Card of the Week: Death

The only constant in life is change.  The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “No man ever steps in the same river twice.”  And sometimes a small change can tip the redirection of an entire river.

The Death card does not necessarily suggest a literal death, but rather an important transformation.  It may bring grief, or relief, or even both.  Just as old crops in turn become rich new soil, the act of relinquishing an old commitment, job, habit or relationship may be necessary to forge a vital new one.  Reflect on how your inner core might guide you outwardly in a bold new direction.

Inverted, this card suggests resistance to an inevitable change.  Such a temporary statis cannot hold indefinitely.  Even mourning periods must eventually end so life can move on.

In “Metamorphosis” Commissioner Nancy Hedford had been negotiating to prevent a war on Epsilon Canaris III, but contracted a rare and deadly Sakuro’s disease there.  Kirk, Spock and McCoy are shuttling her to the Enterprise for treatment when a flashing glow pulls their shuttle off-course to a small unnamed planetoid in the Gamma Canaris region.  They meet Zephram Cochrane, marooned there for over a hundred and fifty years and kept alive and healthy by a mysterious alien force he has nicknamed the Companion.  It had grounded Kirk’s shuttle so its crew could give Cochrane company, but it had not anticipated Hedford’s fatal disease.  The Companion merges with the dying Hedford to keep her alive.  When Cochrane learns that Companion/Hedford cannot live away from the planet, he chooses to remain with her as the others depart.