Why Did Brittany Murphy Die?

On Sunday 20th December, we received the shocking news that Brittany Murphy had died at just 32 years old. We have seen a number of young celebrity deaths this year under unusual circumstances with the loss of Stephen Gately and Heath Ledger. Brittany Murphy played many likeable and distzy characters in her films and I found the news of her death quite shocking because she had such a bright and happy image.

I  performed a Tarot Reading asking "Why Did Brittany Murphy Die?" because her death was such a sudden one for a girl so young and with rumours of drugs and eating disorders surrounding her death I hoped to see if I could find any insight into her death.

Touchstone Tarot

© Kat Black

Using the 78 friends of the 'Touchstone tarot' by Kat Black I pulled the 'Queen of Cups', the 'Queen of Coins' and the 'Knight of Cups'.

The first thing that strikes me is that there are no cards that might immediately signify drug use or any kind of abuse, if there were any negative influences surrounding her death they were subtle ones.

The 'Queen of Cups' is a loving, compassionate and patient women so when this card presents itself in a reading you would assume that Brittany would not be the kind of women to afflict any kind abuse upon herself. However, she may have been naive and easily lead women and who may have become involved with someone who may have put her in jeopardy.

The 'Queen of Coins' is another women who symbolises nurture, charity and as well as being down to earth and resourceful. This card tells us that she was a well liked girl who gave much to others in her life. But again these qualities can leave her open to being mislead or taken advantage of.

To support this, the lack of 'Wands' and 'Swords' cards in this reading tells us that she may have lacked assertiveness and will power. A women without this qualities may have found it hard to say no when appropriate but the appearance of two Queens signifies 'sincere friends', so one would believe that Brittany was surrounded by good people who would have looked out for her and protected her. Both the 'Queen of Coins' and 'Queen of Cups' are introverted cards rather than outgoing, extroverted cards and indicate that Brittany was a private and humble girl so if Brittany was having problems, her friends may not have realised.

'Queens' can tend to be overindulgent and like to 'feel good' so perhaps Brittany did overdose on some sort of recreational drug or attempt to better herself, for example dieting abuse. However, the 'Queens' in these cards all purvey women who are partaking of luxury foods so I think that Brittany ate well and took care of herself.

The 'Knight of Cups' signifies some sort of change in her emotional life or even her physical heart, since emotions are linked to the heart. 'Knights' can also indicate the extreme implying that Brittany may have become emotionally imbalanced though depression or from over doing it.

The lack of Major cards tells me that that was nothing significant in her death. The two 'Queens' portray Brittany as the  kind, happy and generous women who was surrounded by good people. The Knight indicates a sudden change probably indicating the death itself was due to her heart. At most she was enjoying life and all the rewards she had earnt and it took too much toll upon her. There is the possibility that she may have become depressed or overindulged in something that caused her death, but accidentally, rather than intended.

It seems that the celebrity world leaves its members particularly vulnerable to downfall as a result of fanciful living.

UPDATE 08/02/2010
According to Wikipedia -  "At 08:00 (16:00 GMT) on December 20, 2009, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to "a medical request"[26] at the Los Angeles home Murphy and Monjack shared. She apparently collapsed in a bathroom. Firefighters attempted to resuscitate Murphy on the scene. She was subsequently transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead on arrival at 10:04 after going into cardiac arrest.

Shortly after her death, Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter told the Associated Press: "It appears to be natural." An autopsy was performed on December 21, 2009. Her death certificate listed the cause of death as "deferred".

On February 4, 2010, the Los Angeles County coroner stated that the primary cause of Murphy's death was pneumonia, with secondary factors of iron-deficiency anemia and multiple drug intoxication. The drugs ingested were all said to be prescription medications. Further details on the drugs involved are due to be released when a full report is published".

So it seems she ultimately died from a change in her heart as a result of pneumonia, with the use of multiple drugs and iron deficiency contributing to her death, perhaps she did mildly abuse herself through dieting. A very unfortunate and saddening tragedy.

('’)