December Magic Spread!

I designed this spread a couple of weeks a go for a reading exchange circle I host on Aeclectic Tarot, and I thought I should probably share it here on my blog too.

December is a special month for most of us, whether we celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Yule or The Winter or Summer Solstice or any other holiday. It is also the last month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. Because we are a huge tribe of many cultures and locations I wanted a spread to cover December for everyone. I couldn't find anything suitable so I created my brand new, shiny gift wrapped December Magic Spread.

December Magic Spread

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*2***3*
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1.What is the most important meaning that December holds for you this year

2.What will be your greatest gift to others this December

3.What is the greatest gift you will receive this December

4.What magic will the fairy on your tree bless you with this December

Shuffle your deck and take the bottom card and place it in position 1. This is the base card, the root of the tree. Deal the next first three cards using your usual method and place as shown.

Here I tried the spread with my Ludy Lescot Deck:

December Magic Spread with Ludy Lescot Tarot

1. Knight of Swords
2. Two of Wands
3. Two of Pentacle
4. Seven of Chalices 

The Knight of Swords as depicted in this deck is all about going out there and doing battle, with no fear of what may come at you out of the wild unknown forest. His horse is rearing in a stream, which could signify that emotional matters are being bypassed here, or simply ridden over. Can be a good thing sometimes. The wolf, well, he may represent an unseen danger which the rider is either clearly not seeing, or ignoring. On the other hand the wolf could be wanting to help the knight, and his howling may be an answering battle cry.... like yep I'm here, I know the ground well, lets do it!! I think I prefer the latter version, especially since watching the gorgeous Living with Wolves movie!!
Hmmmm so December means battles... makes sense...maybe they are inner battles, or perhaps it is finally time to face something I have been trying to avoid. That's works!

The Two of Wands are two tree's in the background with a cherub, cupid statue whose shadow can also be seen on the floor. The tree's and the column the woman is leaning against reminds me of the High Priestess... another 2, also the book is a traditional High Priestess symbol, although in this deck she has neither of these items in her card. The woman looks like she is holding on to her book like a dream, and looking towards the other book trying to decide which dream to choose. The cherub statue is reaching out to her but she can't see him... I wonder if this is my children...? I have a lot of indecisive thoughts over the past few months.... but also my solace has been in learning and in the written word. The letter is communication... my gift to the world is that... letting my loved ones know I care about them and miss them deeply.... and hoping my words can do the trick until I am able to be there in person. I look at old photo's and think back of those days when we all had Christmas together... but children grow and move, and families become far apart... there is some sadness here, yearning for what once was... and I guess that's what Christmas is about for many of us.

Seven of Chalices represents the greatest gift I will receive this December. This is a gorgeous card... A rather sad looking female sits by a mirror, she looks like she has just slid down into her current position. By her feet is a discarded letter with an open envelope so presumably a letter she has received.... bad news??? The mirror reflects her as a skeleton and walking towards the skeleton is a young man. I am not sure the mirror is showing a true reflection as the floor is different in the mirror, like a black and white checkerboard, also the room she sits in looks rather cell like with bars at the windows, whereas the scene in the mirror looks like a gorgeous Italian balcony.  The seven cups are all around the frame of the mirror. So the mirror could represent dreams or illusions or delusions... or it could be a prediction of the future or a warning against rotting away in your prison. As the mirror is behind her it could be her past.... perhaps the skeleton is dead love, and the guy is coming too late to make things better. Hmmmmmm.... that could be what the letter is about.
It seems to be a card dripping with emotion.... maybe I will receive love that I once wanted but no longer crave? Delusions? A prince to the rescue!!!

The Two of Pentacles shows a lone woman standing with her back to a stone balustrade high up on a balcony. It is winter as the tree's are bare and the vine twirling around the pillar to her right looks rather dead... loss of faith or love? There are two, five petaled roses carved into the stone balustrade which represent the pentacles. Roses are symbolic of many things, love, secrets, in alchemy the marriage of opposites....Two of course is a number of choice and balance and it also represents duality. Well opposites often balance each other out.
The lady doesn't look as if she knows what she wants... I empathise. I feel she is looking, searchingly, either within her own feelings, or has seen someone approaching from far below and she is not sure how to react or be with them. Although it is winter she seems oblivious to the cold and she is dressed up as if expecting someone. Ok I will settle for a special visitor to call up to my balcony and surprise me!! As it is wintery in the card, I may have to go to England to find my Christmas magic!!!

Full Moon Spread with Sweet Twilight

For today I decided to do a Full Moon spread instead of a daily draw, as the Moon will be full in about 5 hours time.... I wanted to catch it before it begins to wane. I used this spread designed by
Eowyn on Aeclectic Tarot, along with my Tarot of the Sweet Twilight.

Full Moon Spread by Eowyn

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3. What begins to fade away, to darken, to abandon you... or what needs to be.
2. What gets completed. What closes a cycle.
1. What can be seen with clarity, so bright that can even blind you.
0. Yourself. Shadow card, from the base of the deck.

Eowyn has the cards laid out one above the other in a line, but because I wanted to photograph the reading for this blog I laid mine out around the face of the moon with the zero shadow card at the bottom and then moving clockwise with the other three cards.

Full Moon Spread - Tarot of the Sweet Twilight

0 - Yourself. Shadow card, from the base of the deck - The Empress

For the Shadow card I drew  The Empress. I dont feel too much like the traditional Empress at the moment, but I can relate to this half submerged creature. She looks calm and balanced and actually I do feel calm, like the calm after the storm if not quite Venus rising from the waves! All elements are here showing no struggle between any of them... she wears fire, stands half in air and half in water and she carries the earth in her hand. Moon Goddess and Earth Mother, Fire Maiden and Mermaid!
I love her big heart shaped crown..... I definitely rule with my heart and not my head. I also see the water as emotions which she is rising from. Part of her is still submerged in emotions but she is holding her world out of the water. I can relate to this. The fishes all want a little bit of her.. or maybe a great big chunk... I can relate to this too. But also she is part of everything in her world... as I am.
Someone told me the other day how my children have taken parts of me just as I am getting new parts from them. We are one.

1 -  What can be seen with clarity, so bright that can even blind you - Death

Another Major Arcana..... and what a gorgeous card. The skeleton is so loving, and it looks to me as if he is carrying the sleeping girl away from the shadow of death which is in the scythe of the grim reaper behind him. he is moving away from the Moon and towards the Sun and the light. There is however a desert to cross, maybe he has done most of the journey and is nearing the end. The skull and the snake remind me of a print I have of the Mexican border... there are skulls and snakes there... Snakes have always been signs of regeneration and transformation and of course temptation. Skulls are a symbol of impermanence and even considered lucky by some cultures. Perhaps this skull is signifying the border, the edge, and soon the two will be out of the desert and moving into a new lusher country. I feel as if I am the person being moved on.... I have felt this for some time, I am not sure what is moving me, but some force is making it happen....

2 - What gets completed. What closes a cycle - Seven of Chalices

Two skeletons in this reading.... the girl looks at her reflection in the water and see's death, the death of her old self maybe... or the death of feeling....emotion... An emotional death.... again I am gobsmacked by this tarot deck. Behind her the future is lush and bright and life beckons, but she cant see that in her watery mirror yet... but if she looks deep enough she will. Is she looking to find who she truly is? Has she left the world behind for a while to contemplate who she is?

Death has one of the cups, it is just a reflection, is it something she has to leave behind ...something she can no longer touch, or an emotion she can no longer feel? That would work for me. Of course she could be intoxicated.... three of the goblets are empty and one is in the water... strangely enough I haven't been able to drink wine for ages!

The girl sits between life and death, which is where we all sit, all of the time, for all we have is now.

3 - What begins to fade away, to darken, to abandon you... or what needs to be - The World

Sadness? Will sadness abandon me? This is an amazing card.... the World is crying and the sun shines through her tears and makes a rainbow... the sign of hope. Stars are twinkling and the little person is standing on the Moon (?) holding up a bowl to receive the love and joy and sorrow of the world. Our planet. There is a flower on the moon growing up.... whats this? Life on another planet... is it showing that there is more than the earth that needs our love and care and attention.

Everything is here.... a cycle is complete with The World card.... there have been struggles and hardships but it is time to hold up our offering bowls and celebrate, be thankful for we have gotten this far, and there is much to live for.

As far as the position of this card in the layout goes... maybe what is fading away is that which is meant to fade away, the end of a major cycle in my life... what once seemed light and all there was to live for is now in shadow, and I can hardly see it?

There are a lot of deaths in this reading... I am definitely looking at changes, endings and new beginnings. But I have known this for a while. Three Major Arcana cards are pretty strong stuff in a four card spread! I will think about this more tomorrow. Time to watch an episode of Lynley!