I’m feeling something unexpected during the darkest time of the year: energy.

Maybe it’s because we’ve been moving through 2025 under the influence of The Hermit, a card that takes to mystery like a fish to water. And while the darkness has been challenging, it’s also been expected; after a year of disruption and grief, there’s comfort when nature reflects our spiritual experience. The insides matching the outsides, the time from autumnal equinox to winter solstice giving us much needed space to reflect and heal.

And now? The darkness is about to start lifting and, rather than processing it further, I’m drawn to rise to the surface and celebrate the sun. Many traditions around this moment are ancient - the solstices been so obvious they’re almost unmissable - and I can imagine them springing from an instinctive tug towards self-preservation: The cold still has months to run its course, everyone’s grumpy from being stuck in the castle and cuddling up next to livestock for warmth. Why not engage in some good old distraction with a feast and some mead?

While I’m absolutely down for some festive huzzahs in service of social harmony and mental wellbeing, I’m sensing that this solstice is bringing a unique opportunity for motivation. If we’ve become experts at the darkness, we might now be ready to become experts of the light?

Below you’ll find our exploration of the winter solstice - gestures, traditions, and inspirations to work with this moment. And, of course, a tarot reading to frame it all.

Yet before we jump in, I want to make a request: If we’re about to leave the darkness, what might we do to wish it well? Often, when reading tarot, I notice if there’s sharp contrast between two neighboring cards. Being propelled from one to the other takes energy! And as such the space between deserves some care and attention.

Because we have The Wheel of Fortune as our card for 2026, I’m feeling a similar rapid transformation, for while the darkness will be slowly lifting, our life on the ground will be animated by the most fast-moving, disruptive, and exhilarating card of the deck.

Given that, take a moment to ask yourself:

And now, without further ado, let’s dive into the winter solstice, 2025….

As we step over the threshold of the solstice, what do we need to know as we approach the spring?

I was feeling called to do a simpler drawing than usual; this time of the year is so jam packed with motion - and the calls to reflect, make year end lists etc. is a little exhausting in and of itself - that simplicity is refreshing. I do love tarot, but I also know that more cards during times of high overwhelm leads to confusion.

Which makes these two cards about clarity extra incisive and exciting.

I’m taking these both as the culmination of our tour through The Hermit in 2025. They’re the last two cards we’ll be drawing in the year. This is the energy that’s seeing us out.

And what a note to go out on! These are the fireworks at the end of the show, something I don’t think any of us saw coming when we set out on our year of quiet questing through the snow with The Hermit.

These cards ask us to think about what we know now, after everything we’ve been through in 2025. We can’t be shy here, mince words, or equivocate. If we’re going to approach the new year with clarity, we have to accept the extent of our wisdom. No “who? little old me?” energy or lurking on the margins like we’re new in town. The King of Swords demands that we look things head-on, first of all ourselves and our capabilities.

This solstice we’ll be shedding illusions and stepping out of the fog. And we’re doing this by choice. Can’t you see how much this king means business? We may be surprised to find how focused and motivated we are as the days grow longer. The more agency we take, the more confidence we gain. Perhaps we’ve been considering some new ideas, turning them over in our minds, mentally rehearsing each step. Now we’re ready to name our plans explicity and this is the time to do so.

The Magician visited us in our last reading, so the effervescent energy that’s growing now has been known to us since then (at least). While we’re taking things seriously, we’re also having fun on some level, and that continues as we move towards the spring. Test out new possibilities by how they make you feel - more like yourself, lighter, keen-eyed like a falcon ready to dive at its prey? Then all signs point to go! But if anything feels murky, ill-fitting, and consistently generating hesitation… it’s not for you.

If we looked at 2025 as our year to step onto The Hermit’s monastic path, making a pilgrimage through uncertainty and towards some truth, now is the time to name the truths we’ve uncovered. Map it out! See what you’ve accomplished! And use these insights to map out your next steps.

p.s. This pair also forms a broader read: This is a great time to learn things and have fun doing it. I can see the King of Swords getting into some seriously nerdy deep dives and feeling suave while doing it.

Could this be my favorite element?? Sure, it’s flashy and obvious, but boy is it satisfying. And after a year that, according to nearly everyone I’ve encountered, has been absolutely heinous on several levels, we could use some of its clarifying power.

Fire taps into potent emotions and forces that need to be harnessed mindfully lest their destructiveness, you know, run amok.

But it’s also important to uplift and honor these forces. I’ve noticed an unfolding trend to sanitize and neuter fire-like emotions such as rage, anger, upset, irritation, and frustration, as if they’re somehow less spiritually and personally important than their gentler cousins equanimity, patience, contentment, etc.

Yet if we’re going to launch ourselves out of hibernation and into spring (to spring into action, if you will!) these fiery forces will be indispensible.

So let’s responsibly harness our desire to let things go up in flames through some 🔥potent symbolic gestures🔥 !

The flashiest of the group and what I’ll be doing tomorrow if the wind dies down. Channel the solstice themes of illumination and release by ritually burning anything you’re ready to shed or transform. I can’t stress how cathartic this can be, and it doesn’t have to be primly folded up reflections on your growth (though this is also delightful); you can also burn symbolic items tied to misfortunes, bad luck, or grief. I burned my wedding dress! Highly recommend. Bonus points if you join in flame-filled revelry with others.

A gentler exploration of fire and one that’s reflected in a bevy of winter traditions. Working with candles can run the gamut from nightly candlelit dinners, ritualized candle magic, meditating by a single flame, or encrusting all available surfaces with tapers, tea lights, and pillars.

Light candles for hope, release, commemoration, reflection, guidance. And know that their glow radiates outward and may bring in future good fortune, warmth, or insight.

I might be cheating since I no longer have a gas stove, but even if you’re not cooking over an open flame, the vibes are still there. Gently heating is just one of the stops on the way to full-on burning, so consider how preparing a special beverage or dish can symbolize more subtle transformations. Work with “fiery” spices and flavors and see how doing so summons the energy of the growth, warmth, and comfort we need so much during the dark months.

Sharon Olds

_{The long bands of mellow light
across the snow
narrow slowly.
The sun closes her gold fan
and nothing is left but black and white,
the quick steam of my breath, the dead
accurate shapes of the weeds, still, as if
pressed in an album.
Deep in my body my green heart
turns, and thinks of you. Deep in the
pond, under the thick trapdoor
of ice, the water moves,
the carp hangs like a sun, its scarlet
heart visible in its side.}

▶ Themes: stillness, resilience, gestation, subversion, return of the light, containment, ancestral survival

▶ Direction: North, earthward

▶ Elements: earth (dormancy, potential), fire (solar energy)

▶ Symbols: candle, hearth fire, yule log, wheel, seed, lantern, circle, bones

▶ Colors: deep indigo, midnight blue/other luscious deep blue tones, black, pine green, ash gray, muted gold

▶ Food: root vegetables, stews, grains, nuts, dried fruits, bread, honey, mead/mulled wine (huzzah!)

▶ Stones: granite, onyx, jet, garnet, smoky quartz, mica

▶ Plants: pine, fir, cedar, holly, mistletoe, oak, moss, rosemary, ginger

▶ Animals: bear, deer, wolf, owl, raven, stag

▶ Gestures: lighting candles, tending fires, making bonfires, gathering seeds, garden planning, sitting in silence, sharing food, honoring ancestors, making symbolic figurines, getting wild/merriment as an act of resistance and resilience