Author: Cerridwen

Monday, March 17, 2025
Waning Moon
Venus & Mercury Retrograde

Here we start another week together! The full moon/lunar eclipse is past, although we may still feel some of that energy. The Venus retrograde has now been joined by the Mercury retrograde. Mercury retrograde reminds us to think even more before we speak, make sure we are clear, to back up tech, expect delays in communication and travel and build that into our schedule, to not sign contracts or purchase big ticket items. Or, if you must, make sure you read the fine print about a dozen times and understand what is going on.

A colleague, this past week, mentioned that when these two retrogrades are concurrent, they look at the Mercury retrograde to translate the Venus retrograde, which I thought was an interesting perspective. Mercury retrograde demands to slow down for clarity, which can help the reconfiguration of the relationships the Venus retrograde works on. I have to ponder that a bit more.

I look at Mercury Retrograde as a vacation from magic and ritual. I keep up with daily gratitude and blessings, with meditation and yoga. I still bless when I cook and clean. But I don’t start anything new.

I also do not do 1 on 1 tarot readings for anyone else during this time, because of communication confusion so likely during Mercury retrograde. While I will continue to post the community readings during the retrograde, your own interpretation and discernment will be even more important than usual during this time. Take what resonates; leave the rest behind. That is always true, but especially during Mercury retrograde. Take the time to really think about what does and does not resonate and why.

For the month of March, we are using the Midnight City Tarot Mini Deck, written and illustrated by Jackie Franco, and her full-sized City of Dreams Oracle deck. They work really well together. Both decks are New York-centric. As someone who spent many years living and working in theatre in New York, this deck speaks strongly to me. The quality of these decks is wonderful. They feel good as one handles them. You can learn more about the decks and buy them 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 – The Emperor
The Emperor is a card of structure, and of being part of something larger than oneself. This card is reminder to look at the structures you currently have in your life. What supports your vision? What fights against it? Although you don’t want to make sudden moves during these retrogrades, this is a good time to re-evaluate structures in your life, and start setting track you can then put down in new directions by mid-April. The art is this particular card is the Empire State Building, one of my favorites. When friends visited me in NYC, one of my favorite things to do was to take them up at twilight, so we could watch the city light up. Having the Emperor in this deck depicted as the Empire State Building, for me, reminds me that structures can be a positive, and not always just a restrictive. It also reminds me to share delights with those around me. This is a case of the art being very personal to the meaning of the card for me.

The Week’s Challenge – Page of Wands
The Page of Wands is about curiosity and the excitement around new projects. The reason that’s in the Challenge slot this week, is that, with these retrogrades, it’s not the best time to start a new project. This is a good time to dig deeper into why the project excites you, to research, and to do some pre-planning, rather than diving in with the passion of the wands suit. You may want to run around and talk about it, but, for the moment, stay in the quiet research and planning stage.

The Week’s Opportunity – King of Wands
The King of Wands knows how to inspire others. This ties into the Emperor energy. It also ties into the Page of Wands energy with the caveat – it’s not yet time to share this new inspiration, but to finish unfinished projects and inspire those around you to do the same. Mercury Retrograde, in particular, is a great time to revisit unfinished projects and complete them, so their energy clears the way to move on. Use this time to finish unfinished projects that will otherwise drain your energy once Mercury and Venus go direct.

The Week’s Stretch – 5 of Swords
5 of Swords is a card of intellectual conflict. This week is likely to bring arguments. Know when to apologize. Know when to cut your losses and move on. Sometimes, you might need to apologize in order to cut your losses. Someone might decide you need to be the loss cut. Again, this ties into the miscommunication aspect of Mercury Retrograde and the re-evaluation of relationships with Venus Retrograde. Keep your ego in check. Pick up the pieces, take responsibility where it makes sense, apologize where appropriate, and move on. There’s a good chance it will be painful, but necessary. Being reactive will cause things to shatter. Know when to hold your tongue. Know when to apologize. Know when to walk away.

Exploring this card further, the growth possible from this conflict is Sound, Frequency, Resonance. Arguments and conflict run on sound and frequency. They leave a resonance. If something has been necessary but uncomfortable, or maybe reactive rather than supportive, how can you change the sound, frequency, and resonance of it? What have you learned from the way you handled or mishandled this conflict, and how can you apply it moving forward? If you’re feeling angry and upset, play music to use sound to change your own frequency and resonance. If you work with tuning forks or sound bowls, this is a good opportunity to spend time using them to change how you feel and your energy field.

The Week’s Comfort – The Queen of Swords
The Queen of Swords learns from her mistakes, and does not repeat them. She has strong boundaries, and knows how to enforce them. This week’s various encounters, projects, and conflicts will teach you about methods of communication and boundaries. You will then be able to apply them moving forward. This Queen sits in Bryant Park, which is behind the main branch of the NY Public Library in midtown. The park is quite lovely, but if you are sitting on your own, random people come up and push your boundaries for their own agendas, whether it’s trying to sell you something or get you to be a contestant on a reality show or get you to come to their “church” (all of which were frequent demands in my years living in the neighborhood and spending time in the park). You need serious Queen of Swords energy to be able to actually enjoy the park and recalibrate.

Did this reading resonate with you? Or did you get something completely different from it? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Monday, March 10, 2025
Waxing Moon
Venus Retrograde

Hello, and welcome to the beginning of yet another week.

I don’t know about you, but when we “spring forward” it takes me a couple of weeks to adjust, and I’m shambling around, disoriented. When we “fall back” I have extra energy for weeks.

We have a lot going on this week, astrologically. Venus is still retrograde. We have a full moon AND a lunar eclipse on Friday the 14th, and then Mercury goes retrograde on the 15th until April 7. Back up all your tech, plan extra time around any and all travel, take five extra beats to think before you speak instead of one or two, and try not to sign any contracts or purchase big ticket items. Slow down and be thorough with everything you do. Having the Venus and Mercury retrogrades together can be challenging. It can also help you figure out what you really want and need, although wait to make the actual move until both go direct. Mercury goes direct on April 7, and Venus goes direct on April 12.

For the month of March, we are using the Midnight City Tarot Mini Deck, written and illustrated by Jackie Franco, and her full-sized City of Dreams Oracle deck. They work really well together. Both decks are New York-centric. As someone who spent many years living and working in theatre in New York, this deck speaks strongly to me. The quality of these decks is wonderful. They feel good as one handles them. You can learn more about the decks and buy them 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
This is about rapid movement. There’s a tendency, right before Mercury goes retrograde, to try and get as much settled as possible. But with the Venus retrograde, remember to still look at the details. While in some decks, it can have a somewhat negative connotation, this deck shows clear skies and focused attention. When this card comes up for me in this deck, I tend to breathe a sigh of relief, because it means I feel less stuck. This card tends to be about motion, rather than achievement. We’re not at the end of the cycle yet, but we’re making progress.

The Week’s Challenge – 10 of Coins
10 of Coins is about abundance and sharing. Here in the US, our government is currently trying to force us into deeper grooves of poverty through stripping away basic social safety nets. It’s difficult not to shut down and try to hoard, but this card suggests sharing is a stronger way forward, even if it feels counter intuitive. Together, we can accomplish a lot on the material plane. We can look back through time to see how other generations did so, and take heart from that. The artwork shows a potluck among neighbors. Even if that energy feels challenging at times this week, taking that out into the world will ultimately help the focused forward movement of the 8 of Wands. Last week, we had the 9 of Coins in this position, so we’ve built on last week’s challenge to this week’s.

The Week’s Opportunity – King of Swords
The King of Swords leads with intellect. He also knows when to cut away what is no longer necessary, ending a cycle in order to move on. This week, we have the opportunity to seek expert advice or to be the expert, depending on our individual situations. Weigh the different facets carefully, and make the choice using your head.

 

The Week’s Stretch – Death
This card was in the same position last week. And it was in the same position the week before, in the reading with the Cozy Witch Tarot. That means we are still in a space of needing to end a cycle so that we can start fresh. Three weeks in a row of the same card turning up in the same slot in two different decks is significant. It doesn’t have to be scary; remember, we are in retrograde/eclipse season. But it means we have to roll up our sleeves and do the work.

Last week, we had a card in the Foundation slot below this card (Letting Go). This week, there’s the card in the Growth slot above it, so we can see where letting go and clearing out for this change can lead. The card is The In-Between, which is a card of patience and waiting. We’ve started this major process of change, but it takes time. This signifies why it’s the Death card that showed up in the previous slot, rather than the Tower. Had the Tower shown up, the change would have been rapid. Death suggests more of a transition than a shock. The In-Between (showing a subway whizzing between the boroughs) suggests that since it’s such a major shift, it can’t be rushed. But keep showing up to do the work. The train suggests there is motion, even if we haven’t yet arrived.

The Week’s Comfort – 7 of Cups
The 7 of Cups suggests that whatever this major transition is we are going through, we will find comfort in that transition opening many options. Maybe we’re not seeing things clearly, and having so many options can be confusing. The 7 of Cups often gets a bad rap, but my personal experience of the card is often this: the 7 of Cups shows up when I have many options open to me, but the people around me are trying to push me into a decision that suits THEIR agendas, not mine. Therefore, when the card shows up, it’s telling me not to rush in making a decision (which ties into the Death, In-Between, and King of Swords cards), and to look at things clearly and objectively (King of Swords again), in spite of the forward motion (8 of Wands). . Eventually, you have to make a decision, but not right now.

This is reinforced by the oracle card below it, in the Foundation slot, Protection. Remember to protect your energy from those who want to siphon it off for their own purposes. You can protect your energy while still embodying the 10 of Coins community sharing card, even though it’s sometimes difficult to balance protecting yourself while being generous.

Even though the collective energy encourages us to be in community and move forward with clear focus, we also need to slow down to think clearly since we are still in the midst of the major transition that the Death card in the Stretch slot for three consecutive weeks indicates. This focused motion, clear thinking, and major transition opens lots of options, so we need to protect our energy and not be pushed into making choices to fit agendas other than our own.

What do you get from this reading? Does anything resonate, or do you get something completely different? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, March 3, 2025
Waxing Moon
Venus Retrograde

We are in March! Here in the Northern Hemisphere, there’s a hope that spring will soon arrive.

Last week was definitely a challenge. For me, there was a lot of 5 of Wands Energy. The Hanged Man helped, and I even achieved a little of the 9 of Pentacles. But, overall, it was an emotionally challenging week, and I felt wrung out by the end of it. The political landscape contributes a great deal to the stress. I do not have the privilege of pretending it doesn’t directly affect me on a daily basis.

For the month of March, we are using the Midnight City Tarot Pocket Deck, written and illustrated by Jackie Franco, and her full-sized City of Dreams Oracle deck. They work really well together. Both decks are New York-centric. As someone who spent many years living and working in theatre in New York, this deck speaks strongly to me. The quality of these decks is wonderful. They feel good as one handles them. You can learn more about the decks and buy them 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

Let’s dive in!

The Collective Energy of the Week – Queen of Wands
The Queen of Wands is someone who is comfortable in her own skin and her own power. She knows who she is, and doesn’t try to hide it. She’s vibrant, fun, and confident. In this card, she’s on a rooftop patio, watching fireworks over the city. This card is about inspiring others by being yourself. Since it’s the energy for the week, it advises us to inspire each other with our very presence.

 

The Week’s Challenge – 9 of Coins
9 of Coins (or pentacles, in some decks) This is about allowing yourself the luxury you’ve earned for yourself. Luxuries are anything that makes you feel special and abundant. It can be something complex, or it can be something as simple as taking yourself out for a manicure, as shown in the card. With Venus in retrograde, there’s a need to reassess finances and our relationship to money. That warns us not to overspend. But, at the same time, having this card in this position encourages us to do something nice for ourselves this week to make us feel like we’re living in abundance, and to recognize how much abundance we really have in our lives (even though everything on a larger level is determined to make us feel hopeless and poverty-stricken). Allow yourself a small indulgence to remind yourself that we do live in abundance, even when factions are trying to gaslight us otherwise, so they can remove that abundance and keep it for themselves.

The Week’s Opportunity – 1 of Coins
This is equivalent to the ace. It shows an acorn (set in Prospect Park). An acorn holds the possibility of growing into a sturdy oak, if nurtured and cared for. This week, we have a new opportunity to build something beautiful, strong, and tangible on the physical plane. By allowing ourselves moments of abundance (the 9 in the previous position) and going forth in the world comfortable in our own skins (the Queen of Wands), we put ourselves in a position to recognize this new opportunity and nurture it.

The Week’s Stretch – Death
Again, don’t be afraid of this card. It’s about transformation. It’s okay to mourn what you’ve left behind. In fact, it’s healthy and necessary. In order to make room for the 1 of Coins in the previous position, we have to let go and close out something else. We have to clear space – does that sound familiar? Because the same card showed up in the same position last week. In the Cozy Witch Tarot, we had the Broom, which is the card representing Death in that deck, encouraging us to sweep out what we don’t need. And last week, we were in the waning moon. Having the card in the same position this week, with the turn into the waxing moon, indicates that we didn’t clear out everything we needed last week, and it’s ongoing. Block in some time this week to think about what needs to be cleared away, honor it, and remove it, so that you have room for the wands and coins earlier in this reading. Look at the art on the card. The tree is losing its leaves. But next spring, it will have new buds and grow again, revived.

The Week’s Comfort – 5 of Wands
The 5 of Wands is a card of conflict. The dogs are barking at each other. Their leashes are tangled up. There’s a stack of trash bags in the background. How can that be a comfort this week? Chances are we’ll feel conflicted about letting go of something, about the new opportunity, about our self-worth (Venus retrograde again), and about allowing ourselves a treat. The comfort is that this is temporary. The 5 is a card of motion, and the middle of the suit. Things accelerate from here.

Exploring this card further, the Foundation of this conflict and discomfort is Letting Go. This ties into the stretch card for the week of Death. Let go, make room. The art on it is even a leaf which could have come off the tree in the Death card. Right now, in all the chaos, it’s very hard to trust anything, especially our own intuition. There’s a lot of toxic positivity going around, blaming us for feeling scared. Now is the time, more than ever, to dig into our personal Queen of Wands and be who we are. Trust our own intuition. Clear away what’s not working to make room for what is. With the Venus retrograde and an incoming Mercury retrograde in a couple of weeks, it may not show up quickly. And the gap between the clearing out and the new possibilities can be scary. But we’ll be ready when it does. The 1 of Coins in the opportunity position this week indicates that it is already a seed, but we must make room for it to grow.

Does anything in this reading resonate for you? Or is your interpretation different? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

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.