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Winter Solstice Spread for 2024

Good morning, and Blessed Solstice to you! Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we are celebrating Winter Solstice, while our friends in the Southern Hemisphere are celebrating Summer Solstice.

Since the tarot card for 2024 is The Hermit (since the numbers of the year add up to 9), The Hermit card is at the center of today’s spread.

I’m using one of my favorite decks for this, the Robin Wood Tarot Deck. I’ve had this deck since the mid-90’s, and continue to love it and use it. You can find more information about the deck here, on Robin’s website.

The spread we’re using today is one of mine, created specifically for today’s Solstice.

Remember that tarot is a tool about possibilities. Anything you want in a spread, take the actions to make it happen. Anything that worries you in a spread, you now have knowledge and can take steps to mitigate it.

There are 9 cards in this spread, because the Hermit is 9.

Card 1, Center: The Hermit, where we begin
Card 2, lower left closest to center, the comfort we find in the dark
Card 3, far lower left, the lessons we learn in the dark part of the year
Card 4, upper left, closest to center, what we are in the process of healing
Card 5, far upper left, what we need to release
Card 6, lower right, closest to center, what we need to study in the upcoming cycle
Card 7, farthest right, our new path
Card 8, upper right, closest to center, what we dream
Card 9, farthest right, what we can manifest, if we choose

Let’s dig into the cards:

The Center – The Hermit
The Hermit is a card of going within in order to learn and grow. It’s about solitude, but not loneliness. It’s about the power of the self, and learning what’s deep inside. Many cards, like this one, have the Hermit outside, holding a lantern. Some are in the woods or on a path. With this card, they are on a mountaintop. Once we’ve done the work, we can light the path for others, but we cannot do their work for them.

The Comfort We Find in the Dark— King of Wands
When we spend time as a hermit, in quiet contemplation away from all the noise, we find our true selves and our true passions.

 

 

 

The Lessons We Learn n the Dark Part of the Year— 2 of Swords
Not everything has a swift resolution. Sometimes, you hit a stalemate. Yet, you need to speak up, and speak your truth, even if it brings you in conflict with others. You can’t negotiate conflict if you avoid it, and sometimes the only way forward is to hit that obstacle and work through it.

 

What We Are in the Process of Healing— The Magician
We are the magicians of our own lives. We are capable of creating the lives we want, even though plenty of those around us will oppose us if it doesn’t fit their agendas. Still, once we heal our inner magician, we can take them out into the world to create the life we want.

 

 

What We Need to Release— The Knight of Wands
Knights face different directions in different decks. In this placement, the card is at the top left corner of the spread, and the knight moves away from the Hermit, supporting the release. The Knight of Wands is about taking your ideas out into the world and challenging the status quo. Coming in the position of this spread after the Magician, what we are healing, it supports that card. As we heal our inner magician (which is a process, not a finite action), we release that magician into the world to manifest our lives.

What We Need to Study in the Upcoming Cycle— The Ace of Wands
This ties into the work done in the previous cards. When I created the spread, since this is around the hermit, I figured this card would give guidance on something tangible to study in the way of finding books or teachers. However, that tarot being what it is, the card of a new path of identity turned up, a new spark of inspiration, a new chapter. There’s the chance for a new public identity and role in life. Study and craft it, so it supports your essence and is not just a mask. Step fully into who you are in a public way, but do so with intent, rather than impulse. The sunflowers indicate joy and success.

The New Path—The Lovers
On this new path of the next cycle, we will be faced with decisions. The 2 of Swords card, earlier in the spread, indicates that we have learned how to navigate those decisions with clarity and communication. Now, it’s time to walk the talk. Walking that talk may be in partnership, once we emerge, as healed magicians, from our hermit phase.

 

What We Dream—Page of Pentacles
Our dreams show a curiosity and eagerness for a fresh path that is very tangible and connected to home, work, money, our gardens, the earth. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Learn new skills, and learn something just because it interests you. The Hermit at the center supports your studies, but you have to actually show up and do the work. As mentioned in the first card, the Hermit doesn’t do the work for you, although they can light t he path. In this case, we have to do the work to light our own path, and then do more of the work.

What We Manifest, if We Choose—Ace of Swords
The Ace of Swords is about new ideas, clarity, and personal power. It’s a card of thought that it then put into action. What we learned in the 2, earlier in the spread, will help us as we move through the ace and hit the 2 again, on our way through the rest of the suit. If we’ve learned those lessons, we have the tools to help us manifest. If not, we will meet the stalemate of the 2 and re-learn those lessons. The impulse will be to rush, but the Ace is about forming the idea and clarifying it before taking the action steps. This is the final card in the spread, so it may not be clear to us until late in the year. It’s wrapped in a wreath/garland of victory, so chances are we will be happy when we fulfill it.

This particular spread is meant to take us from this Solstice through the next, all the way to the end of 2025, when we will prepare for 2026, with the next card.

How do you interpret the cards? Are you receiving different information? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Blessed, blessed solstice to you, my friends!

Monday, December 16, 2024
Last Day of the Full Moon (full moon was yesterday)
Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter, Mars Retrograde
Mercury DIRECT as of yesterday

Thank goodness Mercury is direct. It managed to gum up the works as it left for me on a couple of different points. Our next Mercury retrograde starts in March of 2025 – fortunately, after my birthday!

We still have four retrogrades slowing us down, especially Mars. Take extra time and think more than twice when you feel argumentative.

How was last week? I definitely had to remind myself at several points of the warning, “don’t be a jerk.” I did, however, enjoy both the Ace of Candles and the Ace of Good Cheer.

This month, we are using the Yuletide Tarot, from Kristoffer Hughes with art by Erin O’Leary Brown. You can get it from Llewellyn Worldwide here. (Note: even though I’ve written for Llewellyn almanacs for decades, I do not get free decks from them, nor do I get a cut of anything you buy using this link. I bought the deck myself). This is the first year I’m using this deck. It was recommended to me by my friend, tarot reader and author Jamieson Wolf. I spent the last month getting to know the deck, in preparation for this month’s work with it.

In this deck:
Canes = Swords
Candles = Wands
Good Cheer = Cups
Gifts = Pentacles

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

The Collective Energy of the Week – 9 of Gifts
This is the 9 of Pentacles in other decks. She’s sitting happily in a chair, enjoying her decorated tree and the fire. It’s a card of material security and a sense of comfort. This may be difficult to remember, as we hurtle toward trying to get everything done before the holidays, but take some time to bask in all you’ve gotten done; it matters. Every day this week, take a few minutes to enjoy and reflect on contentment.

The Week’s Challenge – The List
This is Judgement in other decks, which is about awakening. This card shows a book with names marked “naughty” and “nice.” At first, the card put me off a bit, because the whole idea of some unknown force deciding my fate isn’t something aligned with me. But Hughes suggests going deeper into your own awareness and the impact your decisions have on others. That makes more sense to me. Also, as we careen ever closer to the holidays this week, we see often impossible standards to meet this holiday thrust at us from multiple directions. Discernment is needed. While I love to see photos on Instagram about the way people decorate (and often get ideas), I don’t feel the need to be as styled as many accounts. (Anyone who’s seen the photos of the somewhat eclectic decorations I share will laugh and know this is true). I decorate in ways that give me joy. I write cards to people because I want them to know they matter. I bake for others as a way to show gratitude that they are part of my life. And there’s plenty that’s never shared on social media; I don’t care what others think of it; I do it because it is a joyful part of the season. So this week, we may be challenged to hold to our own joy of the season, and not perform in ways that live up to what others tell us we should want. Some people just want peace and quiet, and that’s fine! Others want to run down the street singing – that’s fine, too. Let’s all give each other room and kindness to find our own joy.

The Week’s Opportunity – 10 of Good Cheer
This is the 10 of Cups in other decks. This card was in our spread for the week of December 2, as a challenge. This week, it’s moved into the “opportunity” slot, which seems like good advice. As we take time to enjoy and revel in pleasure, and are challenged to meet other’s expectations, we have the opportunity to be cheerful, loving, and kind. Let’s do so, whenever the opportunity presents itself, and spread some of that seasonal cheer!

The Week’s Stretch – 6 of Canes
This is 6 of Swords in other decks. The figures pictured in this card are leaving. Is it a happy leave taking, after a good visit? Or are they leaving because the environment is no longer healthy for them? In either case, it has to happen. What do you need to leave this week? Is a job ending? Should a job end? Are you leaving a physical location, or (since this suit is about thoughts and intellect) are you leaving an unhealthy perspective? The stretch is to actually make the choice, get moving, and make this change. Even if it’s difficult, it will open the way for better in the long term.

The Week’s Comfort – Death
Okay, this can be a little disconcerting. But, of course, in tarot the Death card rarely means physical death. It does, however, mean change, and is likely tied most closely to both Judgement/The List and the 6 of Canes/Swords, reassuring us that the leave-taking in the 6 is necessary and transformative, and that our actions have impact (The List/Judgement), so let’s be kind (10 of Good Cheer/Cups) and also remember the overreaching energy of the week, contentment (9 of Gifts/Pentacles). This transformation is an opportunity to start fresh, and build something more positive and in alignment with who you are and what you want. The figure itself is Dickens’ character The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Change is inevitable. Some of it is out of our control; some we can shape by our responses, decisions, and actions. What do you need to let go of, so that you are no longer stuck? As disturbing as seeing this card often is, especially at this time of year, there’s also a sense of relief that things are in motion, and that’s why it showed up as a comfort.

What do you get from these cards this week? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Monday, December 2, 2024
Waxing Moon
Neptune, Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter, Mercury Retrograde

How did last week work for you? It was definitely a challenging week for me, on multiple levels, but I tried to navigate it with as much gentleness as possible. There were also plenty of lovely moments in it, and I am so grateful for those.

We are in December now. Later this week, on the 7th, Neptune goes direct. Being a Pisces, the Neptune retrograde make it more difficult for me to express my creativity, my dreams are all over the place, and brain fog often descends. I will be glad to clear those out of the way when Neptune goes direct (it’s been retrograde since early July). Mars goes retrograde on December 6, and will be retrograde until late February. Mars retrograde is always a challenge for me. I have to remember not to be reactive and assume the negative, and to pick my battles. A Mars retrograde around the holiday season can make things sticky and uncomfortable, especially since the Mars retrograde overlaps with the Mercury retrograde until December 15. We should always think before we speak, but during this difficult time, it may be better, in many cases, not to speak at all.

New month, new deck! This month, we are using the Yuletide Tarot, from Kristoffer Hughes with art by Erin O’Leary Brown. You can get it from Llewellyn Worldwide here. (Note: even though I’ve written for Llewellyn almanacs for decades, I do not get free decks from them, nor do I get a cut of anything you buy using this link. I bought the deck myself). This is the first year I’m using this deck. It was recommended to me by my friend, tarot reader and author Jamieson Wolf. I spent the last month getting to know the deck, in preparation for this month’s work with it.

In this deck:
Canes = Swords
Candles = Wands
Good Cheer = Cups
Gifts = Pentacles

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

The Collective Energy of the Week – Page of Canes
This card is the equivalent of the Page of Swords in other decks. This week’s new moon energy is about being curious and building something tangible through thought. Our page is building a snowman. But look – she’s barefoot in the snow, wearing a summer dress. So she’s not necessarily making the most responsible choices. While the energy of the week may be to jump into something new, take a minute to prepare a little bit, like putting on appropriate coat and shoes.

The Week’s Challenge – Ten of Good Cheer
This card is the equivalent to the 10 of Cups in other decks. How can love under the mistletoe be a challenge? The card is about bliss and long-term domestic harmony. Well, when tied to the Page of Canes, it can advise that you make sure any emotional or creative situation you want to jump into is reciprocal. You may be seeing it as a 10, and looking for long-term stability, but without the reciprocity, it can’t fulfill. Again, dig a little deeper; don’t be satisfied with how things appear on the surface.

The Week’s Opportunity – The Ace of Canes
This card is the equivalent to the Ace of Swords in other decks. This week gives us a chance to look at things in fresh ways, and come at our lives with new perspective. We have an opportunity for clear thought, with the warning, again, to dig deeper. Don’t jump in as the page without your shoes, and make sure you know what’s going on beneath the surface.

 

The Week’s Stretch – Eight of Gifts
This card is the equivalent to the 8 of Pentacles in other decks. There’s work to be done, and it requires skill and that you actually show up and do the work. Look how lovely these wrapped packages are! And yes, they must be wrapped, and then either sent or delivered. Don’t drop the ball this week. Don’t get so excited by new ideas and possibilities and emotional promises that you neglect the chop wood/carry water elements of your life. Take care of your responsibilities, and then you can enjoy some relaxation.

The Week’s Comfort – Ace of Good Cheer
This card is the equivalent of the Ace of Cups in other decks. Look at that lovely wassail in the bowl! Warm and inviting. This is a card of new possibilities, emotions, creativity, and relationships. Even though the challenge of the week is the 10 – what we hope to attain, and indicates achievement and the end of a cycle, our comfort is knowing that that fulfillment is opening doors to new loving and creative opportunities.

The week offers new, exciting, and creative possibilities with long term rewards. We need to be cautious about jumping in too quickly and unprepared. If we show up and do the work, if we use our skills and pay attention to the details, the new moon energy will set us on a long-term path. We need to remember, with all the retrogrades, that it’s not about instant gratification. We are stepping on the beginning of a long path that offers creative joy and fulfillment, if we don’t rush it.

What do you get from these cards? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Monday, November 25, 2024
Waning Moon
Neptune, Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter, Mercury Retrograde

How did last week’s reading play out for you? I navigated some hierarchical situations with assistance last week (Hierophant, Emperor, 6 Pentacles). I also gave help where I could (6 Pentacles) and tried to be both cautious and playful with resources (4 of Pentacles). I felt I navigated the week with gentle Strength and felt like a cycle was successfully coming to a close preparing me for something new (Sun). Which is a little scary, because the unknown is scary, but change will come, whether I’m scared or not.

I rarely read for others during Mercury Retrograde, and these collective readings will be all I do outside of my own card pulls. Mercury Retrograde is a time for magical rest for me, because of the retrograde’s obstacles to communication.

November’s deck is still the Crow Tarot, created by MJ Cullinane. You can get it from US Games Systems here. I’m lucky enough to have a murder of crows hanging out near my home, and interacting with them regularly. This deck is always terrific to work with.

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

An additional card jumped out of the deck, which we will deal with at the end of the reading.

Collective Energy of the Week — Justice
It’s time to look at a situation with intellectual detachment and clarity. The answer might not be what you want on an emotional level, but it will be the balanced and just one.

 

 

 

The Week’s Challenge – The Moon
Are you not listening to your intuition? Or are you looking for a different answer because your intuition and what you learn through the intellectual view of the Justice card don’t give the answer for which you hoped? The challenge this week is to discern reality from illusion.

 

 

The Week’s Opportunity – 6 Pentacles
Last week, this card came up in the “Challenge” position. This week, it comes up as an “opportunity.” What, in your life, has shifted in the past week, that shifts the giving and tangible reciprocity?

 

 

 

The Week’s Stretch – 7 of Wands
This is about successful defense. You’ve defended something important to you, or to your identity, from threat. You still need to be ready in case of additional conflict, but you are in this place because you’ve earned it. You’re tired, but don’t give up. Stand firm, like the crow in the picture, and deflect the other crows who want your position.

 

The Week’s Comfort – 2 Pentacles
This card is often about the balance between the tangible and intangible. It suggests that you can maintain that necessary balance needed for the 7 of Wands Stretch between Justice and the Moon by using the 6 of Pentacles. Integrating all these elements will keep you in balance, which will be your comfort. Manage your responsibilities. Look at the infinity symbol within which the two pentacles reside, and keep that energy flowing between the tangible and the intangible. Pay attention to the details, and keep on top of management tasks.

Additional Energy Card – Knight of Wands
This card lends an overreaching energy to the week, working with the Justice card. It shows the infinity symbol of the 2 Pentacles, a crow, a wand with a rose, a salamander (change), sun (success), and the lion (strength). It’s about focused energy and creative potential. As you experience the energy of each of these cards over the week, pull in the creative, focused energy of the King of Wands to help you navigate and balance them.

I keep typing “wants” instead of “wands” in this document. Since wands are about passion and identity, “wants” make sense in connection to that passion and identity, and Mercury Retrograde is having fun flashing the slip. Look back at the two wands cards in the spread in terms of “wants” as is relevant to your sense of self and your passions.

And again, it’s Mercury Retrograde, so slow down, take a breath, and take a minute before making decisions.

What do you get from these cards? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

 

 

Monday, November 18, 2024
Waning Moon
Neptune, Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde
Saturn DIRECT (as of November 15)
Preparing for Mercury Retrograde (Nov. 25-Dec. 15)
Pluto moves into Aquarius today, until 2044

Saturn is direct, and those life lesson pressures are a bit eased until the next Saturn retrograde which begins mid-July of next year. Between now and then, it’s important to remember the lessons we were taught (and we were taught some harsh ones) and integrate them into our lives so that we don’t get slapped with the same lesson(s) again.

Pluto has moved out of Capricorn and into Aquarius, where it will roll around until 2044. Look at the transformations in your life, both the difficult and the joyful, since 2008. I’ve gone through some massive life changes, and had my heart shattered a couple of times. I’ve also had some wonderful times. Integrating the lessons from both and using them for this next set of transformations is vital. It looks like the social contract has been destroyed. It is up to each of us as individuals and within our communities to rebuild it into something stronger, more humanitarian, and more sustainable. We have personal responsibility, and we have relational responsibility. Think of the Chariot card in the tarot (a card that has come up so often in my personal readings this past week, I have to keep telling Spirit, “Yes, I really am listening.”) We are riding the chariot, and one of the creatures pulling it is personal responsibility while the other is relational/community responsibility. Keeping those in balance and working together is the only we can move forward, especially when we have so many forces trying to sabotage us. We have a difficult road ahead of us.

Mercury goes retrograde next Monday, until December 15. Just in time to make Thanksgiving travel more difficult and cause stress going into the Winter holidays. Make sure you back up your computers and other tech this week. Then batten down for the next three weeks.

November’s deck is still the Crow Tarot, created by MJ Cullinane. You can get it from US Games Systems here. I’m lucky enough to have a murder of crows hanging out near my home, and interacting with them regularly. This deck is always terrific to work with.

This is a spread of mine, that I’ve developed over the past few 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

 
Two additional cards jumped out of the deck as I shuffled for this spread, and I use them as energies that arch over everything else for the week.

Let’s take a look at the cards:

The Collective Energy of the Week – The Hierophant
This is about tradition and structure. It’s about genuine knowledge and not taking chances.  There’s a key amongst the crows. This week, take a look at the structures around you. What serves you? What doesn’t? This week is not the time to make a move, but it is the time to take stock and learn. Are there those around you who have knowledge that would help right now? Tap into that knowledge. Listen. It’s not about taking action; it’s about collecting information the way a crow collects shiny objects.

The Week’s Challenge – 6 Pentacles
This card is about offering help and/or receiving help. Cullinane specifically mentions in this guidebook that there are strings attached. There are other decks that do not have that interpretive stipulation. Since we are using this deck, it means we should pay attention to this creator’s interpretation and build on it. We are drawn to different decks for different reasons, and this month, it is this one. In preparation for American Thanksgiving next week, is someone putting parameters around generosity? Are you? With the election results, that could very well be happening. Make decisions as to where your boundaries are, and where your core integrity is at stake. Where will you compromise? Where will you set limits? Where will the attached strings be too much, and you make other decisions? Everyone will both have to make individual decisions AND live with the consequences. Some of those consequences may well be tied to the election. Tying back to the Hierophant card, which is the collective energy for this week, but may not be next week, where will you remain in patterns and traditions that you’ve outgrown? Where will you sit tight and not argue this week, but make different decisions next week? Where are you trapped into compromising because of need? Pentacles are about physical, tangible things, not emotions or ideas or identities, so keep that in mind. All of those elements bring this challenge forward this week.

The Week’s Opportunity – The Wheel of Fortune
This is the only card I read reversed (or, in a round deck, any way that it falls out). It showed up in the upright position, which means the wheel of fortune is turning in a favorable direction for the moment. It’s cyclical, always moving, which means sometimes we’re on the upswing and sometimes on the downswing. This suggests upswing for the week. It also means paying attention. Instead of getting mired in tradition and conflict, look for unusual opportunities that spring up when you least expect it. Look for “glimmers” especially those that might lead toward something more substantial in the long run.

The Week’s Stretch – The Emperor
I am often uncomfortable when the Hierophant and the Emperor turn up in the same spread, especially when it comes to what we’re facing. The Emperor is a taskmaster for order and rules, for security and stability. With authoritarianism on the horizon, it’s difficult not to get caught up in revulsion for this. The crow balances on a sword placed over a ram’s head. A ram’s head is about leadership and the crow is BALANCED. The crow is also calm. The stretch for the week could well be finding the nuances in the current structure and order that will serve as ballast and a restraining wall against the incoming chaos. Tying it back to the Hierophant, are there traditions (laws, structures, contracts) that can’t immediately be destroyed and can serve as protection while we regroup? From whom can we learn? How can we use the tools available while they still exist to fight as we create new tools? That is our stretch this week.

The Week’s Comfort – 4 Pentacles
How can the 4 of Pentacles be a comfort? Isn’t this the card of hoarding? Yes. It’s a reminder that if you hold too tightly to the material, you forget the joy in everything else. In this particular slot, the “comfort” slot, it also suggests that managing your resources rather than hoarding them will allow you to feel stable enough to enjoy beautiful moments. Instead of being scared about not having enough, turn it into a game of how you creative you can be with what you have. The best advice I got in the past few months from a financial consultant was to stop looking at finances as a ladder and start looking at it as a dance. Make it fun! Sometimes you trip, but you keep moving, and flow in different directions with the music. Sometimes you have to learn new steps. Pulling in the energy of the extra cards, the comfort this week will be finding moments of joy. My challenge to you is to find 4 moments of tangible joy every day this week, and I’d love to hear about them in the comments, either below this post, or in next week’s post.

Additional Energy Cards – The World and The Sun
These are Major Arcana cards, and both pretty wonderful. The World denotes an ending of a cycle. We have that, with the ending of the current political administration in the US and the knowledge that a more difficult (to say the least) cycle is about to begin. But look at the two infinity symbols on the card, above and below the crow, and how the laurel wreath is woven with the infinity. It doesn’t just mean an ending – it means wholeness. It means we have the tools deep within the face the next tumultuous cycle. The Sun card builds on that. The Sun is about happiness and success. Every day this week where there is sunshine, take a few minutes to bask in it and absorb the energy. Store it in your very cells to fuel you, both as the nights keep getting longer, and as new challenges emerge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After last week’s very challenging reading that was almost all swords, this is a very positive reading. It would be very easy to dismiss it in terms of false hope. But why does it need to be false? Why can’t this week be filled with the World and the Sun and the Wheel of Fortune, and the positive qualities of the Hierophant and the Emperor? Remember, tarot is about possibilities, and we turn them into actualities through ACTION. What action will you take this week to manifest the strong, positive aspects of these cards?

Last week, I clung to the Page of Swords flying through the storm. I definitely felt the 3, 9, and 10 of Swords. I also felt the beauty of the 3 of Pentacles. So let’s DECIDE to make the powerful, positive aspects of these Major Arcana cards into our realities.

What do you get from these cards? I’d love to hear from you in the comments

And back up all your tech before Mercury goes retrograde!  😉

Thursday, October 31, 2024
Dark Moon
Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde
Samhain

Blessed Samhain, my friends!

To me, it feels a little strange that Samhain is on a dark moon rather than a full moon, but cycles are cycles, and learning how to work with them as they are rather than their tropes is important.

For the next few days, I will be busy doing rituals for the dead. As someone who works with Cerridwen, these days of “tending the dead” are very important to me. It can be overwhelming to deal with all the dead at once, so I spread it out over several days, and you can read more about it on this page of the website.

As part of my overall ritual for the evening, to welcome in our new year, I do a tarot spread for the coming year. Please note that the cards drawn are examples; they are not an actual community reading as I do on Mondays for the collective. I’ve arranged some decks to give an idea of options.

I like to use two decks for this spread. If you need or prefer to use a single deck, that’s fine, too.

You need a good bit of room for this. The spread resembles a clockface, with 12 positions around the circle, and the 13th lunation in the center. There are two cards at each position.

For example, the 12 o’clock position has two cards. This is for November, starting the day after Samhain. The one o’clock position is December, the two o’clock position is January, and so forth, until you reach the following October. The central cards represent the 13th lunation, and the overall energy of the coming year.

The spread looks something like the photo below. For this example, I am using the Norse Tarot by Clive Barrett, from The Aquarian Press for the left/action side of each month, and the Celtic Tarot by Helena Paterson, with art by Courtney Davis, also from Aquarian Press for the right/energy side of each month. I bought both of these decks back in the mid-1990’s. I am not sure if either of them are still in print.

My apologies that the spread is a little squashed and wonky. It was difficult to get the whole thing in frame with a phone camera. Plus Tessa, my black cat, is just out of frame “helping.”

 

 

 

The card on the left represents the action for the month – what is likely to happen tangibly. The card on the right represents the energy of that month, the energy surrounding the situation.

In this example, the action card (from the Norse Tarot) is the Sun card, depicting the Daughter of Sol and the rune known as Wunjo or Wyn. The energy card (from the Celtic Tarot) is The Lovers, showing lovers in a circle under the Tree of Life, with a figure pointing an arrow at them. A possible interpretation for the month in question is that the action of the month will be filled with joyful fortune and success (and encouraging the use of the rune for that purpose), while the energy surrounding it requires loving attention to detail and decision-making. They are both major arcana cards, so they’re not talking about small decisions. The month deals with something big; it can be wonderful, but give it loving attention, because decisions are a big part of the success.

This is one reason I like to use two decks. Because sometimes the same card comes up in both positions. More often, though, the cards play off each other, but the same card that came up in an action position one month may come up in a different month as the energy card.

As with any reading, this is information about possibilities, not dogma on something fixed. Every decision you make from the moment of the reading can change the outcome. That means if there is something ominous in the reading, you now have a warning, and can recognize red flags or conflict, and take actions to mitigate or change them. If there is something in a month you particularly like or want to happen, you can focus your intent, and look for opportunities to make it real.

If you prefer, you can use a tarot deck and an oracle deck. In the example below, I use the Everyday Witch Tarot by Deborah Blake, with art by Elisabeth Alba, and the Everyday Witch’s Familars Oracle, also by Deborah Blake with art by Elisabeth Alba (both available from Llewellyn).

If you use that combination, I prefer to use the tarot card for the “action” position on the left, and the oracle card for the “energy” position on the right. Play with it until you have a combination that feels right.

In this example, The Ace of Wands is the action card. There’s an unexpected opportunity that pops up. Make sure you take it and run with it, using the fire in your belly (wands are often associated with fire). The oracle card in the energy card, which is the Hummingbird, connected to air. Appreciate your body, and take notice of the small gifts around you. Be grateful. Together, they indicate that this quick flash of opportunity may not seem large when it first appears, but it is the right thing to grab with gratitude.

You could also choose to use two oracle decks. Or one oracle deck for both positions. Play with it, over the years. This is all process, and our readings grow and change as we do, and as we delve deeper into our intuitive selves.

Take careful notes. I write the meaning of each card for each month, and then the interpretation of how they might work together.

For instance:
November 2024
A-Sun—joy, success, material wealth
E-The Lovers—partnership, loving attention to detail, decisions
Interpretation: A successful, abundant month that still needs loving attention to details and decisions to keep it on track. Work with the rune Wunjo.

Because I have a lot of decks (an entire bookcase full), the two decks I choose each year for the Coming Year Spread, I take those two decks out of rotation for the year they are used in this particular spread. On the first of each month, I put the cards relevant for the month in a tarot card stand, and review my notes. I can then make a decision to delve more deeply, through meditation or journal writing about the cards. I can review what’s going on in my life that may change the upcoming cards, or reflect on changes I want to make in the warnings. Taking notes in the moment is very important. You won’t remember your first impressions and interpreations six months down the line.

This spread is something with which I actively interact all year, and make adjustments as I make decisions and deal with what life throws in my direction.

There are all kinds of spreads you can use on Samhain. Sometimes I do additional spreads to work with the ancestors or with the dead. But this spread is for me, to give me tools to meet the coming year with confidence and gratitude.

What kind of spreads do you like to use around Samhain? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Monday, October 28, 2024
Waning Moon
Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde

This is an intense week! Samhain, Day of the Dead, a Dark Moon, a New Moon, and all these retrogrades!

Once again, we’re using the Halloween Tarot, created by Karin Lee, with art by Kipling West. You can get the deck from U.S. Games Systems here.

In this deck:
Pumpkins = Pentacles
Ghosts = Cups
Bats = Swords
Imps = Wands

This is a spread of mine, that I’ve developed over the past few 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

This week’s cards:

The Collective Energy of the Week – The Fool
The Fool is back! Last week, it was our opportunity. This week, it has moved solidly into the energy of the week! Take a leap of faith and trust the universe. Wonderful things are afoot!

 

 

 

The Week’s Challenge – The Ace of Imps
This card was in the collective energy position two weeks ago, at the start of the October 14th reading. So why would this fresh fire in the belly be an obstacle this week? Could it be that we are so eager to take the leap that we are not being true to ourselves? There’s a hand holding onto the Imp’s tail, preventing the Imp from drifting away. Maybe, just maybe, the Fool offers us more than one opportunity, and we need to listen to our creative fire and inner wisdom to know off which cliff to take the leap! (This card is the equivalent of the Ace of Wands in other decks).

The Week’s Opportunity – Queen of Bats
This would be the Queen of Swords in other decks. This is an individual of discernment. She learns from her mistakes. She can make tough decisions with a cool rationality, and yet still be kind. The opportunity the Queen of Bats offers, in relationship to the two previous cards, is being able to discern which opportunity will fulfill the creative fire.

 

 

The Week’s Stretch – Five of Ghosts
This would be the 5 of Cups in other decks. This card ties in very closely with the previous three. The Queen of Bats will use her intellect and wisdom to make a good decision. That means we can’t say yes to everything the Fool encourages. Being true to ourselves and our inner fire (ace wands) means we will have to say no to something this week. Instead of being sad about the no, about what’s spilled, take joy in the “yes” of what is still there.

The Week’s Comfort – Nine of Pumpkins
This would be the 9 Pentacles in other decks. By making the decision best suited to our core creative self, taking a chance, and enjoying the “yes” instead of mourning what we had to say “no” to we are in a place of abundance and fulfillment. We might be on our own path, but it is the RIGHT one for us at this time, with tangible rewards.

Did you find this helpful? Or are the cards telling you something else? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Blessed Samhain!

Monday, October 14, 2024
Waxing Moon
Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde
Rainy and cool

Since our last reading, Pluto (the planet of transformation) has gone direct, while Jupiter (the planet of expansion) has gone retrograde. Which shifts the energy somewhat.

Once again, we’re using the Halloween Tarot, created by Karin Lee, with art by Kipling West. You can get the deck from U.S. Games Systems here.

In this deck:
Pumpkins = Pentacles
Ghosts = Cups
Bats = Swords
Imps = Wands

This is a spread of mine, that I’ve developed over the past few 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

This week’s cards:

The Collective Energy of the Week: Ace of Imps
This card would be the Ace of Wands in other decks. It’s about igniting a fresh fire, and pursuing a new sense of identity and confidence. A new project, vitality, energy, and enthusiasm are all connected to this card. Take your new idea and sense of self and run with it!

 

The Week’s Challenge: Knight of Pumpkins
This would be the Knight of Pentacles in other decks. Knights are about taking action and moving forward. The Knight of Pumpkins/Pentacles is the slowest, most deliberate, and most careful of the knights. They make certain of each step before taking it. Sometimes that can feel like plodding, and with the forward-moving energy of the Ace of Imps in the previous card, that can cause tension. Take a break! The Knight wants the project initiated in the Ace to work, and therefore they are making sure each step is complete and strong before taking the next one. The knight is dedicated to progress, just careful in the approach.

The Week’s Opportunity: The High Priestess
Look how joyful she is, standing on the crescent moon, holding her book of spells, the black cat watching over her. She’s between the two towers, one dark gray, one white, indicating balance and polarity. She knows how to navigate between the seen and the unseen. Most importantly, she encourages us to trust our intuition. The Imp is impatient for forward motion, the Knight is deliberate and careful, and the High Priestess tells us to trust ourselves above outer influences.

The Week’s Stretch: Nine of Ghosts
This card would be the Nine of Cups in other decks, often known as “The Wish Card” in that wishes you make when this card comes up are likely to come true. Our skeleton sits here, smiling, the black cat at his side, encouraged and supported by nine happy ghosts, with the moon smiling down. This is about satisfaction and prosperity, and wishes granted, especially in your creative and/or romantic life. Take a few minutes this week, and think about what you really want, not just what you think you should want. We’ve got a full moon coming up on the 17th, so the timing on this is good.

The Week’s Comfort: The Magician
The look on the cat’s face as the magician pulls the rabbit out of the hat always makes me smile. Each of the suits are on this card: pumpkin, ghost, bat, and imp. It’s a reminder that we are the magicians of our own lives, and that we have the ability to integrate the elements to pull our own special rabbit out of the hat, and manifest that which we imagine. In this position, it’s a reminder that having that ability can comfort and assure us, rather than intimidate us.

What do you get from these cards? Did you find a similar reading, or something quite different? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, September 30, 2024
Day Before Dark Moon
Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde
Foggy and cool

We have QUITE the exciting reading this week, as we leave September, move into October, and are about to experience a solar eclipse.

My dreams have been wild in this time between the lunar eclipse on the full moon and the upcoming solar eclipse – a combination of the eclipses and the Neptune Retrograde.

Once again, I’m using the GREEN WITCH TAROT again by Ann Moura, with artwork by Kiri Østergard Leonard, available from Llewellyn.

This is a spread of mine, that I’ve developed over the past few 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

This week’s cards:

The Collective Energy of the Week: Queen of Athames
The Queen of Athames (swords in some other decks) is someone who learns from her mistakes. She is thoughtful and meticulous. She makes careful, considered choices, and follows through on her promises. The iris symbolizes wisdom, and the gold finch is there to remind us to keep a balance between determination and over-thinking. This card tells us to be thoughtful and precise this week.

The Week’s Challenge – Four of Wands
It’s surprising to find such a positive card in the challenge position. The Four of Wands is about building something stable for a positive future. This card, in particular, shows an abundance harvest and celebrating the labor put in. How could this possibly be a challenge? There are a couple of different ways it could present a challenge, depending upon how we respond. Do we allow ourselves to celebrate our victories, even small ones? Or do we just push on? This card could challenge you to pause and celebrate your achievements. Take the time – MAKE the time to savor them. The flip side of this, for you, could mean that once you complete a project, you’re not sure what to start next. You feel stuck, stalled (fours can hold those meanings as well as stability) and unsure where to put your attention for the next thing. The challenge in that case is not to worry. Take a breath. Use the Queen of Athames to discern the possibilities and trust our next card in the reading.

The Week’s Opportunity – The Greenman
This is often the Fool card in other decks. This is a card of fresh starts, new beginnings, taking risks. It ties in to the Queen of Athames, suggesting that we use discernment in those risks, and to the Four of Wands – we’re celebrating the successful completion of our last project which set a firm foundation for what’s next, and now it’s time to grab this opportunity! This card came up earlier in the month, on the reading of September 2, in the “stretch’ position. Now it’s moved closer as an opportunity. The card may well represent two very different opportunities – perhaps you took the stretch presented early in the month, and that is what the four of wands represent – successful completion of that. Now, you have a fresh opportunity.

The Week’s Stretch – The Sun
Again, a very positive card that can make you wonder why it’s a “stretch.” It’s telling you to enjoy the sunshine! Enjoy your victories and accomplishments. Enjoy just being. Savor the moment. Let yourself be happy. There is good all around you at this moment. You’ve vanquished challenges throughout the month. Take a deep breath and enjoy. Feel the gratitude. Savoring the good in your life doesn’t make you a horrible person because terrible things are happening in the world. Terrible things are always happening in the world. Savoring the good moments in your own life give you the energy and resources to help others in need. Denying yourself moments of joy because somewhere in the world there is suffering just increases all the suffering.

The Week’s Comfort – Three of Pentacles
This is a card of learning a craft, of learning something on the material plane. You are not alone; you are learning in company, with a teacher and with others. The heron is a symbol of knowledge, patience, transformation, and good fortune. What you are learning now is tied to what you just completed, and will fuel your new projects. You are building skills and knowledge. You don’t have to be perfect. You do need to show up and do the work.

After several weeks of more tumultuous readings, this indicates that all we’ve gone through for the month is bearing fruit.

What is your interpretation of these cards? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, September 16, 2024
First Day of the Full Moon
Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde
Foggy and warm

Happy Monday! Sounds counter-intuitive, but let’s make this a good week.

There’s a lot going on this week, between the full moon, the lunar eclipse, all the retrogrades, and the Autumn Equinox happening at the end of the week.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

Once again, I’m using the GREEN WITCH TAROT again by Ann Moura, with artwork by Kiri Østergard Leonard, available from Llewellyn.

This is a spread of mine, that I’ve developed over the past few 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 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

This week’s cards:

The Collective Energy of the Week – The World Tree
This is the final card in the Major Arcana, an ash tree. It represents the completion of a cycle. Considering how challenging last week’s cards were, this is a welcome sign for the week’s possibilities. A cycle is complete, which means something new and potentially wonderful is opening up. A very positive card for the collective!

 

The Week’s Challenge – Two of Pentacles
The challenge this week is juggling things on the material plane. Keep an eye on finances and plan a little more carefully. You may need to juggle and jiggle the numbers and timing a bit to make it all work for you. You also may have the opportunity for a new way to earn money, or to learn a new skill that will lead to better financial footing. Be on the lookout for these so you recognize them and can see them as the opportunities they are.

The Week’s Opportunity – The High Priest
The High Priest is about structure and social orders. There’s an opportunity to make progress this week within an organized structure. You may need to do some studying and figure out how to work the system, but the opportunity exists to gain something you want and need by working within an existing system, rather than rebelling against it. Instead of feeling restrained by the Uranus Retrograde energy this week, make it work FOR you. This will not happen by sitting back and letting things fall where they may. This is about working the system.

The Week’s Stretch – Page of Pentacles
This card is about being a student. Learn something new. That ties into all the previous cards – a cycle ending so a new one can begin; juggling material needs (especially financial), and working the system.

 

 

This Week’s Comfort – Strength
The comfort of the week is that, although you may need to finagle and plan and study and work the system, you have the strength to do so. The warning in this card is, don’t be an asshole about it. Use the positive qualities of strength and self-confidence without being harmfully aggressive. Assertive is a positive; aggressive is not, in this case.

This has major arcana cards in the first, third, and fifth locations, with a minor arcana and a court card in the remaining locations. Big energy with positive potential, if it’s harnessed and used carefully, rather than recklessly or aggressively.

Do you have a similar response to these cards? Or do you have a different interpretation? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!