Sometimes when pulling a tarot card, we need more confirmation. So, we pull another. This can shift the meaning of the first tarot card and provide more insight into our situation.
With 78 tarot cards in a typical tarot deck, interpreting their intricate meanings and the messages that are trying to come through in a spread can feel overwhelming. Break it down by first looking at each card separately and their overall meaning. Below is a guide to understanding the Death tarot card when it is paired with the Strength card.
Strength Tarot Card
In traditional tarot decks, the Strength card is depicted by a woman taming a lion. She is using compassion and a gentle touch, not physical strength, to soften the temper of the lion. The lion represents our ego and the ways we may lash out in anger when threatened. It beholds our lower instincts and how we may at times react without allowing kindness to lead.
Over her head is the symbol of infinity suggesting her serene nature is everlasting. The wreath on her head infers victory and her white gown tells us she is pure of spirit.
Strength teaches us that we can overcome our struggles by being patient with ourselves and controlling egoic responses to our external environment. It may surface when you are confronted with a difficult situation, and you feel challenged to not run away but face the issue with grace.
Strength Key Facts
Upright Meaning: Inner strength, patience, courage, taming the ego, confidence, passion, gentle control
Reversed Meaning: Self-doubt, impatience, lack of self control, lashing out, low energy, insecurity
Yes or No: Yes
Element: Fire
Astrological Sign: Leo
Planet: Sun
Death Tarot Card
Death is personified by a character riding a white horse and carrying a black flag featuring a white rose. The flag symbolizes purity and new beginnings. The pope stands before him in the card, implying a blessing in the passage of time. A king lies dead at his feet, which suggests that death is inescapable. The rising sun in the distance embodies the energy of a brand-new beginning just on the horizon.
Pulling the Death card can certainly evoke discomfort in those who may not know that it carries a strong energy of new beginnings. Death can serve as an important reminder to let something go and embrace change that can help you flourish.
Death Key Facts
Upright Meaning: Endings, new beginnings, transformation, transition, change
Reversed Meaning: Resistance to change, holding on, inner transformation, repeating patterns, fear of new beginnings, repeating patterns
Yes or No: Yes
Element: Water
Astrological Sign: Scorpio
Planet: Pluto
Death, Strength Tarot Combination
You may have reached your wit’s end when it comes to a person or an issue. The Death card embodies the ending of a cycle and the birth of something new. The Strength tarot card encapsulates compassion, bravery, and inner strength. Perhaps you have been giving too much of yourself to a situation and you are beginning to see the need to develop stronger boundaries.
Love
The Death, Strength tarot combination in love could signify the end of feeding connections that have challenged your patience. You may be about to erupt – your partner’s egoic ways could be driving a wedge between you and you don’t feel seen, heard, and appreciated. You may be near the point of breaking it off with them.
This powerful combination in a love reading can represent a breakup that is challenging, and you will have to navigate the new changes with patience. You may feel tested and overwhelmed by your emotions. Strength and Death together can imply that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Stay strong! A new chapter awaits.
Another interpretation of this pair is if you pull the Death card first followed by the Strength card to clarify, you may be opening yourself up to greater inner strength and compassion in your relationships. You may be starting to hold more space for your counterpart and quelling your ego to become a more patient, caring lover.
Career
If you pull the Strength card clarified by the Death card in relation to a career issue, you may be growing tired of putting in so much effort and not receiving enough praise in return. Your patience is ending, and you may be about at the point where you want to break away and start again.
The Death card clarified by the Strength card can mean you have just gone through a sudden upheaval in your career. You may have lost or quit your job, or you have decided to begin a new path. The Death card speaks about new beginnings and the end of a cycle. This is not necessarily a bad thing as the Strength card suggests that you will navigate these changes with grace, strength, and patience.
Want to learn more about reading tarot? At KEEN, you can view numerous guides including decoding animal symbolism in tarot, and how to predict when an event will occur. Read more to become a tarot expert today.
