Hyperallergic’s Tarot Mirror series is a combination of tarot and astrology, a reading for a collective readership, combining cards of the main astrological symbols and grouped by their elemental associations, developed by AX Mina, it is the Five and Nine Producer of , a podcast about magic, work, and life. economic justice. With a special focus on art and creative practice, these tarot decks mark the changing of the seasons at each summer solstice and spring equinox.
The winter solstice enters the Northern Hemisphere, a time when metaphorical winter occurs around the world. Mars has gone retrograde and we see only a few days left of the Year of Power (in the tarot system) before giving way to the Year of Hermitage. Let this hermit energy guide you, as winter is a time when we mammals slow down and store energy in preparation for the more energetic days ahead.
This season’s tarot readings are using mixed signal tarot decks designed by artist M Eilo. These readings were drawn on a mild Brooklyn morning at the beginning of retrograde motion, the 12th month of the Year of Power (in the Tarot system) and the 11th month of the Year of the Dragon (in the East Asian lunar system).
In this reading, many stones appear. In this deck, they are like pentagrams, but more specifically represent the Earth. In last season’s readings, we learned that “there is tremendous and transformative energy in the collective air,” and now the bigger message is to find your roots. On this winter equinox, as we look toward the new year, we read The Seed Root Garden developed by Dorothy R. Santos and Xiaowei R. Wang.
We started by asking: As we prepare to end the Year of Power and usher in the Year of Hermitage, what do artists need to know?
Group tarot reading
Seed: Stone Warriors
Roots: Hermit
These two cards mark the collective context: a court card from the Minor Arcana, representing everyday matters, and a Major Arcana card, representing archetypal powers.
The Stone Warrior, also known as the Knight of Pentacles in the popular Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) deck, represents the seed position here. This is grown collectively. In this deck, smaller forces collide with larger forces, and anyone who knows physics knows that even small things can shape the trajectory of large objects in unexpected ways. For example, I recently learned that some man-made structures can alter the Earth’s rotation, reminding us that even the Earth itself, which appears stable and solid beneath our bodies, is constantly changing, spinning and floating in space like the rest of us .
We read this card along with the root, which represents something that is growing. The Hermit card has three eyes, reminding us of our ignorance and intuition. This card represents exploration, desire, and being comfortable with the uncertainties that come with today and tomorrow. This is a card for spiritual pursuits, whatever that means to you.
Reading together, we discover that we are now embarking on a new journey. Trajectories are altered by a series of events that appear to be beyond our control and influence, but are precipitated by our culture and social norms. As artists, we all have the ability to change trajectory, and like little asteroids in space, even the tiniest bump or nudge of awakening can lead others in unexpected directions.
Now is the time to deepen our collective practice and ask the questions that quietly arise within us. Think about those moments in the past year that broke your heart but somehow escaped. “You think your pain and heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read,” James Baldwin once said. “Dostoevsky and Dickens taught me that the things that torture me most are the things that connect me to everyone who lives or has ever lived. Only when we face these unhealed things in ourselves Only when we are wounded can we understand the wounds in others.”
Baldwin cited writers, but artists have also attracted me in times of loneliness and confusion. Maybe your art will have the same effect on others.
The problem now is the garden, or the conditions for root growth and fruiting. The garden location completes the three-card spread, and it’s customized to your base logo – with an additional card drawn to detail your element’s solution. Read about the elements that are calling you right now, whether they are related to your sun sign, rising sign, or moon sign, or simply to the elements that speak to you at this moment in your life. Remember, nothing written here is meant to be instructions or impositions; these are simply twinkling lights provided on the path we make for ourselves.
Fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius)
Method: Two Stones
Two stones in “Two Stones” roll across the landscape – or is it a series of waves? This card asks you to consider how to balance multiple forces and energies. While balance requires emotional fortitude, Stone Suit believes it takes some effort and planning to pull it off. Your fire energy will be needed in the coming months, and this card suggests that now is a good time to gather and hone tools to help you maintain balance as you summon fire. This can be as simple as organizing your bookkeeping or cleaning your studio. Or it could be something more complex, like starting therapy or starting a meditation practice.
Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn)
Method: Two of Wands
In the Two of Wands, the two branches merge and intersect. Witnessing something like this is always a great moment when I’m hiking in nature or tending to plants. The power of the wand is gasThe Spark of Life, you are asked to look at the little things that are growing in your life right now. Maybe a new branch is emerging in your creative practice, or someone in your life is sparking a new collaboration. Your earth energy can help here. Like a gentle gardener, practice tenderly watering these new directions, grafting them in, and seeing where they go. By this time next year, you might be surprised by the impact your creative practice has had.
Air signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius)
Method: Stone Three
The Three of Stones is often a card that lays the groundwork and makes plans with others. In this rendering, each stone forms a layer in your exercise, but they are not yet connected together. At this time of winter you are invited to flow through your mind with the energy of the air and begin to formulate your plans, or the concept of a plan so to speak. This might look like making a project spreadsheet or gathering collaborators for a meeting. Collect the stones and get ready to work.
Water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces)
Method: Five of Cups
Of all the elements, yours is the one that swims in emotion, and this Five of Cups card only emphasizes that. They break, split, shatter, like yin and yang, and it is in the breaking that the seeds of something new sprout. The greatest wisdom often lies in not turning around and just letting the hurt continue to hurt. Remember Baldwin’s quote above. Water is the link that connects our beautiful and fragile humanity.
