Winter Solstice 2022 Tarot Reading
With 2022 coming to a close, I decided to perform a 3-card Tarot reading honoring the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. 2022 has been a profound year where truth was revealed and paths were chosen. Although the year can be reduced to a numerology of 6 which involves empathy, guidance, assistance, and a shared path, I prefer to look at the number from the standpoint of the 22, a Master number known as the Cosmic Builder which suggested 2022 would be a year of discovery and choices made.
While 2023 may lack the inherent Master 22 numerology found in 2022, reducing the year completely by adding 2 + 2 + 3 leaves us with 7, a number of observation, justice, and letting energy come to rest. If I separate the year into two sections, however, we can look at the 2 and the 23 individually, as I did with 2022. 23 itself reduces to 5 signaling change, protection, innovation, and expressions of freedom versus restriction, while the 2 represents balance, love, decisions, healing, and reciprocity. Although the numerology gives us a general sense of the year to come, let’s see what insights the Tarot cards have to offer.
I shuffled my Robin Wood Tarot deck and drew The Devil, the 2 of Swords, and the 2 of Cups. Added together (15 + 2 + 2 = 6 + 2 + 2 = 10 = 10 + 0 = 1), they have an overall numerology of 1, referencing new beginnings, the self, and leadership. In my opinion, the one also suggests, as with the Aces in Tarot, the genesis of something new coming from higher awareness.
The Devil, card 15 from the Major Arcana, is a soul archetype card that suggests being a slave to desire. The presentation of this card is different in the Robin Wood Tarot than in the traditional Rider-Waite version, with its goat-headed Devil replaced in this deck by an open chest filled with jewels. A red-haired nude girl appears to snarl at the reader while a boy reaches for an open window. Chains in the background create an inverted pentagram that suggests the boy and girl are chained to their ego-centered reality.
Next, a blindfolded woman holding a sword in each hand with her arms crossed comprises the 2 of Swords. She sits on an ornate stone seat at the water’s edge, her long black hair flowing along with her silvery white gown that swirls about her feet. The decision she makes is done dispassionately, evidenced by her blindfold and turning her back to the choppy water behind her. The Maiden Moon is in the dark cloudy sky above, her subconscious or Higher Self informing her choice.
Lastly, the 2 of Cups shows a man and a woman extending chalices to each other in healing and reciprocity. A winged lion’s head sits atop a caduceus with rays of love emanating behind the couple. Like the 2 of Swords, this card represents a decision, but with the 2 of Cups, it illustrates the decision to step forward into healing and love.
Clearly, the reading presents two options for our consideration: expressing ego in our lives versus healing and the ties that ultimately bind us together.
Looking at the two years in progression, one could say that 2022 was a year of discovery and planning, while 2023 may be the year where we take that information and choose the path on which we move forward. Will we take a path toward change that can bring healing and reciprocity, or will it be one that continues the chaos of self-interest and self-deception?
Blessed Be to all on this Winter Solstice, and may all move forward together in perfect love and perfect trust!
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Thank you... Jan Erickson
