Community Tarot Reading for the Week – Page 5

June 2, 2025: Community Tarot Reading for the Week

Monday, June 2, 2025
Waxing Moon
Pluto Retrograde

Hello, my friends! I hope you are looking forward to June. We still have a Pluto Retrograde, but that’s the only retrograde this month. Retrogrades will start stacking in July.

This month’s tarot deck is the wonderful Everyday Witch Tarot with support from the Everyday Witch’s Familiars Oracle. Both are by the wonderful Deborah Blake with art by the terrific Elisabeth Alba. You can visit Deborah’s website here and visit Elisabeth’s website here. Both decks are available from Llewellyn Worldwide, with the tarot deck here and the oracle deck here.

I am a huge fan of both of these creators. No, I don’t get a kickback from them or from Llewellyn, and yes, I bought both these decks!

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

Collective Energy of the Week – Page of Swords
The page of swords has both intellectual curiosity and determination. He may not know all the details of the upcoming journey, but he’ll figure it out along the way. It’s also a reminder to check facts – don’t be swayed by gossip or “They say.” Make sure it’s not all about curiosity and impulse, but that you also take a moment and a breath (air) to listen to your gut. Don’t disconnect from your intuition this week.

The Week’s Challenge – The Lovers
As the only Major Arcana card in the week’s spread, we need to pay attention to this. The two human figures in the card have chosen to clasp hands and unite. The tails of the two cats form a heart. Make the choices you are faced with this week from a place of love, not anger. That can be difficult, and, from the position of the card, that it will be challenging to do so this week.

Exploring the card further, the Foundation for this challenge is the Wild Boar. The oracle associates it with fire, and there’s a fire in the Lovers card above it. The Wild Boar suggests you use your anger as a positive catalyst. Instead of being paralyzed with anger, use it to do something about the situation. The energy of anger has a lot of power. Where can you choose to place it so it does good rather than harm? Tying it into the Lovers card, and the advice to make your choices from love rather than anger, you can channel that energy into positive action.

The Week’s Opportunity – The Page of Pentacles
Another Page! This one, in the Pentacles suit, is eager to start down a new path. I can imagine the Page of Swords racing down the road, meeting this Page at this crossroads, and they team up, pairing intellectual capacity with practicality. Since they are both pages, and flank the Lovers card, they might argue about the way to get there and some of the stops along the way, but as long as they work with a sense of respect and from a place of love, they will get there, and are stronger together. (I could write a short quest story about these two)!

Exploring the card further with the possible Growth, we have the Phoenix. Although part of the Spirit suit in the oracle, it, too, has associations with fire, since the phoenix rises from the flames. Embrace change and growth, fly into your destiny. Use the energies and partnerships offered by the previous cards to step into a fuller version of yourself.

The Week’s Stretch – Two of Swords
One of the things I love about this card is that the witch trying to make a decision is blindfolded (as the figure in many depictions of this card are), but she’s also peeking out from under the blindfold. She’s not at a stalemate. She’s overthinking, although she knows what she wants to do. The crow and the cat are laughing at her because they know she knows, and she’s procrastinating. The stretch you are faced with this week is knowing what you want/need to do, but wondering if there’s a better choice. You know. You’ve thought it through. Your gut confirms it. Stop procrastinating and get going! Use the energy of the boar and the phoenix to propel you.

The Week’s Comfort – Six of Wands
The 6 of Wands reassures you that you will soon receive recognition for your work, and reminds you that you’re part of something bigger. You will make the right decision in the choice/opportunity you are faced with this week and will be rewarded – but, looking at the spread as a whole, you have to take action. You can’t procrastinate. Motion is needed for achievement.

Did something in particular resonate with you in this reading? Or did you get something completely different? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

May 26, 2025: Community Tarot Reading for the Week

Monday, May 26, 2025
New Moon
Pluto Retrograde

Hello! Blessed Memorial Day, to those who honor it, and honor those who gave their lives for the country.

I referred back often to last week’s reading. The 3 of Swords and the 10 of Wands were relevant in a personal situation. The 6 of Wands and the Star were relevant in a professional situation. Integrating the other cards in the reading helped me get a handle on both, and navigate them. Along with my daily card draw, because every decision we make from the moment of a reading has the power to create change (which is a good thing).

Pluto remains retrograde, and now we have a new moon in Gemini. An astrologer pointed out that the symbol for Gemini resembles a portal, and we are being offered the chance to step into who we want and need to be with this new moon. That resonated with me.

This month’s deck is the gorgeous Forager’s Daughter Tarot by Jessica Lei Howard. It’s a stunningly beautiful deck that reads well, and every bit of the artwork has layers of meaning. You can learn more about the creator and buy the deck here.

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 – King of Pentacles
This is a card of steadfastness, maturity, and security. Drawing it this week as the collective energy made me sigh with relief, as I had some challenges thrown at me the past few days, and was feeling insecure on very tangible levels. I believe I made the smart decisions, and this card indicates that tangible security (including money) will support me in them this week. That takes some immediate pressure off me.

The Week’s Challenge – Two of Swords
I love the bat in this card (I’m fond of bats, in general). This bat indicates the need to use more than one sensory perception, and trust one’s intuition in making a decision. For me, this ties into the challenges thrown at me over the weekend that I’m dealing with this week, the 3 of Swords in last week’s reading that I am still trying to navigate. The King of Pentacles in the previous position indicates that if I trust my gut, I will make the right decision, and I will have the support I need. I just have to remember to trust my gut (which is how I made one of the difficult decisions I had to make yesterday, and choose which calculated risk to take).

The Week’s Opportunity – Nine of Wands
The 9 of Wands is about being ready for anything, through both determination and adaptability. In this particular card, I love the little mouse climbing up the wand, determined to get to the berries on top. The card indicates that, for this week, I have to keep on keeping on. It’s a nine, so there’s still work to do, and it’s not time to give up.

The Week’s Stretch – The Hanged Man
The chrysalis indicates change, and the Hanged Man is about looking at things from a different perspective. It’s a reminder, in both the personal and practical challenges with which I’m dealing, to look at the information from multiple perspectives, and then (going back to the 2 of Swords), trust my gut. Allowing different perspectives into the decision-making process may be a stretch, but that will be worth it to make the most informed decision possible.

The Week’s Comfort – Ephemerality
The Forager’s Daughter Tarot has five extra Major Arcana cards that most other decks do not have. This is one of them, and a new-to-me card. It shows a dragonfly soaring above ghost pipes and a quartz crystal. It’s a card reminding us that many moments of our lives are fleeting, and we need to find the beauty in them. Even with the challenges this week offers and the decisions that must be made, catching those fleeting moments of beauty and vulnerability will be worth it. And, it’s a reminder that although these challenges loom large this week, they are not forever. They will be dealt with, one way or the other, and be in the past (making room for both new challenges and fresh beauty).

To me, this reading indicates a mixed week, not tilting too far in either direction as long as I remember to stay grounded and trust my gut. Did anything in particular resonate with you? Or did you interpret cards differently? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

May 19, 2025: Community Tarot Reading for the Week

Monday, May 19, 2025
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde

Hello! How did last week work out for you? I definitely had a Tower challenge, but the Bond card of the Collective Energy and the 3 of Cups as my Comfort helped me through it.

We’re still in a Pluto retrograde (and will be, until mid-October). Hidden aspects of people and situations will continue to come to light. It can be painful, but ultimately knowledge is better than ignorance. Here in the US, we’re also galloping towards the big Memorial Day Holiday Weekend, so there’s a frantic energy to try to get it all done.

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 – Knight of Cups
The Knight of Cups takes compassion and intimacy out into the world. If you look at the card, a candle burns within a glass chalice. Although the moths are drawn, the chalice protects them from being burned. There’s also lavender in the card, which is a good herb to work with this week. The week’s collective energy is that of kindness and compassion. Let’s remember to use it on ourselves as well as on each other.

The Week’s Challenge – The Star
This is an interesting card to have as a challenge. The Star is a card of hope and light. The red cardinal indicates creativity. The ice around the North Star is melting, and the yellow crocus flowers indicate the end of winter. So why would this be a challenge? My sense is that we still need patience. We want to move forward, but we are still in the melting phase, not completely ready for a growth spurt.

The Week’s Opportunity – Six of Wands
This card appeared in the Challenge position two weeks ago, in the May 5th reading, and has now shifted to the opportunity position. It’s still about victory, but the victory is an opportunity this week, rather than a challenge. Tie in the yellow of the daffodil with that of the crocus in the previous card, which is positivity. I associate it with inspiration. If I’m having a dull day, burning a yellow candle often gets me back on track. The victory might not be handed to you this week – you might have to look for the opportunity, and then grab it. But it’s there.

The Week’s Stretch – The Three of Swords
Having this card in this position puzzled me. How can we stretch to meet the 3 of Swords, when it’s so often a card we try to avoid? The figure in the card is the red cardinal, from the Star card, with three swords plunged through him. There’s betrayal and disappointment involved. We don’t want to be pinned in place or betrayed or stabbed in the back.

Exploring this card further, using other tarot cards rather than an oracle deck, Justice was the Foundation card. The artist chooses to show Justice as the food chain, for cause and effect. Did you place your trust in someone knowing that it wasn’t a wise idea, and now you’re stabbed in the back? Did you do something you knew you shouldn’t have and confide in the wrong person, and this week there’s a betrayal and you have to face the consequences? Do you have a guilty conscience about anything? Did you put someone in a position of an unfair test, and they are fighting back to regain their own sense of balance? Are you about to make a decision you know is harmful to you or someone near you, and you intend to do it anyway? Any of these could be a reason that Justice shows up as a foundation for the 3 of Swords in this position.

Going even deeper, to the Growth that can come from Justice moving through the 3 of Swords, it moves into the 10 of Wands. This is a card of heavy burdens and responsibilities, which can feel overwhelming. I had another wand added to my week, and am worried about a sense of overwhelm. Tying it to the other cards, though, means the root of the Justice card winds up in a feeling of betrayal and being pinned, and then grows up and out into the 10 of Wands, feeling overburdened. Because it’s a 10, it’s near the end of the cycle, and holding on a little more will mean you can set down some of the burdens.

Since these three cards explore the “Stretch” position in the spread, it makes me wonder if, perhaps the reason it’s a stretch is that we are not looking at it through the lens of the week’s collective energy of compassion and of the opportunity for victory. Hang in there, but maybe we’re overdramatizing, and falling into negative emotions because we’re not seeing it through compassion, hope, and victory. Maybe that’s why the Star is in the challenge position. Instead of being pinned and betrayed, yes, there will be more stress and burdens this week, but it’s challenging us toward something creative and hopeful if we meet it with compassion and a sense of opportunity, rather than a sense of betrayal and burden. Something is unbalanced, and we need to put it back into balance. If we respond with compassion and hope rather than react with a sense of betrayal and overwhelm, we might be able to meet it for the opportunity it really is. That doesn’t negate the uncomfortable feelings, but it gives us a path to navigate through them.

The Week’s Comfort – Knight of Wands
The Knight of Wands takes determination and passion out into the world, often with charisma. We have another yellow flower here, too, this time forsythia. Yellow flowers thread through several of these cards. Maybe treat yourself to some yellow flowers this week, and have them in a vase where you can look at them when things feel heavy. The Knights at both ends of the spread guide that entering the week with compassion will allow us to exit the week with determination and passion. Not all the emotions and experiences this week will be pleasant, but we have the chance to handle them in a way that is ultimately positive beyond ourselves.

Did anything in particular resonate in this spread for you? Or did you get a completely different interpretation? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

April 28, 2025: Community Tarot Reading for the Week

Monday, April 28, 2025
Waxing Moon
No Retrogrades

Hello! We are about to finish one month and begin another. We are about to celebrate Beltane, on May 1. The new moon was yesterday, and we are in Taurus season, which is about stability, security, and tangibles – a very pentacle-centric time, in the suits.

At the end of the week, Pluto goes retrograde until October 13th. From May 4 until at least March 2026, at least one planet will be retrograde, often more. Pluto will be retrograde in Aquarius, so it’s a time to rethink how we show up as individuals while being part of a larger collective. What old associations need to be released? Where are you “going along to get along” instead of standing in your truth? This particular Pluto retrograde will challenge us to examine this, and make changes that benefit us while also benefiting the community. Too often, we are fed the lie that those are in conflict, when in reality, we need to be our best and more truthful selves in order to bring that best into the community, so the community can thrive as a whole, while still supporting individuals. They are not mutually exclusive. Those who feed that line are doing it for their own agendas.

This month’s deck is the wonderful Mystic Mondays deck by Grace Duong. It’s modern, bright, and colorful, a great way to jump into spring. A fellow writer recommended this deck to me, and I fell in love with it. It reads very well, and the artwork itself communicates with strength and clarity. If you want to read more about Grace’s work (she has several decks and gives workshops), and buy the deck, you can do so here.

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 – 2 of Wands
The 2 of Wands is about making a plan that you can step into tangibly in the world as your future. The card itself shows the entrance to a path. It’s not a straight or flat path. There are ups and downs, hills and valleys. And we can’t see where it ends. We have to have the courage to take those first steps. So this week, let’s check that we have tools to start the journey, and soon we will take those first, bold steps. Wands are tied to fire, identity, and passion, so this road leads us to being better selves.

The Week’s Challenge – Princess of Swords
The Princess of Swords is smart, creative, and excited. She encourages us to speak our new ideas into being. Remember when the Ace of Swords came up in the April 14th reading? This idea has been percolating since then, and, partnered with the 2 of Wands above, it’s okay to talk about it now! So why is it in the Challenge position? Part of talking is listening, and since this is a fairly new idea, know when to talk and know when to listen to the responses. Even if you choose not to take all the advice in the exact way it’s given, really listen to see if something useful that fits your vision – or suggests something even more creative – is offered.

The Week’s Stretch – 10 of Pentacles
The 10 of Pentacles is about security, stability, and tradition in very tangible ways. You’ve achieved something and can enjoy the fruits of the success and share it with your community. Because we are living under such daily stress right now, it’s hard to remember or allow ourselves celebration for achievements. This card in this position reminds us that it is important and healing to do so, and gives us energy to keep on.

The Week’s Opportunity – 9 of Cups
The 9 of Cups is often called “The Wish Card” meaning something you wished for comes true. You’ve completed something creative and fulfilling, and can take a minute to feel good about it. This ties in directly to the previous card, the 10 of Pentacles in the Stretch position. Let yourself enjoy a wish coming true, completion of a creative project, a sense of fulfillment. You are not letting anyone down by enjoying your own achievements.

The Week’s Comfort – The Devil
How can this card be a comfort, especially since it’s so often viewed negatively? Because the Devil reminds us that we live in a tangible world. Take a look at the art on this particular card. It’s not an outside devil figure threatening anyone. It’s steps to the individual’s own mind. How often do we trap ourselves by overthinking? But there are also doors leading out to infinity. The Devil card in this position of comfort this week is further encouragement to celebrate the Princess, the 10 Pentacles, and the 9 of Cups. We live in a physical world full of pleasures, if we take the time to enjoy them. And, in such chaotic and stressful times, we need those moments of pleasure to renew ourselves. Once we are restored, we have the courage to step out on this new path indicated by the 2 of Wands.

Did something in the reading particularly resonate with you? Or did you intuit a different interpretation? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Next week’s reading will be in May, post-Beltane, in the Pluto retrograde, and we start the new month with a different deck. I’ve loved deepening my relationship with this deck over the month, and hope you enjoyed it, too.

April 21, 2025: Community Tarot Reading for the Week

Monday, April 21, 2025
Waning Moon
No Retrogrades

We are in a very brief period without retrogrades, so it’s good to set track for the rest of the year. Part of that is clearing out, since we are in waning moon. The sun just moved into Taurus, which means we are also focused on comfort and home. In other words, many I know are into serious spring cleaning right now and working on their homes. I’m doing it, too, and my landlord’s painting the exterior of the building, which is great!

This week’s reading has three court cards and two minor arcana. It builds on what was set out over the past few weeks.

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 – Knight of Swords
The Knight of Swords is about intellect, good judgment, and fair decisions. It ties into last week’s Ace of Swords, which was in the challenge position. Last week’s new ideas have formed well enough to take out into the world. Let’s bring our new ideas to the table, discuss them, and find strong ways to move forward together.

The Week’s Challenge – 10 of Cups
This is an odd card to have in the challenge position, because it is such a positive card, and we tend to see challenges as negatives or obstacles. This is a card of emotional fulfillment and strong bonds, and creative expansion into fruition. How can that be a challenge? In this particular reading, there’s always the risk of fearing you will lose the 10, instead of realizing that the 10 opens the way to even more expansion. Because the 10 is often seen as the end of a cycle, people sometimes get scared a loss is about to come, and they start to hold tighter or try to shrink themselves so no one notices how lucky they’ve been. In this position this week, the 10 reminds us that we can be both grateful for what we have, and use it as the foundation for even more creative expression and fulfillment on a greater level than just our own. It ties into the community aspect – ten cups, let’s share! It also ties into the collective energy of the previous card, the Knight of Swords, about bringing new ideas – CREATIVE ideas (cups) to the table and sharing them (cups).

The Week’s Opportunity – Queen of Swords
The Queen of Swords learns from her mistakes and applies that knowledge moving forward. She is fair, often blunt, and knows how to balance the intellectual with the emotional. This week’s opportunity is to make a different, stronger, smarter choice from something where you mis-stepped before. Break a pattern that did not serve you. Make a smarter choice. Use what you’ve learned not just from your own experience, but from the new ideas brought to the table in community in the previous two cards.

The Week’s Stretch – 5 of Swords
The 5 of Swords is about intellectual conflict and argument. The stretch part this week is to remember that different ideas and opinions don’t have to be a negative experience. Respectful, lively debate can bring ideas further into being. If you practice deep, active listening and integration, rather than being reactive and feeling that disagreement means you have to switch into survival mode, different opinions can offer positive progress. That doesn’t mean acquiescing to those who are speaking or acting in bad faith. But it means taking the best of each genuine argument and shaping it into something that serves a greater good.

The Week’s Comfort – Queen of Pentacles
The Queen of Pentacles is about comfort, nourishment, enjoyment, abundance, and safety. Let’s take comfort that these new ideas and lively discussions, processed through what we’ve learned, will create a safer, more abundant community space. We can do this for each and create it WITH each other, rather than waiting for some unnamed source beyond us and beyond our community to do it for us.

Did anything in this reading resonate with you? Or do you have a different interpretation? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

March 31, 2025 Community Tarot Reading for the Week

Monday, March 31, 2025
Waxing Moon
Venus & Mercury Retrograde

I don’t know about you, but I’m still in eclipse hangover. There’s also the frisson of a new moon in Aries fighting the retrograde energy of Venus & Mercury to start the week. Fortunately, today the moon moves into Taurus, which is a little more stable, and then continues its journey throughout the week.

Last week was very much about relationships. There were some lovely surprises in a couple of instances, and some battles in others. I kept coming back to the reading for the week to try to stay grounded.

We have one more week of Mercury Retrograde to survive, and a little under two weeks of Venus Retrograde. From April 13 we have a handful of weeks retrograde-free until Pluto goes retrograde again on May 5.

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 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.

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

I only used the tarot cards this week, because the information is reasonably straightforward. All five cards are Major Arcana, which means this week is about Big Things.

The Collective Energy of the Week – The High Priestess
Our High Priestess sits on a crescent moon. It’s a reminder to keep yourself above the fray this week, look for the symbols that come up to give you information, and most importantly, trust your intuition.

The Week’s Challenge – The Magician
The Magician is about having all the tools you need to create the life you want. This card depicts a beautifully decorated East Village fire escape, complete with magical tools. The challenge this week, as both Venus & Mercury tighten the screws nearing their end points, is to remember that these challenges are temporary. How we meet them and navigate them helps open our paths to the future we want, and we DO have the power to make it happen. The energy flows through the Magician, who then transmutes it through action into manifestation.

The Week’s Opportunity – The Lovers
This card doesn’t have to be about romantic love. It can be about partnership. Other decks often have three figures, indicating the need for a decision. However, look at this card – two hands clasped in harmony, facing a NYC skyline. This card, in this position, indicates the opportunity to join hands with those you care about to face the future.

The Week’s Stretch – The Hierophant
This ties into the earlier cards, especially the Lovers in the previous position. This week, you realize you can’t do it on your own. It’s time to be in spiritual community with others, and learn from a both a teacher and from your fellow students. And they will learn from you. You may feel like it’s just adding one more thing to your week, but it will be worth it.

The Week’s Comfort – The Wheel of Fortune
The art on this card depicts the Wonder Wheel at Luna Park on Coney Island. The Wheel of Fortune reminds us that everything is cyclical. We may be feeling stuck and challenged in this retrograde energy, but the days keep going, and it will change. Things will get easier; things will get more challenging. That’s the way of it. As these cycles happen, look at where you need to break patterns that cause you to repeat difficulties, or that hold you back. See where you can turn it into an upward spiral, rather than a hamster-on-a-wheel circle. This week, look around you and be aware of a lucky break. If you’re not paying attention, you might miss it.

Tomorrow is April Fool’s Day, which feels rather redundant this year, but there we are.

Next week, when we reconvene, Mercury will be going direct, and we will start a new deck for the month.

I’ve loved working with these decks this month, and deepening my work with them.

Did anything in particular about this reading resonate with you? Did you get a completely different interpretation? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

March 17, 2025: Community Tarot Reading for the Week

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.

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.

March 10, 2025: Community Tarot Reading for the Week

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.

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.

March 3, 2025: Community Tarot Reading for the Week

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.

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.

February 17, 2025: Community Tarot Reading for the Week

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.

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.