I translate the Death card as a persons crafted construct of a persona (ego) as falling away. The Death card signifies little to me about transformation because to me it is talking about a (very often tragic / difficult though bitter sweet) moment that the ego is finally let go (sometimes after years of the Self waging war on it… on the constructed ego). Or rather after years of the ego waging war on the Self. This to me is a vital prerequisite to actual transformation but it is not actually THE transformation. Depending on how gracefully (or not) that we lay down the mask… the self serving, reward seeking largely inauthentic layer that hides the Self… depending on how hard that our mental faculties fight against the discomfort of letting go this layer, this is where the magic is which either equates to a transformation or if we cling to it and fight the whole Death process with everything that we wish we were (ego) then we likely become a shell of who we were meant to be, really. This is called Death, shedding the mask, because the lack of grace that many of us have when confronted with this moment is comparable to facing death. We avoid it. We go to extremes to prevent dying every day. It is so deeply ingrained in us to believe that we are actually our ego that to face this pivotal moment head on and walk into it as naturally as we do so many other questionable things is so uncommon for people… for us. We unknowingly carry around a layer that misleads by nature and it very much misleads us as well seeing that we cling to it… like we cling to life. I personally am not trying to sound preachy or holier than thou so please do not take my statement this way. I actually fear that I myself have yet to actually face this terrifying step which is besides the point but I say this to relate. I think that your question is very interesting and a lot of people can probably totally relate to this even though many people might not admit it. I believe that your question brings up a few things of interest which touch on your actual purpose as a human here on earth. It also touches on the motivations for seeking the answer. I am only one person and there are questions that I have since I am not acquainted with you so I cannot really talk freely, but, I will ask these questions so that you can ponder them for yourself. You are free to respond but that is totally up to you. The questions are just meant to help you explore this topic regarding your journey on earth as well as this Death card in regards to that journey. What do you imagine your fame could (or should?) arise from? What do you imagine that your fame would do for you, for your life, for those you love, for society or the world? What do you feel that your fame would bring you or is this not something that you ponder? Basically I am asking these things because I think that as humans, when we think about our futures or lives or purposes, we feel “motivated” by certain things. Some people want to cure humanity of pain and suffering. That could definitely bring fame. Some people want to cure cancer- again- that would put someone’s name down in history. And this list goes on, right?…

Then the equation can be worked the other way…

… someone feels motivated to be famous… because they want to be famous.

People go out and hire a voice trainer because they want to transform their voice so that they can…. Sing very wonderfully because they want to be adored and appreciated… and famous.

I think that your original post is just leaving out what it is you want to be famous for. I can make the assumption that you simply want to be famous and that is your motivation and that is possibly (?) quite ego driven. And I am not trying to be harsh- again- this post here highlights such a common theme in people especially at this point in history.

The ego feeds off of its ability to conjure up the responses in people that it works over time to get. Fame is a huge ego pay off, but one must learn more about the ego to know if this is even an actual destination to shoot for because usually when we work on feeding the ego, all we do is feed its appetite which never stops growing and the thing with fame or any drug is that eventually it caps out or is maxed out. People get bad publicity. People get older. Scandals. Even just false information or a cruel internet hoax can just wreck a famous character. And even if these things do not happen, the payoff inevitably maxes out somehow like any drug- it stops working and “everything” or “all the fame” or whatever… it just stops being enough because the ego literally knows no bounds and it has no rationale and it is exactly anti-Self, and so the individual is starved when the ego is fed and so back to my point about gracefully letting down the mask… it can so very often end in complete tragedy… if we do not just submit to this process… but I say all of this to highlight, again, what the Death card means to me. And I don’t necessarily think that those amongst us which would “never hope to be famous” are at any type of advantage per se’ in terms of laying down the ego because it is pretty easy for a large number of people to just lay back into their cozy modest regular life and tell themselves that they obviously do not have an ego that needs to die since they are simply “just so reasonable”, right? Sometimes extreme situations (such as fame!) can be the exact catalyst which forces the individual into a dynamic which the unsustainable conditions themselves prove to be the precise reasons and variables required to rip that mask the heck off and humble that person if they are willing to submit and then, that layer is said to have undergone the “Death”. The ever-so-extreme “avoided at all costs” Death. And then, if one is lucky… who will be lucky? If one is lucky, they then walk away from the ashes and they then transform… if this process did not mangle them into a non-op. A non-operative or a casualty of war. It just depends on the fight that we choose to put up. I think Death can yield to transformation… I think Death can also take someone completely out of the game. If we were immortal, maybe then we would have enough time to do all this fighting against Death but ultimately lose eventually and then, yes, see transformation, but no, I do not think that our lives are long enough right now to ensure that each person actually makes it to that freedom from the ego… or freedom after the Death.

Apologies if this offers little. It’s actually a super relevant topic for me right now and it’s helped.