The scythe is always a difficult card to interpret. There is a fine line between real danger and perceived threat. The old instructions, known as the Philippe Lenormand sheet, are very specific, “the scythe indicates great danger, which will only be avoided if lucky cards surround it”.
Now, if we look at a scythe and its concept, it’s a tool with a long threatening blade that ends with a very sharp tip. So yes, that tool can hurt, very badly. Most traditional readers see it as a real danger when it is close to the significator, and as a threat when further away. This makes perfect sense to me, as by its concept, a scythe cannot be a danger when too far away from us, it’s a short action weapon. Nevertheless, even if it’s only a threat for the querent, it can still be very dangerous for the cards surrounding it.
Seen that way, it’s quite difficult to see that card in a positive way, as interpreting it, for example, as harvesting would be a stretch when looking at the core concepts. It always implies a degree of danger or risk.
I started reflecting about the scythe this morning, as I was asking a question about a project I’m working on and I was seeing it here more about risk that danger.
The question I asked was “what important elements should I know about the project I’m working on?”.
Key, Stork, Star, Heart, Scythe.
There a several ways to look at 5 cards. We can look at them linearly as would be the case for a question about the evolution of something. But for a question like the one I asked, more descriptive than evolutive in nature, I usually start with the middle card as a focal point, then continue with the successive pairs around it.
As focal point, in the middle of the spread, we have the Star. This is certainly already a very positive sign, as the Star talks about a good guidance, especially with the nice surrounding cards, and can lead this project to success.
The first pair, Stork and Heart, talk about changes that will need to be done to lead to success, change that seem to have a pleasant impact on their result.
The last pair, Key and Scythe, is certainly more problematic with the appearance of the Scythe. An important aspect is that there is certainly some risk involved. Some key elements of the project might need to be cut to achieve the success shown by the Star.
If we try to tie everything together, we can say that to achieve success, there will be changes involving some key parts of the project, and will result in some of the planned things to develop being cut, but we still get a pleasant result, even if these cuts pain our heart.
Deck: Lilac Dondorf, by Game of Hope Lenormand.
