Weekly Forecast: December 5-11

I don’t know about you all, but I could use a bit more zest in my life. So, in honor of the first week of December and itchy feet, let’s shake this forecast up a little bit. I think it’s always helpful to have a light hand and sense of humor with tarot - zhuzhing up your practice with some changes can go a long way in keeping things fresh and even surprisingly mystical - so here we go.

This reading in one sentence

Let’s dream wildly so that when it all comes falling down, we know where we want to go.

the tower in the room

Yes, it’s here: that card. But this version of The Tower is rising up like a zit that’s been brewing under the surface for quite some time. I apologize for the grossness, but it’s just what’s there - a building ache that is about to erupt. Upsetting? Yes. Oddly relieving? Why, yes, that, too.

This week we’re at a big turning point and it’s the kind that touches on a secretly soothing part of The Tower: that its downfall comes from an outside source that’s not under our control. So, if you’ve been walking slowly towards and ending (or trying your best to run from it), know that its culminating moment is near. Things can move quickly in this card, and on a whole spectrum of intensity, but one thing that’s clear is that tenuous structures that aren’t built to last are coming down.

Because this card is somewhat indiscriminate, see if you can embrace its power and make it work for you. Is there something that’s annoying you, that isn’t working well or working at all, that you can let crumble? Be wary of trying to save things (or people) just for the sake of saving them. Like burns are an integral part of maintaining a forest’s health, so too is destruction a necessary part of growth.

a wellspring of creativity and vision

Although I’m not one to undersell the fearsome nature of The Tower, I’m also really stuck by the intrepid energy surrounding this card in our reading. It’s as if each of us has been incubating a whole range of possible futures, having fun (on some level) playing around with what could be. The Seven of Cups is one of those cards that can veer into avoidant dreaminess, but here it’s immensely hopeful. Take a moment to commend your bravery in dreaming for a life that’s bigger and bolder than the traditional paths you’re used to aiming for.

Oddly, our dreaming, scheming, and unhinged desire for wonder has been waiting for a disruptive moment like the one signified by The Tower this week. While we’ll have to get through the immediate experience of The Tower ( there’s no getting around that) it’s as if we’ve flung a hearty handful of seeds - the most beautiful of wildflowers, all types, shapes, sizes, and colors - into the air. Some might not survive the destruction, but others will be primed to grow wildly.

natural selection and your own best world

I’m also wondering if we’ve been strengthened by our repeated experience of The Tower’s chaos. There was a phase in these forecasts several months ago when The Tower was a frequent visitor, and I’d be surprised if many of us didn’t self-select this card to represent the unyielding chaos, loss, and disruption of the past few years globally. Looking at The Two of Wands, I also can’t help but see ourselves watching the destruction from afar, which could be a possible experience of this reading. Whether The Tower is yours or another’s, it’ll be helpful to ground yourself and shore up your emotional and energetic reserves. It’ll be helpful to locate your own “inner Two of Wands,” that place inside yourself that remains the same despite whatever hardship you endure.

This, I think, is where the power of the wands suit comes in; ruled by fire, these cards touch on that divine spark in each of us that drives us forward, asking us, “what do I want to do with the time I’ve been given? What is coming through me, starting as a mere idea or impulse, and becoming something real through my actions?”

There may be odd sources of inspiration this week: feeling a sense of urgency to tend to your own life goals when you watch something crumble, a sense of clarity emerging from chaos, a renewed sense of purpose when confronted with the ephemeral nature of life. The creative abundance of the Seven of Cups is being tested by the intensity of The Tower, and the ideas and plans that emerge unscathed or even stronger are the ones to keep and follow. A key facet of all of them all? Building a better version of the world you’re watching end - one that allows you to feel free and look outwards. Just look at the lush vista of the Two of Wands. This is where we’re going, and it’s far better than the stodgy towers crumbling around us.

This week, embrace:

• Dreamy reverie

• Inspiration for inspiration’s sake

• Idiosyncrasies, rebellion, the unconventional

• Natural endings

• Self-care (especially physical)

• Your creative, professional, and personal power

This week, avoid:

• Going down with someone else’s ship

• Freaking out in the face of chaos

• Nihilistic thinking

• Abandoning your goals, dreams, and plans

Get creative:

• Seven of Cups: I don’t know, I think this card needs to be left alone to work its freaky magic in each of our lives. But, if I were to offer any advice, it’d be to have fun playing around with dreams and ideas that touch on your own strangeness, unique tastes, and that blissfully ignore societal ideas of what “should be.”

• The Tower: A key part of making it through this card, however it’s manifesting in your life, is endurance. Take some time to consider what this means to you. How have you make it through rough patches in your life before? What practices help you stay with the moment, no matter how intense it appears? Commit to these in the coming days. (To share, mine are: deep breathing, hydration, prayer.)

• Two of Wands: This card is so uniquely optimistic, especially in our reading this week. I can’t, in other words, not look at it and hear, “everything’s going to be okay.” And how odd to have this friendly, “the world is your oyster” card after The Tower? But I do think there’s something here; that our abilities to live, dream. and act on our dreams are unimpeachable and found within ourselves. How might you have been protecting this mental/energetic space? What can you do to reinforce and celebrate it? Bonus points: ask your friends and loved ones about the unique skills, talents, and energies you contribute to life. What better, even best case scenario do they see for you?