Death Tarot Card Meaning
Major Arcana
Upright Keywords
No. Transformation, Transition, Finality, Liberation, Cleansing
Reversed Keywords
No. Resistance, Stagnation, Attachment, Fearful, Prolonged
Key Associations
Upright Meaning
Numbered thirteen in the Major Arcana, this card marks necessary endings that make room for richer beginnings.
That liberating clarity is the Death upright meaning – when Death rides into your reading, ask not "what am I losing?" but "what magnificent new chapter is this making room for?"
To see how Death functions in the Major Arcana arc, compare its role on the tarot card meanings list.
Love & Relationships
Your love life needs a phoenix moment when Death appears in relationship readings!
This card invites burning away superficial patterns and outdated romantic scripts so soul‑deep love can arise.
For singles, it's a call to release ex‑patterns; for partners, it asks courageous honesty to allow authentic rebirth.
This card invites burning away superficial patterns and outdated romantic scripts so soul‑deep love can arise.
For singles, it's a call to release ex‑patterns; for partners, it asks courageous honesty to allow authentic rebirth.
Career & Finances
That career identity you've outgrown is begging for a proper burial – Death in professional readings signals vocational metamorphosis rather than mindless upheaval.
Ask which parts of your work identity must dissolve so genuine talents and passions can emerge; small, honest shifts often catalyze major reinvention.
Ask which parts of your work identity must dissolve so genuine talents and passions can emerge; small, honest shifts often catalyze major reinvention.
Health & Spirituality
Right now you need more than green smoothies – Death in health readings calls for a paradigm shift in how you relate to your body.
Release approaches that treat your body as something to conquer and make room for practices that partner with your unique rhythms.
Release approaches that treat your body as something to conquer and make room for practices that partner with your unique rhythms.
Reversed Meaning
This position shows you experiencing change's discomfort without its freeing benefits; the reversal invites asking what fear keeps you clinging.
Love & Relationships
Death reversed in love readings reveals the painful stagnation that happens when endings are avoided.
Are you resuscitating a relationship long past its purpose? This reversal asks whether the temporary comfort outweighs the slow erosion of your heart.
Are you resuscitating a relationship long past its purpose? This reversal asks whether the temporary comfort outweighs the slow erosion of your heart.
Career & Finances
Constantly drafting your resignation but afraid to send it? Death reversed in career readings signals professional stagnation born of resistance to necessary change.
Use radical honesty to distinguish practical caution from fear‑based endurance.
Use radical honesty to distinguish practical caution from fear‑based endurance.
Health & Spirituality
Do you have more wellness products than peace? Death reversed in health readings exposes treating symptoms while resisting the deeper transformation your body requests.
Consider that healing may begin by surrendering identities and approaches that no longer serve your authentic wellbeing.
Consider that healing may begin by surrendering identities and approaches that no longer serve your authentic wellbeing.
Explore More Wisdom
How To Cleanse A Tarot Deck
Deep Dive Into The Rider-Waite Deck
Find out some of my favorite cues and tricks to interpret the different arcanas and suits in tarot's most popular deck...
Get A Free Love Tarot Reading
Stop the endless mind-reading loop! Cut through the confusion to reveal what's happening in their head...