Yes, I’ll still behind! It’s already mid-morning on Friday, and I’m just now getting around to writing this blog post. I’m hoping that next week will be a bit less hectic. Maybe I can catch up on a few things.
Let’s get right to the point here. Today’s card — the 5th and final in the spread I’m now using” is a bit of a “summary” card. It asks us to look back over the week, figure out what it was all about, and then move on to the upcoming week.
The idea of “moving on” is quite fitting, for our card today is the 6 of Wind — that is, the 6 of Swords.
Keywords for this card — as you can see in the card illustration — are PURPOSE, TRANSITION, JOURNEY. The usual concept behind the card is that of moving from a troubled situation to “calmer waters”.
This deck — The Wise Earth Medicine Tarot — is a newer one in my collection. I do like it’s gentle way of teaching through the cards. In the 6 of Wind we’re seeing flamingos, which are typically not migratory birds. So why use this symbolism? It’s because these birds have the ability to recognize when an environment is not right for them. They will then move to a different location.
So how does any of this fit in with this week’s Weekly Reading? It’s been disjoined week. I’ve been coming and going and my thoughts have been scattered about. I think the overall lesson to learn from this week focuses on honesty in many forms.
Are we honestly being charitable and helping others? Are we honestly able to admit our faults? I could go on and on with more questions involving “honesty”, and to that I’ll add the “ineffective communications” I’ve shared here this week. Quite simply, this “Weekly Reading” has been a mess of jumbled ideas and mixed messages.
So now, the “takeaway” today is let’s just move on. Let’s put this crazy, too-busy week behind us. Let’s take a deep breath, enjoy the weekend, and prepare for a new week.
Where are we today? Honestly, I’m swamped where I am. I usually have the Weekly Reading blog post written and ready to publish before I end the day and close the studio, but life here has been more hectic and fast-paced than usual. I’m falling behind.
So now it’s Thursday morning already, I have another busy day scheduled, so today’s reading post will be short and to the point, and that’s part of what today’s card can mean.
We have the King of Wind — usually called the King of Swords. The suit of Swords is about our mental processes, our ability to think, and especially our ability to communicate our thoughts to others, clearly and concisely. I’ve been faiing here since the start of the New Year.
Earlier, for my New Year’s divination, I drew cards from tarot to guide me through things I needed to learn in 2026. Effective communication came up for January! Little wonder I’m struggling here with the blog.
As a writer and novelist, I don’t usually have problems putting my thoughts into words, but lately I seem to be all figuratively tongue-tied. I keep changing my mind about the format I want to use; I’ve started off in one direction then gone in another. In short, I’ve messed up, muddled up, and ended up with a confusing heap of almost meaningless words.
This is what the King of Swords is all about really. He points his sword in our direction and says “Speak up!” He tells us to say what we mean and mean what we say, and I learned long ago that those simple words are a big part of what makes life “work” — in family, love, business, or whatever!
The fourth position in our collective reading — as I’m now outlining the spread — deals with the lessons we have to learn, the benefits we can gain from changing uncomfortable behaviors, or sometimes a warning about the problems we’ll encounter if we don’t “shape up” and “fly right”. I’m throwing that last one in because of the blue jay symbolism of today’s card.
Blue jays are often considered rather noxious birds. That make a horrible, but distinctive “rattling” noise. And that’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve been rattling around, flapping my wings, and just having a hard time of it all.
So, a quick recap. The problem we’re dealing with? A bit of selfishness, a tendency to give “lip service” to the whole idea of loving others, helping others, doing charitable acts. We’ve been called to account for it, and we’ve looked back at our actions with a critical eye, realizing that we do need to be more honest with ourselves.
The King of Swords offers us a way to clear our heads a bit, the courage to speak up, and the understanding of the need to communicate openly and honestly. This is what I’m trying to do here.
Hopefully I’ll get my head on straight; maybe life will settle down a bit and I won’t be rushing around through the days. Maybe I’ll even get caught up on a few of things I’ve fallen behind on! But saying all that is just another way of offering excuses.
I won’t offer excuses. Excuses don’t change things. I’ll offer an apology for all my scattered thinking over the past couple of weeks, and I’ll try to do better in the future.
I’ve been floundering about just a bit with these Weekly Readings, not quite able to “home in” on the exact format I want to use. I’m a reader who believes in using spreads, having specific positions to address different issues of a situation.
With a “collective reading”, however, there isn’t necessarily an actual “situation” on the table. Instead, there’s a more generic sort of advice being offered. This leads to vagueness, to what I often refer to as “spiritual mumbo-jumbo” and a lot of nice-sounding metaphysical platitudes that don’t really do any much good.
Even before drawing today’s card, I had already decided to revise my Weekly Reading format somewhat, to always look more deeply into the first card of the spread and not just “summarize” its meaning as “this is what we should focus on”, but to explore problem areas, to seek out and find possible conflicts we may be experiencing.
In other words… go looking for trouble? Or as Metallica once put it in a heavy-metal song, “Don’t go lookin’ for snakes…” Why? Obviously because you might find them, and what’s the point in looking for something that’s wrong?
Well, there is a point here. Many times things are “wrong” in our lives — individually and collectively — but we look the other way. Or maybe the ripples and undercurrents are so slight that they don’t draw our attention. We don’t notice them. But they’re still there, and little ripples can become big waves.
Now, let’s look at today’s card. We have the beautiful 7 of Wind — the 7 of Swords in traditional tarot decks.
My first thought when I turned this card over was “Oh, how beautiful!” I’m sure that it was intentionally designed to evoke this response. It is a lovely card. Yet so often beauty and loveliness can be deceptive. This is a large part of the meaning of this card.
I am, however, digressing. There is a connection here between my rambling thoughts and the card we’re discussing today. My realization that I needed a more “problematic” approach to these Weekly Readings (in other words, my decision to “go looking for trouble”) matches up nicely with the 7 of Swords.
So before we move on, I’m going to go back to the previous cards — The 6 of Pentacles and Judgement — to review, revise, and re-evaluate a bit.
How can the 6 of Pentacles represent a problem? It’s a “nice” card, a card of generosity, of giving and receiving. We spoke then of balance, and that’s important. Yet there are other problem issues hiding within the card. Are we being a bit too “smug”, a bit too eager to show off our goodness?
And what of Judgement? Isn’t this card calling us to be honest with ourselves? Here’s the situation as I see it. We know we should do good things, that we should help others, but are we really doing it? Or are we just giving “lip service” or even “showing off” for others in a “look how generous I am!” sort of way? The Judgement card from yesterday is calling us out, I think.
Now, with today’s cards, we explore the reasons behind our “outward goodness/inward selfishness”. Indeed, this is what it comes down to. This is the “lesson” tarot wants to teach us this week. This is what tarot wants us to learn.
We come to those words written on this card, keywords for interpretation: Deceit. Theft. Trickery.
We’re fooling ourselves if we think we’re fooling others. I’m approaching these Weekly Readings now with a more structured format, one that assigns “Card 3” as a foundational card. Let’s give this some thought. Why are we being selfish, especially in such a deceptive way, pretending to be good and gracious when all the while we’re really looking for what we can get out of the situation. Why are we doing this?
We’re doing it because that’s what we’ve seen in the past. This is how we’ve learned to look at the world. Everywhere around us we see lies, deceptions, and all sorts of trickery whereby people do as they please, take what they want, and the consequences be damned!
Like seagulls swooping down on their unsuspecting prey, people have taken advantage of us in the past. We now are following suit and saying “If they can do it, I can do it.” We might not actually speak those words aloud or even put them into a well-defined thought, but the feelings are there, lurking under the surface, just as the 7 of Swords here would appear “under the surface” of the first two cards in our spread. Here is how I place the first three cards:
Yes, our 7 of Swords is beneath the surface level here, part of our subconscious thoughts and feelings, and very much an influence on what we do. It’s a bit of a snake there. We don’t want to look at it. We don’t want to acknowledge it. We just don’t want to deal with those uncomfortable truths.
But this is what tarot is for! Tarot shows us what we need to see, and the 7 of Swords today tells us quite clearly that it’s time to be honest with ourselves. We’re not the noble, generous, philanthropic folks we want others to think we are. Maybe that’s who we’d like to be, but we’re not there yet.
How do we get there? By being brutally honest with ourselves, by admitting our faults, by seeing our flawed nature. It’s only then that we can take the actions that are needed.
Do you play video games or computer games? I think most of us do. One feature is achieving different levels. The higher the level, the greater the difficulty. Yet, in most games, the higher the difficulty, the greater the rewards.
What does this have to do with today’s message? Let’s take a look at the card I’ve drawn. It’s Judgement, represented in the Wise Earth Medicine Tarot by a butterfly. My first thoughts is how different today’s card is from yesterday’s! Yesterday we were looking at a ponderous, heavy elephant; today we’ve got a delicate butterfly flitting around.
The butterfly is perhaps the most familiar symbol of transformation, so it’s a fitting image for tarot’s Judgement card. Judgement is a time when we “hear the call” to move forward spiritually, a time for us to look at who we are, what we’ve done, atone for mistakes we’ve made, and figuratively shed our old skins and step into a new spiritual awareness.
In other words, it’s time for us to “level up”, to look back over the “XP” — experience points — we’ve gained, and move up to the next level in our spiritual practices. It’s a fitting “follow-up” to yesterday’s message about giving and receiving, making sure that we’re in balance there.
We’ve learned the importance of caring for ourselves, and we understand the need to care for others. Now, the “Judgement Butterly” is calling us forth, asking us to shake off the old and accept the new, to spread our wings and see how far we can fly.
But enough platitudes. Let’s get real. After all, that’s what these Weekly Readings are all about. We not here to simply talk about doing good and being spiritual. We’re here to listen, learn, and take action. The action we’re challenged to take to dy is to do something — to answer the call to help someone in some way.
We’re being called to “level up”, to show that we’ve learned, that we’ve gained experience, and that we’re truly ready to become more spiritual, not just in practice but in our actual day to day lives.
Where you can volunteer today? Can you help out at a soup kitchen? How about your local animal shelter? They’re always needing volunteers to come in and help with cleaning, feeding, exercising, transporting — if you love animals, drop by a shelter today and ask “How can I help?”
Now that we’ve moved into the new year, I’ve put away my Christmas and Yuletide tarot decks. For this upcoming “Weekly Reading”, I’ll be using one of the newest decks in my collection. It’s the Wise Earth Medicine Tarot by Lalania Simone.
Some readers like to do “deck interviews” upon receiving a new deck. I’ve tried it a few times, but it just doesn’t work for me. Especially since I’m a collector and may receive several new decks each month, the answers from any interview don’t really “stick”. Again, I tried it, I didn’t like it, deck interviews just aren’t for me.
Instead, I prefer getting to know a deck through using it. I brought out this new deck for my yearly “12 Months Ahead” divination on New Year’s Eve, and I find the illustrations and card concept ideas intriguing. And so I’m moving forward with it, using it for our “collective” reading for this first full week of January.
What card do we have today? It’s called “6 of Earth” and it’s represented by an Elephant. Here, take a look.
As you can see, there are a few keywords printed on the card. Kindness. Giving. Receiving. These are definitely ideas associated with the 6 of Pentacles — which is what this card would be called in more traditional decks.
I’ll admit, I was puzzled by the “elephant” symbolism, so I turned to the guidebook included with the deck. There I learned that elephants are symbols of “deep wisdom and compassion.” Elephants know the importance of caring for other members of their herd. They frequently bring food and water to sick or injured members of the herd.
We know the importance of giving to others, and the 6 of Pentacles is a good representative of the need for provide for our less fortunate brothers and sisters, to nourish those around us, to make investments of time and money.
That’s only half of the card’s meaning, though. While the emphasis is definitely on our need to give to others, we have to remember that, as the old saying goes, “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” The meaning here, of course, is that we must nurture and nourish ourselves, otherwise we’ll have nothing to give to others.
Sometimes that attitude is seen as a bit selfish. It’s not. It’s a necessary and fundamental truth. We can’t give what we don’t have. If we have no energy, we can’t help others. If we have no peace of mind, we can’t offer any understanding or compassion to those in need.
So our 6 of Pentacles is a reminder this week to consider both sides of the “giving and receiving” equation. Be sure they’re balancing out, that you’re not depleting your personal resources in an attempt to help others. Yet don’t use “self-need” as an excuse. Help when and where you can.
Another adage to consider with this card is the Biblical injunction to “Cast your bread upon the waters…” The meaning of this verse from Ecclesiastes is that we should give freely and generously, not with the intent of getting something back in return, but from the goodness of our heart. In doing so, we are opening ourselves up for future blessings.
I’m thinking back to the elephants here. I don’t think any elephant carries food to a sick herd member in hopes of getting something in return. Elephants care for one another because it’s the right thing to do. We can learn a lot from today’s Elephant.
Be kind. Give generously. Don’t expect something in return. But give to yourself, too.
As this week begins, where are you on the giving-receiving scale? Do you need more for yourself? Or are you in a position to give? That’s today’s question. Think about it, and we’ll see where our reading takes us tomorrow!
We’ve come to the end of this week’s “Weekly Reading”. Today’s card acts as a bit of a summary — a way of looking back at what we’ve learned and undertanding what to carry forward with us into the coming week.
I wasn’t surprised to find yet another “court card” visiting us. Today’s draw is “The Apprentice of Winter Wands”.
Who might this be in a traditonal tarot deck? It’s the Knight of Wands, of course. It’s true that Knights are usually young men and here we have a maiden, but the qualities and characteristics of this fiery card can apply to all of us.
This maiden is sliding fearlessly down a steep hill, speeding onward with the winter wind whipping her hair behind her. She could crash and burn — and when reversed, that’s a frequent outcome for a reckless knight. Here, though, the card is upright. Although her actions are risky, she’s in control. She’s enjoying the ride!
This entire week has been about who we are. We looked at the experiences we’ve gathered throughout our time here on this earth; we’ve been encouraged to find out inner light and let it shine. On New Year’s Eve we set a goal for the coming year, and yesterday we were cautioned not to take the easy way out by making bad bargains or settling for less than we deserve.
Where does that leave us? It leaves us on a sled sliding downhill — but that doesn’t mean we’re “going down”. It means we’re off on an adventure, one that might require a bit of daring. We’ll probably need to take a few risks. We’ll need to carry our passion with us, and we’ll need to prepare for this outing. You’ll notice that this Apprentice is bundled up for the cold. She’s probably surveyed this hill, too. She knows the ride will be thrilling, but she knows, too, that she’s prepared for it.
How about you? Are you prepared to pursue your dream for 2026? What risks might be involved? Do you have the resources you’ll need? Have you surveyed the landscape?
Imagine yourself this moment at the top of the hill. Your sled is there! Are you ready to ride?
I drew today’s card then closed my eyes and let out a slow breath. I’m still sitting her quietly, contemplating this card and wondering how I’m going to approach it. I have so many thoughts about this card.
I’ve drawn the 9 of Winter Pentacles, a card whose traditional meanings generally relate to success, wealth, and a feeling of “having arrived”. Other words often associated with the card are “freedom, luxury, abundance.”
Before I go on, let’s take a look at the card — from Rockpool’s “Winter Tarot”. We see a young woman, and from the guidebook we learn that she’s successfully opened a little store. She has achieved a goal; she is living her dream. The deck creators are emphasizing the “success” and “independence” aspects of this card. That’s what it means to most people.
Now, let me mention here that I did draw the card “in reverse”, even though I’m showing it upright. The traditional meanings for a reversal are “instability, false success, overspending.” There are others, of course, but the general idea for this card is that upright it’s a sign of success. but when reversed… well, not so much.
Tarot is an art. More to the point, it’s a highly subjective art. What this means is that as our experience with reading tarot grows, we begin to see the cards in a unique way. We know and respect their traditional meanings, but those meanings take on a personal “flavor” based upon our experiences. It is this “personalization” of the cards that makes our readings powerful. We’re not falling back on standard ideas we’ve read about; we’re responding to the cards at a very deep, intuitive level. What I see in the 9 of Pentacles — or any other card — will not be exactly the same as what you see.
I say all of this as preface to today’s message. We began the week by reviewing our life’s experiences, then were gently reminded to “be the light” and bring our magick into the world. Yesterday we were handed a seed to plant for the future; today’s “position” in the spread deals with challenges we’re likely to face.
A strict interpretation for this reversed 9 of Pentacles would tell us to guard against instability, to watch our spending, and, if we want to be really pessimistic, to expect failure. According to most textbook meanings, the appearance of the reversed 9 of Pentacles would feel like a slap in the face.
Those standard interpretations do offer some good advice — especially the note about watching our expenses — but there’s a lot more to this card. For me, this card has taken on a lot of “pretense”. In readings I’ve done over the years, it’s come to represent situations where “trade-offs” are involved, where we give up something of personal value in order to achieve material success. To others around us, it appears that we have everything. Life may seem ideal! Yet if others could see into our hearts and souls, they would find that we’ve paid a very dear price for our “success”.
I could go on at great length about this card and my personal understanding of it, but I won’t. I will, instead, invite you to study this card, to look at the familiar Rider-Waite-Smith illustration and note the symbolism very carefully. I ask you, too, to always develop your own meanings for the cards, basing them upon your personal experiences.
So, why then should my interpretations matter here? They matter because I’m the one doing this collective reading. This is how tarot works. It gives us the cards we need based upon our understanding. Here, tarot is wanting to give me a certain message to share, and using this card was the way to do it.
That message is to be very true to yourself as your move forward this year. As you pursue your dreams, don’t “sell yourself short”, don’t make “Faustian bargains” for quick gains. Don’t try to “take the easy way” to success. Your dreams deserve your best efforts. You deserve the best life has to offer. Don’t settle for anything less.
One of the highlights of my morning is sitting here each day, feeling the anticipation that always comes before I begin a tarot reading. It doesn’t matter if I’m performing a 10-card Celtic Cross spread or just getting ready for a single-card draw, there’s a definite sense of excitement. That excitement comes, in large part, from curiosity. Before I turn over any card, I sit here for a moment wondering what tarot has in store for me today.
When doing a “Weekly Reading” such as this, where the full reading is spread out over a period of time, I also like to mentally review what’s come before. We’ve spent time with the Master/King of Pentacles and met the Artisan/Queen of Wands. Will yet another “court card” appear for us today?
No, today’s card is the Ace of Winter Cups, one of the four “seed cards” — Aces — in the deck.
The Aces in tarot are often called “seeds” because they represent beginnings, the start of new things, the spark or inspiration from which the future grows. Each suit relates to a different aspect of life:
Wands relate to physical energy, movement, actions, plans and projects
Cups are the emotional suit, relating to love in all forms, to family, to friends, and to creative ideas
Swords correspond with our mental processes — our thoughts, our ability to communicate with others, our ability to be strategic in pursuing our goals
Pentacles represent the mundane, practical and material aspects of daily life
Our Ace of Cups here represents our emotions, the people, places, and the things we love. This includes the things we love to do! How kind of her to come to us on this last day of the year. We so often think of “endings” on New Year’s Eve, but this lovely maiden holding a cup near her heart is whispering that we should be focusing on what’s beginning.
A new year brings new opportunities. Today’s message, however, isn’t a simple acknowledgement of that fact. It’s more of a call to action, asking us what new opportunities we want to manifest? We’re not intended to sit around waiting for opportunity or inspiration to come knocking on the door. We have the right to go out looking for them. We can knock on a few doors of our own, seeking out new things, looking for people who can help us pursue our dreams and achieve our goals. We can go off in search of resources, information, knowledge, advice.
Today’s task? Place your hand over your heart and ask yourself what you would truly love to do in 2026. Want to write that novel you’ve talked about for how long? Are you ready to find “the one” and fall deeply in love? Are you wishing you could go back to school and earn a degree? Whatever it is that your heart desires, think about it now. Visualize it. Imagine it happening.
Now, make a promise to yourself. Pledge to act on this desire. Make a commitment to yourself to set a goal and work steadily toward it in the coming year.
The Ace of Cups offers you the seed you need. The card doesn’t promise success; that’s up to us. But one thing for certain is that if we don’t plant the seed, it’s not going to grow.
Got your plan or project in mind? Great! Let’s meet here again on next New Year’s Eve and share our stories.
Today I’ve drawn the Artisan of Winter Wands. Artisan? Huh? And yesterday we saw the Master of Winter Pentacles. What? Golly gee, aren’t “court cards” confusing enough without deck creators coming up with new names for these folks?
Before we go on, let’s just take a look at this “Artisan”.
If you’ve read tarot for any length of time, you can probably figure out that this is the traditional Queen of Wands. If nothing else, the cat at her feet should give it away.
But why give her a new title? Why not just call her the Queen? To be perfectly blunt about it, and no offense to deck creators around the world, but I agree. It would be so much easier if Kings were always Kings, Queens were always Queens, and Knights and Pages were always who they’re supposed to be.
A quick note of advice. When you do open a new deck, checking the court cards is a good practice. Do they bear traditional names? Or do you need a guidebook to tell you who’s who? Before you do any reading with a new deck, be sure you know the names and ranks for the court cards.
Now, how do we interpret this Queen or Artisan or whatever we want to call her? In fact, how are we supposed to interpret any court card? Do they represent who we are? Are they people we know? Are they just general ideas and concepts?
In many years of teaching tarot, I’ve learned that the 16 court cards of the deck are by far the most difficult for readers to understand. Why? Because they don’t have highly-specific roles. They can definitely be aspects of our own personalities. Yet at other times, they can represent actual individuals we know. And yes, sometimes a court card is just like a divine figure offering a timely reminder of something we should or should not do.
Another point to mention here is that we’ve seen two court cards already in this reading. What does that mean? Or does it mean anything at all? As a general rule, yes, the presence of several court cards in a spread can be significant. It can mean that the situation you’re dealing with involves a lot of people, so keep that in mind in your readings.
Certainly the holiday season is “a situation involving a lot of people.” Over the last few days, we’ve all probably been in touch with more friends and family than we might normally see in weeks or months! That’s all good, but maybe now it’s time for the guests to go home, time for us to start thinking about getting back to our normal routines.
Not yet, says the Queen of Wands. Here, in this collective reading, she appears to us as a sort of “gentle voice”, a spiritual guide sent to tap us on the shoulder and whisper “We’re not ready to move on yet.”
Yesterday we reflected on our experiences, looking back over the times and places and people who have shaped us. Today this lovely Queen of Wands urges us to continue this personal reflection, but with a very positive approach.
The guidebook for this deck describes the Artisan of Wands as the one who lights up the room, the one who brings warmth and comfort. This card asks us to see our own light and to let it shine brightly. We see the Queen carefully placing bright baubles on the tree, but her message isn’t about arranging things or making things look pretty. It goes beyond that.
Her message is to BE THE LIGHT, be the brightness, the spark, the beauty. Today, get out there and glow. Shine for all the world to see.
Welcome to a new “Weekly Reading” — a collective reading designed to guide us all through another busy week. I’ll be using Rockpool Publishing’s new “Winter Tarot” for this reading. Each day we’ll look at a particular card I’ve drawn, we’ll consider it in the context of our weekly spread, and we’ll glean actional advice from its message.
So, let’s begin! It’s Monday morning, we’re looking at a holiday week, so what guidance does tarot have to offer?
Our card for today is the “Master of Winter Pentacles” — or, The King of Pentacles, as it would be called in other decks.
Whenever I turn over a card to begin interpreting it, I start by asking “What do I feel?” When I saw this card, I felt warmth and comfort, a sense of “being at home”, a feeling of security. Indeed, these are good keywords for the King of Pentacles.
Now, here’s a thought to keep in mind. If we begin with the Major Arcana cards, then proceed through the suits in the traditional order — Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles — this King of Pentacles represents the final card in the deck. Stop for just a moment and think about what this means.
It would be appropriate here to share the guidebook description for this card:
“A jolly older man sits in his favorite chair, reading one of his many adventures while next to him his dog sleeps soundly. All around him are symbols of his wealth and status, though nothing is over the top; he’s just been fortunate to collect many mementos from his journeys. He’s lived a long life, building businesses, losing them, and building them again. He’s been an initiate, apprentice, and artisan and is finally a master, sharing his wealth of knowledge with students eager to follow in his footsteps. He now spends his days in the house he’s built with his bare hands, enjoying the company of his family.”
I ask you now to think about this again. Who is this King of Pentacles, really? In a sense, he is each of us. No matter what our age, no matter our gender, no matter our financial status, this card represents the concept of “lived experience”.
It is telling us that we are the sum total of our experiences. All around us are symbols of our personal wealth — cherished photographs, little collectibles, colorful rugs, music albums, favorite movies, recipes, crafts, and on and on and on. We are what we’ve done, where we’ve been, who we have loved, what we have learned. Like this King of Pentacles, we, too, are surrounded by our stories.
We may be at a very different stage of life than this “jolly older man”, but he serves as a reminder that life holds many successes, many failures, many beginnings, and many endings. This is a fitting message for this week as we watch one year come to a close and a new one begin.
What this card teaches us is to be appreciative of all our experiences in life. They make us who we are. The card encourages us to reflect on the past, to think about where we’ve been and what we’ve done.
Take a moment to look back over the last twelve months. Where were you last December? What hopes and dreams did you have for 2025? What was the highlight of the year? Were there low points along the way? It’s all right to feel sadness or to have regrets. They are part of who we are, yet they don’t have to define us.
We are more than our mistakes; we can move beyond failures; we can find new opportunities and not lament the ones we missed.
Today, let’s pull up a chair beside this King of Pentacles and ask him to tell us his stories, and then let’s tell a few of our own. Consider every moment a blessing. Each passing moment brings new experiences and shapes who we are becoming.
We’re all familiar, I think, with Ebeneezer Scrooge from A Christmas Carol, and for some reason, his well-known words, “Bah, humbug!” popped into my head when I turned over today’s card. Here it is:
I’m showing it upright here so that you can appreciate the beauty of this card — it’s from Hattie Thorn’s Vintage Christmas deck. I drew it reversed, however, and yes, I took one look at it and uttered those infamous words. Bah, humbug!
Why did I have such an immediate and visceral reaction to this card? The “visceral” aspect is part of the card. It’s very much a card of “feeling” — not with emotions, but with our body. It’s sometimes called a card of “lust”, or, as I prefer to think of it, “a lust for life”. Strength is about getting out, going places, doing things, and truly making the most of each moment.
Reversed, however, it’s like someone just threw a cold, wet blanket on all that fire and energy. Somebody is tamping down the fun. It’s like Scrooge showing up at the office Christmas party.
“Bah, humbug!”
Today is the final day for our Weekly Reading, a day on which I try to sum up what we’ve looked at, what we’ve learned, what we want to carry forward. So, what’s this “Bah, humbug!” all about?
We’ve focused on family throughout the week. We’ve asked “Who is our family?” Hopefully we’ve broadened our point of view a bit. We’ve talked about “reciprocity” — the principle that what we give to others comes back to us. And we’ve celebrated the official Christmas holiday.
And now? “Bah, humbug!”
What’s going on here? Maybe it’s a bit of the usual Christmas “let-down”. The parties are over; the presents are opened; school and work vacation time is coming to an end. “Bah, humbug, for sure.”
Were the holidays all you’d hoped? Did you get everything you wished for? Did you actually go out of you way to do something for others? Or did you just go along in your usual routine, paying lip service to the words of good cheer?
If you did, well, bah, humbug on you!
Christmas day has come and gone, but the need for love and compassion goes on every day of the year. I think this reversed Strength card today serves as a good reminder that it’s all too easy to lose the “holiday spirit”. Please, don’t throw out “helping others” as you discard the old wrapping paper and bows. Don’t pack away “community service” in that big box with your Christmas tree. Don’t turn off the feelings of good will when you shut off the colorful, twinklight lights.
We can put away the trappings and trimmings of Christmas and save them for the coming year, but please, let’s not put away our willingness to reach out to others, to share what we have with those in need, and our acceptance of our neighbors as brothers and sisters.
Christmas is over and life goes on. Make the most of it today and every day.
I did a double-take when I turned over today’s card. First, let me explain how I do these readings. I begin by setting an intention: Show us what we need to learn and do this week; give us guidance for the coming days. I focus on that intention as I shuffle the deck early on Monday morning. I then draw the first card and write the “focus” or “theme” post.
I set the other 4 card aside — sight unseen — and the following morning I pick them up again and turn over the second card. I write my post, I set the cards aside again, and I repeat this process each day throughout the week.
So now, here we are. It’s Thursday. It’s Christmas. And yes, indeed, I did a double-take when I turned over today’s Weekly Reading card.
Haven’t we already seen this card? Wasn’t this the card that opened our Weekly Reading? I wondered if perhaps I’d somehow gotten the cards out of order. But I quickly looked back to Monday’s post and realized that, while Monday’s card and today’s card are quite similar, they are very different.
On Monday, we looked at the beautiful 10 of Pentacles and spoke of the wealth of family, the importance of traditions, the need to keep our loved ones close. Today, we are again reminded of the warmth and love of family, and today — as many of us celebrate the Christmas holiday with our families — that’s really all we need. Just a gentle reminder. It’s Christmas. It’s a day for love and grateful appreciation. It’s a time for peace on earth and good will toward men.
Maybe those ideas sound trite. They’re not. We’ve heard those words over and over at Christmas time every year. They still have meaning.
So, no deep, insightful messages today. No big lessons to learn or harsh realities to face. It’s a day to be with those we love.
From “Sabbats, Seasons, and Tarot Spreads” and our family to you and yours, wherever in this wide world you may be.
Happy Holidays!
Merry Christmas!
May we have peace on earth and good will toward men
Family. That’s the focus this week — with the reminder that family is more than just the people sitting around our breakfast or dinner table.
But how are we to act on these ideas? What can we really do? Let’s take a look at today’s tarot card. It’s the 7 of Pentacles. What one thought jumps to mind here as we go through this Weekly Reading?
Did you notice that this is the third card we’ve drawn from the suit of Pentacles? We began with the 10, looked at the 5 yesterday, and today we’ll consider the 7 and its many possible meanings.
The suit of Pentacles, of course, is all about the “material world”. It relates to money matters, to security, to our personal possessions. Whenever we do a reading, it’s always good to note any emphasis on a particular suit. In this Weekly Reading so far, we’re being asked to see the holiday season from a very practical point of view. The cards aren’t asking us to feel emotional, or to ponder deep questions. We’re not here to be “inspired” by the cards. They are quite simply telling us to look at reality, to take a practical approach here, and to recognize the materialistic aspect of this holiday season.
There’s a lot to unpack here! We have to view the message of this particular card in the light of the preceding two cards. It applies to us; it applies to others.
First, are we being practical about our own expenditures? Or will January find us struggling to pay off holiday bills? Are we being sensible about the things we buy? Of course, most likely your holiday shopping is done, so it might be a bit late for this message!
Second, what are we doing for others? What can we do? Again the message — the emphasis on Pentacles — focuses our attention on the financial needs and the practical needs of others. How can we help?
Let’s consider what is really needed in our neighborhoods and communities. People need food. People need warmth and shelter. While gifts such as groceries may seem a bit… well, what is the right word here? Silly? Unexpected? Lacking in holiday spirit? Maybe so, but think of how much a bag of groceries might mean to a hungry family.
And what about light and heat? Check with your utility companies. Can you pay someone’s bill for them, or at least make a partial payment? While there are often regulations that utility companies can’t shut off heat during cold weather, those bills are still there. Your utility company might even offer a year-round “donation” program by which you can add a few dollars each month onto YOUR bill to help someone else who is struggling.
What of the children? They want toys, of course. So, let’s be sure they get toys. But let’s not stop there. Let’s be sure they have food, clothing, and shelter, too.
Now, you may be asking what any of this has to do with the 7 of Pentacles. Isn’t it a card of growth and hard work? Those are familiar keywords for the card, but they have additional meanings. The concept of the 7 of Pentacles involves the relationship between effort and result. The card teaches us that we won’t get a harvest unless we’ve planted the seeds, and even more, we won’t get the results we want unless we nurture those seeds. It’s a card of investment. What we get is a reflection of what we’ve given.
Maybe we can sum up today’s message with the reminder that giving to others is the best way of giving to ourselves. Investing in our community will bring benefits to us. We will be rewarded conmeasurate with what we’ve done for others.
To answer our question — What can we do? — Whatever we can. Yes, we have to give thought to our own financial health and ensure that our practical needs are met. And then we can give to others, knowing that we really are all one family.
My heart ached when I turned this card over for today’s message in our Weekly Reading. It is the 5 of Pentacles, a card of hardship, poverty, and loss.
The saddest part of this card today is that this is all too real for too many people. There are truly hundreds of thousands of homeless people in the United States alone. We don’t like to think about them; we don’t want to think about them.
So we close our doors. We gather our friends and family around us, and we sit by the fire, enjoying the holidays. After all, isn’t that what Tarot just told us to do! We’re we just reminded that NOTHING MEANS MORE THAN FAMILY?
Yes, and now Tarot is tapping us on the shoulder and saying “Yes, but…” Who IS our family? Of course we have blood relatives. We have dearly loved “friends of the family” who are part of the family. And what about all those other folks…? What about neighbors? What about the service workers who trudge through the cold and snow to bring us our mail or our groceries? What about the dedicated firemen and police officers, and all the medical professionals who are “on call” despite the holiday season?
And what of the poor among us? Closing our eyes, closing our doors, closing our minds doesn’t make them go away. Nor does it make our obligations toward them go away.
Unfortunately we’re living in a world where helping others seems to have gotten a bad name. Compassion and service to others no longer seem to be preached from the pulpits or taught in our schools. People who do care about the welfare of others are termed “bleeding hearts”.
Well, folks, yes, my heart bleeds when I see living illustrations of the 5 of Pentacles. Doesn’t yours? If you can look at scenes of poverty and hardship and not be moved to tears, perhaps a bit of self-reflection is in order.
Am I being a bit harsh here? Perhaps so, but the 5 of Pentacles begs for our compassion and concern. We must do what we can. Maybe it’s only dropping a bit of loose change into a bucket for charity, but that’s better than doing nothing.
Do you have old clothes to donate to a thrift shop? Better yet, do you have old coats and jackets? Can you spare a few cans of vegetables to add to your local grocery store’s “Food Drive”? Of course you can.
Yesterday we focused on family, and now it’s time to broaden that view. We’re all family, really. We’re all part of the same human race. We’re brothers. We’re sisters. Let’s start acting like it. Let’s take care of one another.
Welcome to a new week, and welcome to a new “Weekly Reading”. This week’s reading will feature cards from Hattie Thorn’s beautiful “Vintage Tarot” deck. Each day I’ll draw a card as part of a “collective reading” — designed to give us all a bit of helpful spiritual guidance throughout the week.
To begin this holiday week — we celebrated the Winter Solstice yesterday and Christmas is coming up — we’ll use tarot to provide us with a “focal point”. What needs our attention? What’s the main message for this week about?
Oh, what a perfect card we’ve drawn! It’s the 10 of Pentacles. What card could possibly be more perfect as an expression of the holiday season?
Isn’t this what we all want for Christmas — or whatever holiday we choose to celebrate? The 10 of Pentacles is all about home and family, about the goodness of life itself. While it’s often referred to as a card of “wealth”, that wealth is the richness that comes from home and family. No matter what the numbers in our bank accounts say, we can be rich in love.
But while this is the “perfect” image, how many of us actually feel this perfection in our lives? The sad truth is that not everyone has a family, and even among those who do, well, not every family is happy. Maybe we gather together on the holidays, dressed in our finest garb, and maybe we put our arms around one another and smile for the cameras. Maybe we pose as in the card above, showing the world our happy faces, telling one and all that our life is quite perfect, indeed. The reality, however, may be much different from what we show the world.
So, let’s focus on this idea of family happiness, harmony in the home, and especially let’s think about the legacy we’re creating. Are there old traditions we’re carrying on? Or have we just set them aside? Maybe it’s time to bring them back out, dust them off, and make the holidays truly special.
Family is important. The 10 of Pentacles tells us to appreciate our family members. We should put aside our differences; we can offer apologies for misunderstandings; we can — and should — do all we can to create a sense of unity among our family members this year.
And what of those without a family? What of those who have lost beloved family members and for whom the hoidays will never be quite the same? How do we create that sense of family around us?
Family isn’t just about “blood relatives”, and as we focus on the importance of family ties, we should expand our thinking a bit and reach outward. There can be many “families” in our lives. We can even create our own “family” of close friends and people we love. Tarot is saying “If you don’t have a family of your own, go find one or make one.”
And for those who have lost loved ones? Never forget that those who are gone are still part of the family. Their place at the table may be empty, but their spirit is still present. Cherish them through memories, through stories, through celebrations of who they were and the light and joy they brought to the family.
Wherever your family is and whoever you include as family, this is where your focus should be right now. Honor your family’s traditions from the past and create your own traditions for the future. Forgive past wrongs, forget past troubles. Right now, nothing means more than family.
Today we wrap up this week’s “Weekly Reading” by looking back at the cards we’ve drawn and then looking forward — focusing our thoughts on what lessons we’ve learned over the last few days.
Today’s card is my favorite from the Yuletide Tarot. It is the beautiful Ace of Candles. In a more traditional deck, this would be known as the Ace of Wands.
I find this card incredibly beautiful. I love its traditional look. I love the simplicity of a single candle burning. Earlier we saw the 8 of Candles — lots of glowing lights — and now, it’s as though all those ideas have been brought together, all the love we’ve been talking about through this week have come together to create this one single, glowing flame.
Let’s quickly review the cards from this week’s reading.
Page of Canes
5 of Candles
8 of Candles
3 of Gifts
Ace of Candles
“Pay attention to the important things. Don’t be distracted. Avoid petty arguments and don’t worry about unimportant little things. This is meant to be a season of love and beauty. It’s easy to lose lose of what the holidays mean when we’re rushing about, trying to do too many things. It’s about love, and most of all it’s about what we can give to others.“
Now, with this glowing candle, let’s embrace these ideas, pull them together into a bright, meaningful message. The Ace of Wands is a symbol of the fire element — our passions, our desires, the spark of inspiration that gives purpose to our lives. As the first card in its suit, it represents beginnings. It may be a burst of new energy, an idea for a creative project, the start of a new relationship.
But the card is much, much more. It’s a matchstick that lights the flames. It’s a symbol of hope. It’s quite truly “the birth of a new light” — and this beautiful card is a fitting illustration for all that the winter holidays can be, and a promise that the love and joy of the season doesn’t end in December.
Take what you’ve learned from this week’s cards and think of how you can keep this spirit of love and giving alive throughout the coming year.
Be sure to visit on Monday for the start of a new Weekly Reading. featuring card illustrations from the gorgeous “Vintage Christmas Tarot” by Hattie Thorn.
Our weekly reading has asked us to pay attention, to focus on what’s important, to avoid petty distractions, and to understand that love and happiness are the reasons we come together to celebrate these winter holidays.
Today’s card speaks to us about how we can best live this advice. Tarot, you see, isn’t just metaphysical mumbo-jumbo and platitudes. It can offer straight-forward, practical guidance that we can put to good use.
What can we do? How can we make the most of the season?
In answer to that question, we have the 3 of Gifts. This card illustration is from the Yuletide Tarot. In other decks — such as the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot — it would be called the 3 of Pentacles.
First, what does this card traditionally mean? Standard interpretations are about teamwork, cooperation, the value of working together. Yet this card illustration shows none of those ideas. At a deeper level, the 3 of Pentacles can speak of craftsmanship, although it’s usually seen as an aspect of a shared endeavor.
Here, however, we have a woman who appears to be putting the final touches on a dollhouse. It is, no doubt, intended as a gift for some little girl. Obviously this particular card is more about craftsmanship than cooperation, so what are we to make of it?
This is a question I hear often: Am I supposed to interpret a card based on what it means? Or am I just supposed to look at what I see? Interesting questions and there are a lot of possible answers here. If we base our interpretations ONLY on “what we see”, then our understanding of any card will change depending upon what deck we might be using. And what of Tarot de Marseilles decks or other decks that have “pip cards” instead of fully-illustrated Minor Arcana cards? What can we possibly “see” in a simple image of 3 Pentacles?
The “right answer” to this interpretative question depends upon each reader. I choose to respond to what I see in a card, yet I then “filter” it through what I know about the card and its meaning. As a next step, I consider the context — the question I’m exploring, the information I’m looking for.
So, let’s look together at this 3 of Gifts, a woman crafting a special present for someone she must love dearly. And let’s consider the question we started with: What can we do to make the most of this holiday season?
The 3 of Gifts reminds us that there are people we love, people who love us in return, people who give meaning and purpose to our lives. To put it another way, much of what we do during these winter holidays isn’t about US — it’s about others.
Here we find ourselves gently being led back to those ideas of “working together” or at least “being together”. True enough, the 3 of Gifts is a card of shared experience, even though we don’t see that concept directly expressed in the illustration.
So as you go about your work and play through the rest of this week, keep this important point in mind. THE HOLIDAYS ARE ABOUT WHAT WE GIVE TO OTHERS. This doesn’t mean expensive gifts. It means gifts of time and love, gifts of affection and respect.
What do you have to give? What are you sharing with others? Give that a bit of thought, and you’ll find many meaningful ways to make the most of this beautiful time of year.
As we continue our Weekly Reading, we pause today — midway through the week — to look back at where we’ve been. We opened by looking at a theme: Pay attention to what really matters. Then, yesterday, we narrowed our focus a bit: Don’t get sidetracked with petty disagreements.
Today it’s good to explore these ideas a bit more, in the context of “Why does this matter?” So we turn over the next card and here we find the 8 of Candles or 8 of Wands as it’s usually known.
I love this card! I find it especially beautiful — and this is a key point in Tarot interpretation. What we feel is just as important as — or maybe even more important than — the “standard meanings” of the card. In other words, while this is a card of haste, speed, too many things happening at once, I am seeing it first and foremost as a symbol of beauty.
The holiday season should be beautiful. It should be filled with love and joy and happiness. Maybe that’s an overly-idealistic point of view, but isn’t the holiday season a time to dream of peace and good will? Isn’t this time of year an opportunity to look for beauty? It’s there. Sometimes it may be hard for us to see, but it is there.
We’ve been guided this week to think about what’s truly important, to avoid petty distractions, and now we come to the essential message of this Weekly Reading. Why do these things matter? It matters because this is a season for joy and happiness. We need to remember that.
Now, having responded to that “intuitive sense” of this card, we can turn our attention back to its more traditional meanings: quick action, messages, hustle and bustle, and sometimes, too many things going on all at once.
It’s easy to see how the 8 of Wands relates to the holidays. Yes, we get busy, busy, busy! Our days are filled with work, family obligations, efforts to keep up with shopping, wrapping baking, decorating. And our nights are busy, too. Everyone is having holiday parties. Are we supposed to go to them all? We don’t want to miss out, nor do we want to let anyone down! How do we cope with it all?
We close our eyes and we get in touch with the true meaning of the season. Whether we’re celebrating it as a religious holiday, a spiritual rebirth of the light, or as a fun time of year for family and friends, we can’t lose sight of the essential truth. The holiday season is meant to be joyous, beautiful, and filled with love.
This is what our “weekly” guidance is all about. Tarot is showing us that it is this holiday spirit that truly matters. Find it, cherish it, celebrate it. Focus on what truly matters, don’t squabble over insignificant things, and hold fast to today’s message: MAKE THIS A SEASON OF LOVE AND BEAUTY.
Yesterday our “Weekly Reading” opened with a bit of good advice: Take care of essential tasks this week. Stay focused on what matters.
Now, as our reading continues we’ll be “narrowing down” this advice, looking for specific ways to apply it in our lives over the next few days.
What have we here? The 5 of Candles appears. The deck I’m using, BTW, is the “Yuletide Tarot” from Kristoffer Hughes and Erin O’Leary Brown. It’s a favorite for the holiday season. In in, the suits are changed a bit to correspond more closely with Yuletide ideas.
Wands are Candles
Cups are Good Cheer
Swords are Candy Canes
Pentacles are Gifts
So here we have the 5 of Wands, dressed up in holiday garb, yet the meaning remains the same. It’s a card of competition disguised as sport, of fierce rivlary in a friendly game. It’s one person trying to out-do another — and all the while, probably laughing it off. “Hey, buddy, don’t take it so seriously. I’m just joking with you… just having fun!”
That’s the spirit of the 5 of Candles, but it shouldn’t be the spirit of the holiday.
I’ll admit to being somewhat puzzled by the card illustration here, and I’ll confess to having somehow misplaced the guidebook for the Yuletide Tarot — a good example of not paying attention to things, as suggested by yesterday’s Page of Canes.
My guess is that these two fellow are squabbling a bit over something — maybe it’s important, maybe not. Tne candles are a bit crooked, the guests have left the table. Hmmm… that does happen at holiday meals from time to time.
Now, let’s take these ideas and put them in perspective with yesterday’s “theme card”. We want to focus on what really matters this week, not get side-tracked, not be led astray by unimportant things. My take here is that maybe we all need to “keep a cool head” this week. It’s not about proving a point. It’s certainly not about trying to out-do each other as to who has the biggest tree, the most gifts, the best light show.
Today’s draw is all about defining our goal for the week. LET’S KEEP OUR COOL, SET RIVALRIES ASIDE, AND FOCUS ON THE TRUE SPIRIT OF THE HOLIDAYS.
Welcome to this new week — and to a new feature on the blog. It’s a “Weekly Reading” intended to help us all make the most of each day. From Monday through Friday, I’ll be drawing a card and sharing ideas, meanings, and interpretations as part of an on-going 5-card collective reading spread.
A “collective” reading is one in which there’s not a single, personal question. It’s designed to provide information applicable to anyone reading. You may see yourself in the card interpretations, or some cards may not seem like a “good fit” — but read, learn, and maybe you’ll see these cards unfolding as the week continues.
So, without further ado, let’s begin!
MONDAY, December 15, 2025
The week opens on a somewhat amusing note. Take a close look at the card drawn. This silly girl is outside in the snow, in a sleeveless dress, and she’s barefoot! I suppose this could imply that she’s so focused on her task that she’s not even aware of how inappropriately she’s dressed.
Yes, I find fault with this card. It’s true that the Page of Swords (the traditional title for the card) can become so intently focused on what he’s doing that he may overlook critical details, but even he would not — IMHO — be foolish enough to go play in the snow without bundling up a bit.
Of course, we’re all wise enough to see the folly here. Yet don’t we sometimes do equally foolish things? Especially during the busy holiday season!
The Page of Swords represents youthful energy. He’s curious. He wants to learn all about the world around him. He wants to “take it all in” — and maybe sometimes he can lose sight of a few things, things like boring routines, things like mundane tasks, things like little obligations that must be met.
Think here of an excited child waking up to find that it snowed over night. He’s apt to grab his coat and scarf and rush out the door — never mind making his bed, cleaning his room, or even stopping for breakfast.
Spirit is telling us this week to be sure we’re attending to important tasks. We can easily get side-tracked by so many things going on during this busy holiday season, but there are still obligations to be met.
The key message for today: TAKE CARE OF ESSENTIAL TASKS. DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE BEFORE YOU GO OFF ON ANY HOLIDAY ADVENTURES.
Sabbats, Seasons, and Tarot Spreads 