Death

What the card means

Upright

An ending that has already happened; what is left is admitting it. The card is almost never about death and almost always about what stopped working and is running on momentum. The thirteenth arcanum does not ask for consent - it asks how much longer you intend to pretend.

Reversed

Holding on to what is over: a job, a relationship, a version of yourself. The ending is not cancelled by it, only drawn out and made more expensive.

Love and relationships

Upright

The relationship changes irreversibly - sometimes a parting, sometimes the end of one form of it and the start of another. Carrying on as before has stopped being available.

Reversed

Parted and did not let go. Or dragging out a conversation both already know the end of.

Work and business

Upright

A project, a role or a trade has come to its end. Leaving, restructuring, closing down. Space is freed, and not as a metaphor.

Reversed

Holding a position that no longer exists in substance. Or deferring a resignation that already happened in your head.

Money

Upright

The source of income is changing. The old arrangement has stopped working and the sums need doing again.

Reversed

Putting money into what will not return it. Spending out of habit on a life that is over.

The card's advice

Admit it is finished and stop paying the upkeep. Clear away what was left lying. The space will fill on its own - but not before it is empty.

As the card of the day

A day on which something closes. Good for finishing, throwing out, saying goodbye. Poor for starting again the same afternoon.

What is depicted

A rider in black armour comes at a walk; a king under the hooves, a bishop, a woman and a child before him - nobody is passed over and nobody runs. A white rose on the banner. Far off, the sun rises between two towers.

Zodiac sign and correspondences

Scorpio - what takes you under and returns you altered.

With other cards

• Death + Five of Cups — a loss still being mourned although it has already finished happening.
• Death + The Hanged Man — a pause with an ending behind it; do not drag out both.
• Death + The Sun — it gets light after the closing - a rare and kind pairing.