Predict for husband and wife, and you stain them. Predict on life, and you bring ruin and cut their years short. Predict good or harm for young children, and the astrology teacher forbids it.

What they said in the past still holds today. Whether you’re a real astrologer or a tarot reader, love between husband and wife, children, and above all death are still things you shouldn’t predict. The same goes for taking a reading for someone who is ill or has a very heavy problem.

This case was a younger colleague at work who asked about their grandfather, who was ill at the time, and how things would go. They actually drew 3 cards, but the one that stood out most was the Ten of Wands.

My very first thought was a huge burden, as heavy as it gets, about to run out of strength, not knowing when they can put it down. Normally this card isn’t all that negative. It’s more the mood of just feeling tired, feeling weighed down. But when it comes to health, and for someone who is bedridden at that, it’s much worse, like being at the very edge of a coma.

The number 10 shows the end, the last point. The power of Fire has run out completely. There’s no drive left to keep going, and the body and mind are both worn out.

In astrology, it’s also Saturn in Sagittarius. That means hope, progress or recovery is shut down, held back, blocked by Saturn’s power, which makes this card look even more negative.

What I read at the time was starting to run out of strength, starting to be unable to fight on. But at that time there were still the cards next to it, which could turn things a bit more positive, so I gave advice and encouragement.

But in the end, what nobody wanted to happen happened. The one who was saddest was of course the person themself, but the one who was also sad was the one who read the cards for them. Maybe this is why the old saying tells us not to predict on life: how long someone will live, whether they’ll make it. Because in the end, if it does happen, the one who suffers is still the one who said it.

So this was a very important lesson: with fragile matters, it’s better not to take the reading at all, especially life and death like this. Finally, I’d like to offer my deepest condolences to that younger colleague.