Cult of Tarot Forum

Sacred Days of Yule

This spread will help you to learn to apply the tarot to enjoy and enrich your passage through the twelve festive days from December 20th to 31st. The meaning of each card in the spread reflects the energy of the festivity associated with each of the twelve days.
Deck: Kat Black Touchstone Tarot

1. Mother Night of Dreams: - Dec 20th
This card reminds us to look for a particular message in our dreams tonight. The ancients believed that our dreams on this night foretold some of the important events in the coming year.

Queen of Cups.In this deck: a woman in blue holds a chalice-shaped golden cup. On the table, a peeled orange, grapes, some other fruit, and a jug. Behind her, a painting of mountains.

This card has been coming up a lot in my readings lately, and I'm not sure why. I'm not really all about this nurturing emotional energy. I think the queen is supposed to be connected to emotions but not ruled by them, and that is so not me. Is that the lesson?


2. Yule - Winter Solstice: - Dec 21st
This card shows us how best to connect to the Light within and without - it symbolizes the Birth of the Sun.

3. The Time of Beth: - Dec 22nd
This card points to the inner blocks and resistance that is holding us back from following our dreams.



4. Hopi Time of Renewal - Dec 23rd
This card indicates the best way for us to seek purification and renewal, and to build tolerance for others.

Knight of Cups. Reading below.

5. Feast of Mothers, Christmas Eve: - Dec 24th
This card shows how we can connect with the spirits of our ancestors for communion and to ask for wisdom and guidance. It is also a time for Christians to reflect on the birth of Christ.

Legend Arthurian Tarot: 7 Swords: the Sword in the Stone

6. Festival of Life, Christmas: - Dec 25th
This card shows us how to connect directly with Spirit.

Two Cups: Tristram and Iseult. Love, marriage, pleasure and comfort.

7. Yuletide, Kwanzaa: - Dec 26th
This card shows us how to express nurturance, to attend to our families and to express the protective energy within us towards others.
Three of swords: Palomides weeps at the loss of Isold.

8. Birth of Freyja: - Dec 27th
This card points to issues of love, luck, artistic and creative expression and female wisdom.

Page of Cups - the salmon

9. Feast of Alcyone: - Dec 28th
This card gives us a personal inner message - one that speaks directly to our heart and spirit.

10. Day of Nymphs - Dec 29th
This card encourages us to connect to our playful side, our inner child and how best to cultivate this aspect of ourselves.

11. Day of Rest: - Dec 30th
This card shows us how to walk our path in a relaxed and confident way....with the ability to deal with stressful situations in a philosophical, detached way.

12. New Year's Eve, Hogmanay - Dec 31st
This card shows us how to release the old and let in the new. This relates to both our external lives and our inner being.

archimedes wrote: ↑20 Dec 2019, 02:54

1. Mother Night of Dreams: - Dec 20th
This card reminds us to look for a particular message in our dreams tonight. The ancients believed that our dreams on this night foretold some of the important events in the coming year.

Queen of Cups.In this deck: a woman in blue holds a chalice-shaped golden cup. On the table, a peeled orange, grapes, some other fruit, and a jug. Behind her, a painting of mountains.

This card has been coming up a lot in my readings lately, and I'm not sure why. I'm not really all about this nurturing emotional energy. I think the queen is supposed to be connected to emotions but not ruled by them, and that is so not me. Is that the lesson?

If you can't relate to the Queen of Cups, are you certain this is not referring to someone else who may play an important part in your life this year ? Someone who has the nurturing emotional energy on which you may rely on ?

Diana wrote: ↑20 Dec 2019, 08:57

archimedes wrote: ↑20 Dec 2019, 02:54

1. Mother Night of Dreams: - Dec 20th
This card reminds us to look for a particular message in our dreams tonight. The ancients believed that our dreams on this night foretold some of the important events in the coming year.

Queen of Cups.In this deck: a woman in blue holds a chalice-shaped golden cup. On the table, a peeled orange, grapes, some other fruit, and a jug. Behind her, a painting of mountains.

This card has been coming up a lot in my readings lately, and I'm not sure why. I'm not really all about this nurturing emotional energy. I think the queen is supposed to be connected to emotions but not ruled by them, and that is so not me. Is that the lesson?

If you can't relate to the Queen of Cups, are you certain this is not referring to someone else who may play an important part in your life this year ? Someone who has the nurturing emotional energy on which you may rely on ?

Hmm that's a good point. I tend to over-identify with characters in cards - I really see myself as that person. Maybe I should try reading with a more abstract deck for a while, to get a bit of perspective and distance. Decenter the ego.

I do know someone who has that energy, and I've certainly been relying on them. Two, actually, thinking about two different parts of my life. I forgot my dreams as soon as I woke, and that's probably something of a lesson in itself. I tend to blunder along; I can be a bit blind to what is going on in other people's lives. I don't cope with life all that well in general - I permanently feel slightly overwhelmed - and while I like to think that I'm a helpful person, I don't often feel like I'm in the position to support others. One of these people in my life is, I think, in need of a boost and so maybe this is an invitation to look for what they are needing right now.

I dunno. But I get the funny feeling that it's someone you haven't met yet. That this encounter will take place during the year. Maybe in Spring but not later than Summer.

archimedes wrote: ↑20 Dec 2019, 20:49 I tend to blunder along; I can be a bit blind to what is going on in other people's lives. I don't cope with life all that well in general - I permanently feel slightly overwhelmed - and while I like to think that I'm a helpful person, I don't often feel like I'm in the position to support others. One of these people in my life is, I think, in need of a boost and so maybe this is an invitation to look for what they are needing right now.

Could she be saying that you need to be more nurturing to yourself? A bit kinder. more forgiving and understanding? And/or (probably "and") maybe seek out some new ways to nurture yourself? Even just something like taking a regular evening walk?

Diana wrote: ↑20 Dec 2019, 20:55 I dunno. But I get the funny feeling that it's someone you haven't met yet. That this encounter will take place during the year. Maybe in Spring but not later than Summer.

Hmm. Spring for you, Autumn for me. I go to a big medieval festival in Autumn. Maybe there.

Joan Marie wrote: ↑21 Dec 2019, 13:18 Could she be saying that you need to be more nurturing to yourself? A bit kinder. more forgiving and understanding? And/or (probably "and") maybe seek out some new ways to nurture yourself? Even just something like taking a regular evening walk?

Perhaps so. It's something I'm working on - currently watching a lot of lovely videos by a Korean vlogger who does domestic tasks and cooks and shares her thoughts about life. Very gentle and calming.

archimedes wrote: ↑22 Dec 2019, 09:41
Hmm. Spring for you, Autumn for me. I go to a big medieval festival in Autumn. Maybe there.

Then Autumn if this card represents that for you. Your reading, your cards obviously.

This Sacred Day does talk of future events. That's in the description.

2. Yule - Winter Solstice: - Dec 21st
This card shows us how best to connect to the Light within and without - it symbolizes the Birth of the Sun.

Today's card: The Empress. Creative abundance.

Searching for any insights related to the Touchstone's Empress, I came across a blog with the quote: " You have to find what sparks a light in you so that you in your own way can illuminate the world.― Oprah Winfrey" - how serendipitous. I used to watch Oprah all the time when I was a young mother.

I'm feeling the Empress in quite a literal way. I feel a powerful urge to grow things, to create some small green bastion of hope against this endless drought.

Diana wrote: ↑22 Dec 2019, 09:55 Then Autumn if this card represents that for you. Your reading, your cards obviously.
This Sacred Day does talk of future events. That's in the description.

oh yes. I thought Autumn because I'm on the other side of the world so my seasons are reversed to yours. Red grapes here are in season from December to May, maybe that's a clue? Spring is a long time away; 'later than Summer' being by the very end of the year. But certainly it could be spring/summer.

archimedes wrote: ↑22 Dec 2019, 10:15

oh yes. I thought Autumn because I'm on the other side of the world so my seasons are reversed to yours. Red grapes here are in season from December to May, maybe that's a clue? Spring is a long time away; 'later than Summer' being by the very end of the year. But certainly it could be spring/summer.

No, it's not so much to do with the grapes. It's that the Queen of Cups I usually associate with spring. But it's more important how you relate to this card and your intuition. Mine was more of a personal insight and it makes sense to me.

I was thinking of the month of May/June - July at the latest.

3. The Time of Beth: - Dec 22nd
This card points to the inner blocks and resistance that is holding us back from following our dreams.

THE HAPPY SQUIRREL. Seriously.

I'm laughing but also: ' Negative energy veiled in a fuzzy suit.' according to askthecards -dot-info.

I'd normally remove the Happy Squirrel. So what does it showing u say about what is holding me back? The fact that I've grabbed the deck for a hurried reading, not prepared, and so drawn this awkward card is pretty typical of how I go about my life. Rushed, unread, procrastinating, and unable to really be in the moment.

The 'negative energy in a fuzzy suit' - the warning that allt hat is cute and fluffy isn't necessarily benign - is one worth taking on board. The Aussie equivalent would probably be the Tassie Devil, though most of our cute animals also have nasty claws. The claws on the male Platypus can inject you with a really nasty, agonizing nerve toxin that they don't have a treatment for. So yeah. Cute but deadly. What is it that I'm finding cute, or amusing, that is ultimately unhelpful?

I'm starting to catch up, and get my head more in a calm holiday space, so I'll also try to catch up on the readings today.

Reading 4 - the Hopi time of renewal. A lot of Northern Hemisphere traditions don't sit all that well with me, living as I do in the Southern hemisphere. I'd like this to be more of a time of retreat; often this was the time that we'd move interstate, and there's always travel to family. But with the sun beating down its early summer heat, it feels like a good time to seek the cool and quiet.

Today's card: Knight of Cups.
Cups seem to be a Thing for me lately. This chap looks like a cousin of Kylo Ren. I'm sensing a similar tendency to petulant self-pity. I'm finding this deck a bit challenging - a knight without a horse... There's a sense of restraint here, and I'm thinking that the change I seek is going to come slowly. I need patience.

archimedes wrote: ↑24 Dec 2019, 06:30 A lot of Northern Hemisphere traditions don't sit all that well with me, living as I do in the Southern hemisphere.

I would love at some point to develop a southern hemisphere version of these 4 exercises.

archimedes wrote: ↑24 Dec 2019, 06:30
Cups seem to be a Thing for me lately. This chap looks like a cousin of Kylo Ren. I'm sensing a similar tendency to petulant self-pity. I'm finding this deck a bit challenging - a knight without a horse... There's a sense of restraint here, and I'm thinking that the change I seek is going to come slowly. I need patience.

A Knight without a Horse ? Did the Horse he lost have a Name ? Or did he set him free ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEHBTjIYejE


Reminds me of that little poem I used to love so much as a kid.

For the want of a nail the shoe was lost,
For the want of a shoe the horse was lost,
For the want of a horse the rider was lost,
For the want of a rider the battle was lost,
For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail.

There are always new kingdoms to conquer. It's never the last. But it's better not to forget the nail.

Diana wrote: ↑24 Dec 2019, 09:49 There are always new kingdoms to conquer. It's never the last. But it's better not to forget the nail.

This reminds me of Chris Hadfield's comment: "always sweat the small stuff". This means, not so much worrying about the inconsequential, but paying attention to and dealing with the small things. The stitch in time. The horseshoe-nail.

archimedes wrote: ↑25 Dec 2019, 09:37
This reminds me of Chris Hadfield's comment: "always sweat the small stuff". This means, not so much worrying about the inconsequential, but paying attention to and dealing with the small things. The stitch in time. The horseshoe-nail.

But sometimes we can sweat about small things that can be inconsequential. We mistake them for nails. But Hadfield (I just looked him up) had to know the difference - whole space missions depended on that. I assume it requires the concentration of the Magician. When we're not concentrated, we overlook and even ignore things.

How to discern what is important and what isn't ? Our emotions and fears and conditioning often come to blur the picture, like mist or fog. So we focus on what we see because we can't distinguish the other forms. We don't even know some of them are there.

I really think this is the Magician's job initially. This concentration I mean. Maybe we should wake every morning and take some time with the Magician before getting up for the day. So as to start out concentrated. Even if it's just for a couple of minutes. When I meditate, and I do this dozens of times a day, most of my meditations are less than three minutes duration, sometimes just 10 seconds. But they keep one focused on the essential. The Tarot often comes up in my meditations.

Diana wrote: ↑25 Dec 2019, 10:47 I assume it requires the concentration of the Magician. When we're not concentrated, we overlook and even ignore things.
.... Maybe we should wake every morning and take some time with the Magician before getting up for the day. So as to start out concentrated. Even if it's just for a couple of minutes.

That's a really interesting perspective on the Magician. I've always liked the energy of that card; those object before him and the gesture - to me the Magician stands in a liminal space much as the Hanged Man does - between the worlds. And yes, his mastery extends to the small details. The wise know what matters and what can be safely disregarded - deeply internalized knowledge and mastery of one's craft.

I shall start trying short meditations. I've always found attempting long meditation frustration, but a few moments to step back and focus sounds like a very good practice. Stop all the input, stop the self-talk loop, and just be.

Feast of Mother - connecting with the ancestors: Seven Swords, Sword in the Stone (legend Arthurian). New direction, inspiration, ambition and enthusiasm.

What an interesting card. This isn't Arthur's sword in the anvil in the Stone, but Galahad attempting to draw Balin's sword from the floating stone. This drawing of the sword appears at Pentecost, and marks the beginning of the Grail quest. This card symbolizes a new endeavor.

I'm not sure what to make of this (again) in terms of my own life. I spent quite a bit of time some years ago immersed in finding my roots, listening to a lot of celtic music, reading folklore and investigating the sayings and words that I picked up from my mother. I participate in reenactment now, too.

Thinking about the rock in the river, the figure on the card, while not in any way a bodhisattva, reminds me a little of that Buddhist idea of having one foot in the waters of life and one foot in heaven, but perhaps here it's solid earth and water.
http://www.maryjones.us/jce/swordstone.html comments that "First, it is made sure in the text that Galahad's appearance means the end of the enchantments and wonders of Britain--and thus the end of Arthur's reign. The sword in the stone motif then acts as bookends for Arthur's career.

Festival of Life, Christmas: - Dec 25th
This card shows us how to connect directly with Spirit.

Legend Arthurian: Two of Cups - Tristran and Isold/Iseult.

"Ni vous sans moi, ni moi sans vous." - "Neither you without me, nor me without you."

I'm no scholar of early literature, though I've read a bit of it, and I understand the notion of varied literary traditions and sources - particularly those arising out of parallel oral traditions - gradually becoming crystallized into established, written versions. In early versions - the 'common branch', Wikipedia tells me, Tristran and Isold experience great suffering, showing how far their love has strayed from courtly norms. We are embedded in our society's moral codes and dare not transgress. The consequences of transgression are conveyed through story and song. These are the rules that preserve social order.

I'm not sure what the message is here with regard to Spirit. Is it suggesting that we need to be willing to break these bonds to free our spirits, or that we must sacrifice - love if need be - to be part of the collective spirit that we belong to?

7. Yuletide, Kwanzaa: - Dec 26th
This card shows us how to express nurturance, to attend to our families and to express the protective energy within us towards others.
Three of swords: Palomides weeps at the loss of Isold.

I have mixed feelings about the Legend Arthurian. The watercolours are delicate and haven't reproduced as well as they might - very blue. I never really connect with the tales of this period - I should stick with the Classical themes.

An odd card to be about families and nurturance, but perhaps about the need to support others in their emotional needs (whether their problems are of their own making or not). I'm reminded of the Joy Division song, 'Love will tear us apart' - "when routine bites hard and ambitions are low" - it's love disappointed that drives people apart - misunderstood intentions, lack of attention not through choice but the pressures of life; when we feel neglected, when we are pulled in different directions. It's the love itself that feels the hurt and anger.

In the story Tristran, Palomides competes for Isold's hand and loses to Tristran. He's weeping for unrequited love. Tristran spares him and he is forbidden from bearing arms for a year. I think there's a message there about going through a period of stepping back and rethinking priorities, and also of forgiveness. Its not forgiveness without conditions, though.

Palomides is weeping by a fountain. I'm sure there's some symbolism there I'm not quite getting.

8. Birth of Freyja: - Dec 27th
This card points to issues of love, luck, artistic and creative expression and female wisdom.

Page of Cups - the salmon: "an imaginative, reflective person. A comforting, inspiring friend who is generous with ideas..." - I feel this card connects with the Queen of Cups I had earlier.

Cups again.

The Salmon is such an important animal in that Anglo/Celtic tradition, and this one is surrounded by celtic spiral art to highlight this connection. I think this might be the Salmon of Llyn Llyw, who knew where the child Mabon was and told Arthur's men, even giving them a ride to where he was being held.