All Quests Big and Small

Welcome to December, lovely readers! I’ll be releasing an extremely limited run of Year Ahead readings for 2025 at the end of the week; stay tuned here or become a paying subscriber for early access.

I decided to fan my deck out in a beautiful array and draw the cards for our reading that way, plucking out three cards that felt exciting and just right. No usual shuffling, just an intuitive selection. Sometimes it’s nice to mix up your tarot practice (or any practice, for that matter) just for the sake of novelty. The three I’ve selected are still lying facedown next to my computer. I’m excited to see what they have to show us - let’s jump in!

And aah! Our first card has been on my mind these past few days. It’s our card for 2025, The Hermit. I love how this archetype is showing up in the first week of December. It’s as if we’re getting a preview of the themes, questions, and concerns that will animate the next year. So keep your eyes open and your ears pricked up - it’s likely that some important messages will be arriving in the next seven days.

In true Hermit fashion, we’ll be best primed to hear these messages if we cultivate silence, stillness, and solitude. This is decidedly not the blast-in-your-face message of our card for last month, Judgment. The Hermit ventures out from comfort to seek deeper, more complex truths that need some cajoling before they truly reveal themselves.

Personally, I like this type of scavenger hunt; tuning out the chaos of daily life so that I can discern the little currents of information and intrigue. Lean into curiosity and patience: what do you want to know about your next big journey, internal or external? What questions light you up right now, just like the star in the lantern, casting its light on The Hermit’s next steps? This week we may be finding hints of the first steps and preparing to take them when January begins.

Can you see how the slow deliberateness of this card, uh, contrasts with the charge-ahead vigor of our next card, the Knight of Wands? There’s some openness in this bold delineation. We could either be feeling overeager - pulled to rush or even plow over the gentle and profound insights of The Hermit - or simply have a lot of energy that is galvanizing us to make change in our lives. Regardless, it’ll be impossible to assign a job (or several) to our inner Knight of Wands. What can we do to satisfy our urge to create, explore, and expand our horizons?

Since The Hermit is our card for the entire next year, I think it’ll be important to trust that the bigger questions will be answered in their own time. Catch yourself when you try to force an answer or solution to anything big: a question, decision, or major transition.

I’m almost picturing two levels operating simultaneously, like strata in the earth. One, The Hermit, is happening deep below the surface and the other, the Knight of Wands, is happening closer to the surface. Do what you can to satisfy your urge for movement and novelty this week but be sure not to confuse this restlessness with a sign that you need to push anything in your deeper processes or inner world.

Our final card is, surprisingly, making me laugh: What better time for a card warning against material hardship than the holiday season? Since our final card from last week was the King of Pentacles, the five isn’t feeling dire at all. If anything, we may have gotten slightly ahead of ourselves in the decadence department last week and are in need of a course correction. This five serves as a reminder to button up our resources and be especially mindful of our expenditures - are they in service of a more stable future or detracting from it?

The Five of Pentacles can also point to financial anxiety. Notice when you’re feeling like you’re out in the cold like the two characters in this image, or close to it. Again, we were just in the shoes of the King of Pentacles last week, a card that signifies mastery and/or success in material matters. Perhaps this week has the seed of a backlash of sorts where our success has triggered a warning system that’s out of place in our lives right now. Be especially aware of how you talk yourself down from being vibrant seen, and even celebrated for your success. What if we could have what we want and continue to grow? Be okay, whatever that means to you personally, and be seen as stable, prosperous, and present? Try to recenter yourself in the King when you feel the pull of the Five of Pentacles by reminding yourself of all the ways you have and continue to support yourself. All the while being mindful of and responsible for your expenditures, habits, and financial wellbeing - a truly kingly habit, indeed.