#13, Death or Transformation - “The End of the Beginning”

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –

 I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."

                                         Robert Frost

One of the scariest cards to appear in a reading for a novice

Death, Transformation - scary images?
Perhaps, but this can be a rewarding card
Ciro Marchetti's "Legacy of the Divine Tarot"©

querant is #13, Death.  They are sure it holds impending doom and it becomes the reader’s job to educate their client that this card simply marks a well-earned fork in the road.  #13 also means transformation and how can you make an omelet if you’re not even willing to go near the hen house?  

The Death card, or Transformation card if that makes you feel more comfortable, makes its appearance when you are at a pivotal moment in time and space. You are making something happen.  You are having an effect on your world and it is changing you forever.  More often than not, that’s something to celebrate.  Imagine your life in complete stagnation, somewhat easier, perhaps, but also more predictable.  Many people choose to live their lives that way – never pushing boundaries, never asking the million dollar questions.  Those are the people who settle and play it safe.  They are also not the people reading blogs like this one. 

People who pull #13 know there’s more to life’s equation and they want to solve it.  Does this make them superior to everyone else?  Of course not.  It simply means they’ve chosen to live differently.  Their path gets a little bumpier from time to time.  Perhaps they get more easily distracted, losing sight of the end result by getting momentarily lost in the experience.  Each one of them, however, comes to know the complexity and the glory of the moment.  When the path diverges as in Robert Frost’s yellow wood, they are chomping at the bit to go down the road less traveled either by circumstance or by design.

Temperance - a question of balance
as seen by Ciro Marchetti in
"Legacy of the divine Tarot"©

The Transformation card is the card of dreamers and achievers who realize that chapters end, but there’s always a new book to pull off the shelf and open to page one. They understand that the past can be put behind you and that when the winds of change sweep clean, you still have bare ground to be rebuild on.  Transitions are not easy.  They can be unsettling for weeks, maybe even years at a time, but once the transformation is complete you arrive at #14, Temperance.  

It’s in Temperance where you recover your equilibrium and have the opportunity to combine the lessons of your journey, heal if need be and hold on to that oft-times hard-won sense of contentment.  Next time #13 pops up in your reading note the placement.  Ask yourself who and what you wish to become and which fork in the road would serve you best.  

LADY ORACLE