Monday, February 17, 2025
Waning Moon
Mars Retrograde
Hello, and welcome to another week. How did you find last week’s guidance helped you (or didn’t)? I found the 3 of Swords from last week as much about disappointment as it was about feeling the feelings. There were disappointments along several fronts, and I kept thinking, “Yup, here’s the 3 of Swords showing up.” But, as depicted by the card itself last week, there was a sense of more of a separation than being directly stabbed in the heart. And I leaned heavily into the 8 of Pentacles, the Magician, and the Sun. The day of the Full Moon, on the 12th, was particularly challenging on an emotional level. I pulled on the Page of Cups energy for that, along with the “Now” energy of the Oracle.
This week, as you can see from the spread’s photo, we have a lot going on. We have quite a few oracle cards expanding on the tarot cards.
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 Jameison 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.
To dig deeper, when necessary, I’m using the Shadows of Light Oracle by Haley Clare. I’m not sure if I received this deck from Goddess Provisions or Tamed Wild, during the time I had subscription boxes from them. The deck and I are becoming reacquainted, and it works well with this tarot deck. You can learn more about it and buy it here.
If you’re new to the weekly readings, this is a spread of mine. 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
The Collective Energy of the Week – 8 of Wands
There’s a lot of energy going on this week, and things will happen fast. Things have been stalled, but now, with Mars preparing to turn direct on the 23rd, things will go back into motion, even though the change happens at the end of our reading week. The energy is already gathering, earlier in the week, and you need to be ready to respond. As you can see from the artwork on the card, it may well be energy in community where things are happening quickly, and you need to work together as a group.
Digging deeper into this position, using the Oracle, we see the Foundation of this shift is Worth: The Queen. Worth is a type of wealth, connected to self-esteem, self-respect, and boundaries. It allows us to launch into the energetic 8 of Wands energy that presents itself collectively to us during the week.
Reaching above, the Growth from the 8 of Wands is the Turmoil: The Storm card. Last week, this card was the foundation of our challenge. This week, it’s moved into the growth of the collective energy of the week. What does that mean? That there will be more thrown at us (in the U.S., very likely on the political spectrum affecting our personal lives), but this week collectively, we are ready and willing to take action together, rooted in the knowledge of our own worth. How that manifests will be different for each of us, but, as part of a collective, each of us is an important piece in the puzzle, with a meaningful role. Time to go and do it. We ARE the storm.
The Week’s Challenge – The High Priestess
This is the next card in the Major Arcana from the Magician, which was in the same slot last week. We are making progress. Our challenge this week is to trust our intuition. It will tell us when it’s time to move with the collective energy of the last card. This week, the challenge will be trusting our own intuition, not other people’s agendas.
The Week’s Opportunity – Queen of Cups
As we maneuver through the quick-moving tumult this week, using our intuition, the Queen of Cups reminds us to honor our emotions. In the midst of the fast movement of the 8 of Wands, take a minute here and there to just be. Connect to the water and your emotions to recharge. She’s wearing a tee-shirt reading “Sea Witch” and the Storm card in the Growth position above the first position is about storms. These cards connect. Use the Queen energy (also connected to the Worth card as the foundation of the first position) within the storm.
The Queen of Cups connects to both the Turmoil and the Worth Card, AND to the High Priestess. All of these facets will feed positively into the 8 of Wands energy.
Exploring further, the Growth of this energy has to do with Trust. This week, we need to trust our intuition, our forward movement, our worth, our emotions. Too often, we think of trust as something passive, but it is active. Trust clears away the fear and encourages us to move forward (with the 8 of Wands energy). Choose trust over fear this week.
The Week’s Stretch – Knight of Cups
This slot is another forward motion, from the Page who occupied this slot last week to the Knight who occupies it this week. Last week was about curiosity and emotion; this week is about falling in love with what you’ve learned and bringing it out into the world. Every day this week, do something, no matter how small, to make you or someone around you smile, and fall in love with your life a little more. When things are in turmoil and moving quickly, this is difficult, which is why it’s important to stretch in this direction this week.
The Foundation for this is Acceptance: Surrender. Loosen your grip a little. Experience the moment, even if it’s uncomfortable. Use what you learn when you pick up and move forward. Like trust, acceptance is active, not passive. Accepting the reality of the moment clears the way to take positive action. Holding onto what you wished as the moment’s reality prevents you from looking at things clearly. We have a lot of cups in this week’s reading, so there are a lot of emotions built around the momentum. Accept them, acknowledge them, and then act.
The Week’s Comfort – 2 of Cups
The 2 of Cups is about partnership, whether it’s romantic, friendship, creative, business, or community. Remember, this week, with all that’s going on, that you are not alone. You do not have to navigate this on your own. Block out some time to have coffee with a friend, or reach out to a colleague you’d like to get to know better. That will help you sort through the emotions and trust your intuition as you make the necessary decisions to move forward.
The Growth from the card is Communication: Complexity, which makes perfect sense as an outgrowth of partnership. Really listen to each other this week as you catch up, as you sort through your emotions, as things begin moving more quickly. Are you speaking your intent and your integrity? Are you doing so in a way that the other party can hear it and comprehend it? As we near the end of the Mars retrograde, we are feeling more of the impatience to get going, even though it won’t fully be time to break out until next week. So make sure you communicate information, emotion, plans, and timelines clearly and take time to explain if the receiving party is having trouble navigating complexity. Take a look at the card. Look at the colors, and the sacred geometry aspects. If those interest you, go even deeper. This card is beautiful, and I plan to use it in meditation this week.
This reading is tied closely to last week’s reading, more so than usual. Flip back and forth between them as you need to see where last week set the foundation for this week. If something is headed in the wrong direction, course correct through both intuition and communication.
What are you getting from these cards? Similar interpretations, or something quite different? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.