I think we often forget that the Death card is named Death.  While I agree that much of what can be read from or into this card deals with change and new beginnings it's not bad to think of this card as pointing to the end of something.

Does the card mean physical death?  Not always, and probably not 99% of the time.  However, the end of something is, if you work it right, the beginning of something else.

When I started working with a Tarot I got this card at least four times a week for two weeks.  I was terrified!  What is happening?  Why am I ending things so much?  Why does this Death card keep popping up every time I ask a question or do a general reading?

The answer:  I'm changing things.  I was, and am, going from a life of blissful ignorance to one of illuminated intelligence.  I'm not worried I might die.  I know I will.  If the Death card means physical death only, then it's a wasted card in my book.  We are all going to die.  But, if it means the death of something in ourselves I'm rather excited about that.  There's an awful lot I'd like to 'die' in me and with the help of Tarot I can start the process of creating the new things to replace them.

Look at the keywords you have written down. Read what you have written. You are moving out. You are ending a phase in your life, you are transforming your life from what it is now. Keywords: Rebirth, Transformation, Ending, Complete Change, Renewal, Life Cycle, Transformations.

This is a form of rebirth for you and your father. This is the ending to a phase of your life and his. This is going to be a complete change for both of you. You both will have the opportunity for renewal in both of your lives. The life cycle is changing for you both. There will be all sorts of transformations. The card is not a negative card but one full of insight and one that stops us from becoming stagnant and dormant. Look at the positive aspects of the card, feel the positive energies in the card and then look at the card again. What do you feel now? These things are both new and exciting and on another level change is a bit scary for some. Think of yourself and your father as catapilliars, which in time turn to beautiful butterflies and are able to fly. That is a transformation, a renewal and so on. I hope this helps.

Gentle Hugs,

Julie

In many cultures (Including my own, the western judeao-christian culture) death is not seen as the end of existence, but as a transition from one form of existence to a higher one.  Think of it like this, A caterpiller could be seen to die as it enters it's coccoon, because what leaves the coccoon is a butterfly.  The caterpiller is a lowly creature of the earth, and it's whole world is the leaf on which it was born and it eats.  The butterfly however is a beautiful, free creature of the air, and her world is wherever her wings can take her.  (Yes I just noticed that I've made the same point as the poster above me).  Another example of this type of "death" would be the foetus, which dies at it enters the birth canal, because what emerges is no longer a foetus but a baby.  This baby is already much less dependant on her mother then she was as a foetus, and her world in immesurably larger then it was before.  

I myself have seen the death card in a reading I was given.  In my case it was a clear reference to my own transition from the man society said I was "supposed" to be to the woman I truly am.

Thank you for sharing with us about your transformation.

Gentle Hugs,

Julie