Monday, February 3, 2025
Waxing Moon
Jupiter and Mars Retrograde
Note: Jupiter goes DIRECT tomorrow
Hello, there! How are you? Deep breath, there’s a lot going on. Hopefully, you’re feeling a little more like yourself with Uranus going direct late last week. Jupiter, the planet of expansion, goes direct tomorrow, so that will also help us on the tangible plane. Mars is still retrograde for most of the month, so it will be difficult not to feel impatient. Hang in there.
Yesterday, I posted a reading for Imbolc, using my Brigid’s Cauldron spread. It’s meant to help us navigate these next six weeks until the Spring Equinox. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can do so here.
For the weekly readings in February, we are using the Cozy Witch Tarot by Amanda Lovelace, with art by Janaina Medeiros. You can learn more about it and buy it here. Several people recommended this deck to me, including my friend, author and tarot reader Jamieson Wolf. I love the way it reads, although my interpretations are sometimes different than what is written on the card. I do sometimes worry that it doesn’t delve deeply enough into uncomfortable emotions, but it states clearly that it is meant to be cozy and comforting. February is a difficult month for me, anyway, often; it seems like winter will never end. And with all the stresses around us, I’m opting for cozy for us in these weekly readings.
If you’re new to the weekly readings, this is a spread of mine, that I’ve developed over months. It’s read from left to right, 5 cards. Any card that needs more interpretation can be built into further, above and below, with either more tarot cards, another tarot deck, or an oracle deck.
These interpretations are mine, based on my experience, intuition and responses to the artwork. You may have a different experience. This is an overview of the week as it stands now; every decision we make from the moment of the reading can change the outcome. If there’s something in the reading that worries you, you have the information ahead of time so that you can plan, make better choices, or handle it differently than predicted for a better outcome. Tarot sets out possibilities, which you change through your choices and actions.
Left to right, the positions are as follows:
1. The Collective Energy of the Week
2. The Week’s Challenge
3. The Week’s Opportunity
4. The Week’s Stretch
5. The Week’s Comfort
1. The Collective Energy of the Week – King of Pentacles
The King of Pentacles is about pragmatic and sensible leadership, who provides for those around them and teaches them how to care for themselves. The first thing that struck me about this card this particular week is mutual aid, given what we’re going through right now, and, especially the position of the card within the spread, as the collective energy of the week. With factions trying to fracture us, it’s important that we use our own leadership skills to help each other. Pentacles are about tangibles. It doesn’t mean you have to give money if you’re struggling. You can help someone by holding a door, or carrying a bag, or offering a link to a resource, or just listening. We need to take care of each other now, and how we do so has many different possibilities, far beyond just being about the cash. We each do what we can.
2. The Week’s Challenge – 4 of Pentacles
In most decks, the 4 of Pentacles depicts a figure clutching pentacles to them, or sitting on top of a chest carved with a pentacle. It can often suggest either that you need to hoard your resources somewhat, or a warning that you’re hoarding too much. The card in this deck suggests the latter, suggesting that you treat yourself to something shiny. What does that mean to you? My favorite treats tend to be books or a piece of chocolate. A treat for you might be something completely different. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, as long as you feel like you’ve indulged yourself. The challenge this week is to remember that we deserve good things, even when abusive systems try to convince us we don’t.
3. The Week’s Opportunity – 10 of Pentacles
I love the art for this card in this deck. 10 cats? Yes, I feel rich! (I’m ignoring the feed bills and the vet bills, and just enjoying the sensation of 10 cats). The opportunity this week is to look around and enjoy what we have and what we’ve built. This ties into the 4 of Pentacles, about treats and knowing when to hoard and when to release, and the King of Pentacles about managing resources. There’s a magical practice where when you give, you make room to get. Are there things you don’t need that you can donate? Can you bless some pennies and leave them in unique places around your town to brighten someone’s day? Can you rearrange something in your house that makes you feel satisfied in both the organization of it and because it exists in your space? With what’s going on the US around the Treasury Department right now, we are all worried about finances, access to our money, and how that will be manipulated. These pentacle cards are a good reminder about what’s not within “their” control.
4. The Week’s Stretch – Strength
There will be times this week when exterior factions will work our last nerve, trying to demoralize us and make us forget our own tangible power, and our own pleasure in mere existence. We can meet it with a gentle strength that undermines more than aggressive force would. There may be times where we need to be aggressive and assertive, but this week tells us that gentle firmness is a stronger choice. Again, Jupiter goes direct this week, and Jupiter is about enjoying the tangible, the textures, the senses. It’s a case where living in defiant joy is the best tool. But there will be times this week when it’s difficult. Looking at the 4 of Pentacles, it’s time for the old adage, “know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em.” Doing so with gentle strength and maybe even a touch of humor are tools that will help.
5. The Week’s Comfort – King of Cups
This card was also in the final position of yesterday’s Imbolc spread, albeit with a very different image. The King of Cups has well-regulated emotions. They run deep, but these kings are creative and loving, without being provoked into reactive responses. This king believes in happiness in the home, love, and the arts. This feeds into the energy of Jupiter gong direct this week. Go to an art exhibit, watch a favorite TV show, read a book. Enjoy your life, in spite, TO SPITE, the chaos around us.
In this week’s reading, we have 3 pentacle cards, one Major Arcana, and one court card. It ties into the Imbolc reading with the King of Swords and boundaries, the King of Cups card in that reading, and the foundational energy of that reading in the Sun card. It touches on the energy of Jupiter turning direct, and reminding us of our own riches, both material and tangible. These are riches that others may try to define, but they can’t. They are ours. This week we enjoy, and we remind ourselves what we are protecting.
What do you get from the reading? Do you agree with my interpretations, or are you getting something else? I’d love to hear your response in the comments.