Hyperallergic’s tarotscope series is a combination of tarot with astrology, a reading for the collective readership combined with cards for the major astrological signs, grouped by their elemental associations, developed by AX Mina, producer for Five and Nine, a podcast about magic, work and economic justice. These tarotscopes have a special focus on the arts and creative practice, for each solstice and equinox, to mark the turning of the seasons.
The winter solstice sets into the northern hemisphere during a time of metaphorical winter around the world. Mars has entered retrograde, and we see just a few more days left of the Strength Year (in the tarot system) before giving way to the Hermit Year. Let this hermit energy guide you, for winter is a time of slowing down and storing energy for us mammals as we prepare for more energetic days to come.
This season’s tarotscope is read using the Mixed Signals Tarot, designed by artist M Eilo. These readings were drawn during a mild Brooklyn morning at the start of the retrograde, in this 12th month of the Strength Year (in the tarot system) and 11th month of the Dragon Year (in the East Asian lunar system).
Many stones have emerged in this reading. In this deck, they are like the pentacles, but drawn to more explicitly represent the earth. In last season’s reading, we learned of “big and transformative energies in the collective air,” and now the larger message is to find grounding. For this winter equinox, we read with the Seed Root Garden spread, developed by Dorothy R. Santos and Xiaowei R. Wang, as we look toward the new year.
And we start with an inquiry: What do artists need to know as we prepare for the end of the Strength Year and usher in the Hermit Year?
Collective Tarot Reading
Seed: Fighter of Stones
Root: The Hermit
These two cards mark the collective context: A court card from the Minor Arcana, representing daily affairs, and a Major Arcana card, representing archetypal forces.
The Fighter of Stones, also known as the Knight of Pentacles in the popular Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) deck, here represents the Seed position. This is what has been collectively planted. In this deck, a smaller force collides with a larger one, and those who understand physics know that even small things can shape the trajectories of large objects in unexpected ways. I recently learned, for example, that some human-made structures can alter the rotation of the Earth, and it was a reminder that even the Earth itself, steady and solid as it seems beneath our bodies, is ever changing, spinning and floating through space like the rest of us.
We read this card alongside the Root, representing what is growing. The Hermit card, with its three eyes, reminds us of unknowingness and intuition. This is the card of searching, of yearning, and of being comfortable with the uncertainty that today and tomorrow bring. It’s a card of spiritual pursuit, whatever that means for you.
Read together, we see now that we are on a new journey. A series of events that may seem outside our control and influence has changed the trajectory, yet these events are made possible by our cultural and societal norms. As artists, we all have the ability to alter trajectories, like little asteroids in space, where even the tiniest bump or nudge of awakening can lead others into unexpected directions.
This is the time to deepen our collective practice and ask questions that have been bubbling up quietly from the heart. Think of those moments from the past year that broke you and yet you somehow emerged from. “You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read,” James Baldwin once said. “It was Dostoevsky and Dickens who taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who ever had been alive. Only if we face these open wounds in ourselves can we understand them in other people.”
Baldwin cited writers, but artists have also held me during times of solitude and confusion. Perhaps your art will do the same for others.
Now the question is the Garden, or the conditions in which the Root will grow and bear fruit. The Garden position completes this three-card spread, and it is customized to your elementary signs — an additional card is drawn to elaborate on the solution for your element. Read for the elements calling to you now, whether associated with your Sun, rising, or Moon sign, or simply one that speaks to you at this time in your life. Remember that nothing written here is a direction or imposition; these are merely flickering lights offered along the path we all make for ourselves.
Fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius)
Method: Two of Stones
The two stones in the Two of Stones roll through a landscape — or is it a series of waves? This card asks you to consider how you balance multiple forces and energies. While balance requires emotional fortitude, the Stone suit posits that some effort and planning are necessary to work through it all. Your fire energy will be needed in the coming months, and this card suggests that now is a good time gather and hone the tools to help you maintain balance when you summon that fire. This could be as simple as getting your bookkeeping in order or cleaning your studio. Or it could be more complex, like beginning therapy or starting a meditation practice.
Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn)
Method: Two of Wands
In the Two of Wands, two branches merge and intersect. Witnessing something like this is always a beautiful moment on my hikes in nature, or when I’m tending to my plants. The wand’s energy is the qi, the spark of life, and you’re being asked to look at the little things growing in your life right now. Perhaps there is a new branch in your creative practice, or someone in your life is sparking a new collaboration. Your Earth energy will be helpful here. Like a gentle gardener, practice tenderly watering these new directions, grafting them, seeing where they go. By this time next year, you may be surprised where your creative practice has taken you.
Air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius)
Method: Three of Stones
The Three of Stones is often the card of laying down foundations and making plans with others. In this rendering, each stone forms a layer in your practice, but they have yet to joined together. In this time of wintering, you’re invited to flow with the Air energies that move through your mind and start laying down your plan, or concepts of a plan, so to speak. That might look like making a project spreadsheet or gathering your collaborators for a meeting. Collect the stones and be ready to get to work.
Water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces)
Method: Five of Cups
Of all elements, yours is the one swimming in emotions, and this Five of Cups card only emphasizes that. They break, come apart, shatter, and like the yin and yang, it’s in the brokenness that the seed of something new is sprouting. The greatest wisdom often lies in not turning away and simply allowing the hurt to hurt. Remember the Baldwin quote above. Water is what connects us all in our beautiful and fragile humanity.
