The World

Completion as Transition

Above, two of my favorite decks, links below

Abstract Futures Tarot

Wild Unknown Tarot

Transitions

My oldest friend Amy's cancer came back, ten years after her initial treatment for breast cancer. It hasn't been pretty. At this point her biggest problem has been her lungs, which is where the cancer came back . I don't know how much time she has left, we have left. She asked me to read her tarot cards last Sunday. I wanted to honor her request but it made me nervous. I believe the cards show us what we might not want to hear but what we need to know. The first card I drew for her was The World. It is also my January card in my year ahead spread.

The World

This, the last card in the Major Arcana, indicates the completion of a cycle. There is accomplishment, an important project is done or perhaps you have finished a sacred journey. In the Rider Waite Smith deck a woman is depicted holding two staffs with the representation of the four elements in the corners, the four fixed signs, Leo (fire), Taurus (earth), Aquarius (air), Scorpio (water).

Amy and I talked about the work she wants to finish, as a writer and an artist, the noise she will have to muffle to prioritize this work. She has loose ends to tie up. She told me what she wants more than anything is peace of mind, and The World tells us this is possible. She knows she is completing a cycle on this earth. We don’t know what the end will look like exactly but it is coming. All we can hope for is peace of mind. At the end of the month if she is able, we will go to stay in a fancy hotel in between Portland and Seattle. We will go to a Korean day spa and have our bodies scrubbed and moisturized, and sit in warm pools of water. We will eat delicious food, and we will talk and laugh. That is the plan. I hope it works out.

As my January card of the month is The World, I felt connection to Amy and her reading but also wanted to think about what cycle is complete for me, and the next steps as I begin The Fool’s Journey again. It is fitting this card begins my year, endings, beginnings, transitions, all there I can feel and taste it but can’t quite make out its true shape. I have plans, big plans, but am also just sitting in this sense of humanity, of mortality, of time. Is it all just a big fucking construct? And why am I making these big plans for the future when Amy is tying up loose ends? I am really sad. But I also have so much left I want to do. And I need to allow myself a pause.

What I’m Into This Month

My dear friend Erin Jean Warde has a book club and this month we are reading Braiding Sweetgrass . As a bookseller I’ve handled this book many times. As soon as it comes in it goes out so I’ve never read it. I’m really excited to dive in this month.

My husband and I have been having stay home, eat dinner, movie nights the past few weeks. Late to the party I know but loved Knives Out and the recently released The Menu. It has felt cozy. I’d love to hear what movies you love right now.

Unspeakable by Meghan Daum, specifically The Joni Mitchell Problem. If you are a Joni fan you’ll know what I mean.

Knitting my first blanket. It is so meditative. Knitting a whole skein and then changing colors. I’ll post a photo next month.

My partner in tarot and workshops and Laurie Blackwell and I are planning our 2023 offerings this week. There will be an Eight Kinds of Love workshop in February and we are thinking on a Four Elements workshop this summer in addition to our solstice and equinox offerings. Stay tuned.

I had my first astrology reading ever with Natha Perkins a few weeks ago and it blew my mind. Learning more about astrology is on the docket for 2023.

So yeah, lots going on.

Thank you so much for reading this newsletter, subscribing and those of you who also pay for your subscription, I appreciate your support so much.

xo Hanna