Sooner or later you'll pull the Tower, the Ten of Swords, or Death for someone who takes it hard. What to do:
- Name the image, not the fear. "This card is literally about clearing out," not "something scary is coming."
- Contextualise with the next card. Death rarely lands alone; what follows?
- Ask them what it felt like when they saw it. Their reaction IS part of the reading.
- Don't reassure — redirect. "What's the smallest true thing you can do this week?" is more useful than "it'll be fine."
Your job is never to deliver doom. The card's job is to surface something; yours is to hold it.