December is Building a Better Future
Our monthly collective Tarot pull, looking into the energy of December
A Tarot Reading for the Month of December
It’s rare that a tarot reading surprises me. Maybe it’s intuition, or maybe it’s eight years of studying and working with the tarot, but these days, when I flip the cards in a reading I usually nod along and mutter, “that makes sense”.
This was not the case when I pulled the collective reading for the energy of December.
When we gathered for our monthly Tarot + Tea event, I thought I knew what the cards would say. Something about self-care during the holidays; about holding space for the busy schedules while not letting the chaos of the season overwhelm you. What we got instead was a potent, somewhat intense spread exploring the current global and political climate as it relates to us on a personal level.
My collective readings rarely speak on politics—they tend to focus on themes that resonate on a more individual level—but it seems the cards don’t want us to shy away from the bigger issues at play. It’s not just me, either. I’ve noticed this shift in a lot of tarot readers and astrologers I follow; folks who usually speak about relationship trends and work opportunities are suddenly discussing collective action and political power instead. From my perspective, it seems like our guides and good spirits know that what is happening now is bigger than just one election. There’s massive change on the horizon, and they want us to be ready for it.
We’ll explore this more as we delve into the cards pulled for December, but the message I’m getting from this month’s tarot reading is this:
The world is changing, and it’s up to us to decide what we want it to become.
December’s Theme: The Empress & The Emperor
The Empress and The Emperor are a natural pair, both in their contrasting energies and in that they come one after the other in the Major Arcana. That said, I’ve been using this deck for years and it’s well shuffled, yet I’ve never pulled these two cards together. In any reading. Ever. That alone felt significant.
While I tend to avoid gender binaries in my spiritual practice (or in life in general), it feels relevant to share that the Empress and Emperor are often mapped onto the concepts of the “Divine Feminine” and “Divine Masculine”. They can also be linked with Yin and Yang, respectively. Regardless of how you hold these specific concepts,
The Empress and The Emperor together represent a balancing of opposing energies coming together to accomplish more than any one of them could achieve on their own.
The Empress is believed to represent fertility, abundance, and receptivity. She trusts the world to provide, and thus is ready to receive with open arms when the world’s gifts find her. She embraces pleasure, beauty, and desire—all the things associated with Venus, whose symbol appears on the cushion next to her. The twelve stars in her crown remind us of her connection to the mystical world while the forest behind her reminds us that The Empress is a child of the Earth and one with nature. She wears a robe covered in pomegranates, a classic symbol of abundance and fertility, and rests upon a luxurious throne of velvet cushions. She is at ease, and she trusts that the river will continue to flow, bringing her all she desires.
In contrast, The Emperor represents action, ferocity, and strength. He too is abundant, but not from patient receptivity. His abundance comes from going after what he wants with drive and focus. Beneath his robes, we see shining armor covering his legs. Adorning his throne—which is made of unyielding stone, rather than the soft cushions of the Empress—we see carvings of the ram of Aries, God of War. These symbols serve to remind us that The Emperor is not just a ruler, he is a conqueror and one-time-warrior. He will not hesitate to go to war for what he wants and will defend his people to the death, if that’s what’s called for.
Together, The Empress and The Emperor tell a story of balance and duality. When might we need to fight for what we believe in and take what is ours, with the fire and ferocity of The Emperor? When might we need to sit back and enjoy what we already have and trust the universe to bring us what we lack, as The Empress does on her throne of luxury?
As we navigate the changing landscape of this world, the Empress invites us to dream big and imagine a future where all our needs are met, our desires fulfilled, and where abundance flourishes around every corner. But we cannot stop there. The Emperor reminds us that if we want to see a better tomorrow, we have to build it ourselves. We have to be willing to fight for it.
What to Lean Towards: The Tower & The Magician
Oh, The Tower. It’s rare that I pull this card, but when I do, it’s often met with fear by the clients I pull for. Which, who can blame them? This card features a burning building and two figures falling to their death… hardly an inspiring tableau.
While my own relationship with The Tower has evolved to something less anxiety ridden over the years, I was still thrown when this card popped up in the placement of “what to lean towards”. While I stand by the belief that there are no inherently “bad” cards in the tarot, this felt like a test of my own convictions. Why would we want to lean towards The Tower? And why pair it with The Magician?
At its core, The Tower represents the destruction of old ways of being. Lightning strikes the tower, representing sudden change from a force bigger than any one person, and the building is lit on fire by the strike. The crowned ruler and their companion fall from the tower as it burns against a backdrop of dark, stormy clouds.
The change of The Tower is never comfortable, but it is necessary. When we are given The Tower, we are reminded that old systems of hierarchy and structures of power must crumble for new worlds to be born. In the place of “what to lean towards,” this card is an invitation to look with open, clear eyes at the systems of power that are failing and embrace that, perhaps, it’s time to burn it all down.
When paired with The Magician, this conversation becomes especially interesting. The Magician represents someone who is stepping into their personal power. They are taking all they’ve learned, combing the wisdom of all the elements, and manifesting something new with their recently discovered confidence and magical prowess. The Magician asks us to step into our personal power and manifest our desired reality. It asks us to start calling in that which we want to see rise after the tower falls. And as a representative of individual power, it’s a reminder that we, too, have a role in the next chapter of our collective evolution.
December sees us moving ever closer to the tipping point our country and world have been dancing around for decades, and these cards ask us to consider what we can do to bring down the systems of oppression and call in a better tomorrow.
What to Lean Away From: The Hierophant & The Queen of Cups
The Hierophant is a complicated card that can carry a variety of meanings, depending on the context. In many ways, they represent the traditional structures of organized religion. They are a powerful religious leader who sits atop a chest marked with keys—a representation that they hold the power to decide who has access to the spiritual wisdom they protect. When the Hierophant appears, we are often invited to respect these structures, hierarchies, and traditions and consider what they have to teach us. However, whenever I see the Hierophant in the position of something to “lean away” from, or any similar placement, I think of it as the card of the rebel.
If we’re meant to lean away from this card of tradition, hierarchy, and structure, then perhaps, like The Tower across the spread, it’s a message that our old systems aren’t working. In its most blatant form, this placement of the Hierophant seems to say, “Fuck the system. It’s time for a change.”
Next to The Hierophant we have the Queen of Cups, which, to be honest, felt like a major curveball when I first saw it. As I mentioned earlier, nothing about this reading was expected. Similar to The Tower in the “what to lean towards,” placement, it felt like this card was on the wrong side of the spread. The Queen of Cups is deeply connected to her emotions, nourishes her people, and is ruled by intuition. Is this not something we should lean towards?
But the longer I sat with it, what kept coming up for me was this idea that there are times to swim in the ocean of our emotional experience, and times to activate our fire. December is for the latter. Many of us spent November lost in our grief, and while it’s important to hold space for those feelings, the cards are encouraging us not to drown in our sorrows. The Queen of Cups stares at her goblet, unmoving and unaware of what lies on the horizon. Now is not the time to get lost gazing at our feelings or trying to make sense of the world. Now is the time to look to the horizon, visualize what we’re moving towards, and take the next step forward with the fire and confidence of The Magician.
Underlying Factors: Seven of Wands
I don’t usually pull a card for underlying factors in our collective reading, but I felt called to do so this time around, and when my guides tell me to do something, I try to listen. Which, I’m glad I did, because this card made a lot of sense here.
The Seven of Wands is a card of conflict, challenge, and being up against all odds. But it’s also a card of perseverance, courage, and protecting your success along the way.
At the root of this reading, the Seven of Wands is a reminder that we are in a time of conflict. This contentious energy is bigger than any one of us, and has been permeating the planet for years, growing increasingly confrontational and hot-tempered as fiery energies like those portrayed by the wands are wont to do. The cards are not trying to soften this reality—we are in a difficult time, and it’s going to be a hard battle in which we may often feel that we are up against all odds.
But there’s also a reminder here that what we are fighting for matters, and at the end of the day this is not conflict for conflict’s sake, but a choice to persevere and keep showing up for what we believe in. We can create a better tomorrow, but we have to be prepared to protect the small wins along the way, less we lose the progress we make (*cough* reproductive rights *cough*).
“Keep moving forward,” this card says, “but be prepared to defend your success every step of the way, as there are plenty of people waiting to destroy whatever you build next.”
Advice from the Oracle: Manifest
The last card we pulled, “Manifest,” was an oracle card in the placement of advice or guidance from the spirits. Right away, I noticed the connection between the Manifest card and our theme for December. The Empress and Emperor may use very different tactics, both they are master manifesters; whatever they want comes to be. We also have The Magician in our spread—an amateur manifester just starting to step into their power.
The Manifest card reflects the lessons of all these cards, but what I love most about this card is the imagery used to depict the act of manifesting. The subject of this card is taking time to get clear on what they are trying to manifest. They understand that knowing what they want is the first step towards making it a reality. To me, this is a reminder that in order to build a better tomorrow, we must make time to visualize what that future could look like.
At the end of the day, that’s the true message of this collective reading for December:
Unleash your imagination, let your creativity run wild, and let’s make a better world, together.
Join our next Tarot + Tea Gathering on December 22nd!
While I do my best to destill the information for these monthly posts, we get way more into the topics and themes at play during our Tarot + Tea gatherings. Rather than an essay from me, it’s a conversation between me, the cards, and everyone present as we disect the themes and explore what’s coming down the pipeline.
It’s also a great opportunity to connect with the magical community of Truckee. Last month, for example, four of us stayed behind and got in a long, fascinating discussion about reading the same card differently based on the art of the deck in question.
Plus, you’ll get a chance to ask your own questions of the Tarot, drink yummy tea, and eat delicious homemade snacks! Our next gathering is Sunday, December 22nd from 5-7 pm, and I’d love to see you there.