after going into remission for awhile.

I believe this may hit on an esoteric concept that after death most souls go to the moon.

The yogis hope to make the soul go to the sun after death. But this is a rare thing that takes practices to make it happen.