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The Magician & the Death Tarot Card Combination & Meaning


The Magician & The Death Tarot Card Combination
The Magician & The Death Tarot Card Combination


If someone ever tells you that creative powers do not exist in the same realm as life-shattering transformation, do not believe them. Possessing manifestation skills often implies that to build something new, we need to let go of something old. Let’s take a closer look at this paradoxical yet completely reasonable concept. The Death and Magician combination, care to help us? 





What Does the Magician Tarot Card Mean?


Meaning of The Death Tarot Card
Meaning of The Death Tarot Card


The first card shows a person in white and red attire. They appear to be standing in a garden overflowing with fruit and flowers. There is an altar before them that holds four seemingly random items. It's not a collection of trinkets, however. These things have come to the mage straight from the Minor Arcana suits. By the way, notice the Magician’s cryptic gesture. Their arms are spread vertically as if they wish to connect both the earth and the sky. Well, in a way, they are.

In its upright position, the first card in our spread does exactly that - acts as a conduit between the realms of possibilities and practical implementations. The Magician is the poster child for wishing things into being. They do it through their clear vision, unwavering focus, and extraordinary skills. Well, not exactly that extraordinary. After all, the mage seems to insist that these tools are available to each and all of us. 

In its upside-down position, the mage is all but useless as a creator. They either lack the power to manifest anything (due to blockages), or they willingly misuse it for wicked causes. Besides, this card also sees the mage using their creative capabilities on trivial pursuits.


What Does the Death Tarot Card Mean?


The Magician & The Death Interpretation
The Magician & The Death Interpretation


Now we are in the presence of a sinister, skeleton-like figure. They are clad in black armor that creates a stark contrast with their snow-white horse. In the background, there are countless people - nobles, commoners, royalty - pleading with the figure for mercy. Would Death listen? Not likely. They don't have favorites in this realm. 

In its upright state, the Death tarot card does not indeed herald one’s physical demise. In truth, it ushers in transformation that is so profound, that it might indeed feel like death. The changes the card brings along are inevitable and should not be feared or fought against. These changes are akin to a tree falling and becoming the lodging for many animals and insects - the tree’s life ends to allow for other amazing things to happen. 

When flipped on its head, the dreaded skeleton becomes overwhelmingly resistant to change. It sees the querent cling to people, places, and situations that have already fulfilled their purpose. What’s worse, the seeker might be trapped in transition - neither here nor there in terms of releasing old and embracing new. Alternatively, the reversed Death tarot card might support changes, yet make them crawl at the speed of a paralyzed snail. 


What Does the Upright Combination of the Magician and the Death Mean?


The Magician & The Death Tarot Cards Together
The Magician & The Death Tarot Cards Together


When the two cards meet in their upright position, they bring along news of intentional transformation. This is a rare instance when the stars align to allow the querent to shed off things that no longer serve their evolution.

This unfathomably powerful combination often comes to the querent during pivotal life transitions. To be effective, these transitions require both active creation and deliberate surrender of the seeker. The querent now should channel their energy toward transformation as opposed to stubbornly resisting inevitable resolutions. In this case, closures and endings become deliberate acts of creation rather than destruction. 

This combination has a habit of popping up when the seeker has to learn how to use their powers in an entirely new way, come the end of one chapter of their life. 


What Does the Reversed Combination of the Magician and the Death Mean?


The Magician & The Death Tarot Card Combination and Meaning
The Magician & The Death Tarot Card Combination and Meaning


The double reversal of the cards sees the querent in quite a predicament. They cling to a guiding rope that is quickly rotting away, yet they are unable to find a new guideline. They stand paralyzed right at the crossroads - unable to let go of the past and unsure of their ability to create the future. 

Interestingly enough, the manipulatory aspect of the upside-down Magician comes into play here. It appears that the querent is going out of its way to force-stop inevitable outcomes. In other words, they are using their god-given talents to keep alive situations that have already outlived their purpose. 

The cards wish to take the querent’s hands and have a quiet talk. They want to persuade the querent to ditch their seemingly brilliant tactics to avoid necessary endings as these tactics severely deplete the querent’s already compromised powers.   


How to Read the Magician & the Death in a Love and Relationships Context?


Combination The Magician & The Death Tarot Cards
Combination The Magician & The Death Tarot Cards


The Death tarot card might not be the one associated with love matters. Yet, when paired with the Magician, it speaks of relationships undergoing profound reinvention. Single seekers are likely to find new love once they release attachments to past relationships. People in established unions must collaboratively decide what aspects of their joint lives to release. Besides, they’d be wise to actively create new foundations. 





How to Read the Magician & the Death in a Career and Finance Context?


Together The Magician & The Death Tarot Cards
Together The Magician & The Death Tarot Cards


  • – When it comes to career, the Magician and the Death tarot cards have these words of wisdom to share: professional success shall come if one redirects one’s talents rather than clings to a familiar work identity. This combination often comes when the querent has to apply their previous expertise in an entirely new context. Another interpretation suggests that the seeker has to consciously close one professional chapter to manifest new opportunities. 

  • – If money is on the querent’s mind, the cards wish them to know that prosperity is only one mindset shift away. The querent just has to release counterproductive money habits. Magician and Death combination also suggests financial regeneration being possible through redirection of resources. The cards also advise against maintaining unprofitable investments out of sheer habit. Maybe it’s time to create space for more valuable financial manifestations. 


How to Read the Magician & the Death in a Health and Spirituality Context?


The Magician & The Death Combination
The Magician & The Death Combination


  • – When the querent is preoccupied with their health, the mage and the grim reaper suggest that healing might come through deliberately ending certain health patterns and creating new ones. The combination often comes during times of health-related crises, crying for the eradication of outworn habits and beliefs. No minor adjustment of certain healing aspects is going to help. A complete transformation of one’s lifestyle might be in order. 

  • – When it comes to spiritual development, the cards walk the querent down the line separating personal creation and surrender to transformative forces. Ego death might be (literally) in the cards for the seeker. They are now tasked with directing their energy toward transformation. All the energy suckers, like outdated spiritual beliefs, have to die. 


What Do Other Magician and Death Combinations Mean?


Death and magician combination
Death and magician combination


  • – The upright Magician meets the Death tarot card in its reverse state to hand the querent a metaphorical cease-and-desist. In it, the combination urges the querent to stop trying to preserve or revive obsolete situations, relationships, and circumstances. The cards suggest that the seeker has all the skills and focus to manifest anything into their life, yet they apply these abilities to unreasonable causes. 

  • The querent needs to realize that their resistance to letting go hinders their otherwise immense creative power. Perhaps it’s time to direct one’s talents toward facilitating rather than forestalling what’s inevitable.  

  • – The upside-down Magician and the upright Death paint a weird picture. In it, we see endings and transformations being all but thrown at them while they walk around blindfolded and with their arms tied behind their back. In other words, their creative potential remains untapped right when needed most. 

  • The cards urge the querent to reclaim their power during these turbulent times. Sure, the current of changes might be strong, but if the seeker concentrates their abilities and steps onto the game board consciously, they will participate in their rebirth.   


How to Interpret the Magician and the Death Combination?


death tarot card
death tarot card


Since this tarot pairing is all about transformation, the querent has to assess their role in it. Do they see it as a passive experience, or are they willing to become an active participant? In other words, the cards expect us to engage as opposed to endure the changes. 

The querent might also want to do some practical exercises following their encounter with the Magician and the Death. They should create a two-column inventory of things they are creating versus things they are releasing. They should see if the latter column implies enough space for the former column points.  


Our Final Thoughts on the Magician and Death Combination


what does the death card mean in tarot
what does the death card mean in tarot


Again, one might think that creation and dissolution are two opposing forces. In reality, these two notions are complementary aspects of a transformative process. Just ask a butterfly and its pupa. 





After all, transformation isn’t something that happens to us. It often happens through us - right in the moment when we allow ourselves to align our creative will with natural cycles of completion and renewal. 

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