This year has left a lot of us confused, hurt, and dazed. Naturally, a lot of complex emotions have bubbled up to the surface as we try to deal with major issues in our society, and we may not always be prepared to deal with them. The hardest part is that while we do need to deal with these emotions, it’s hard to take the time to do so when there are so many important things to do as well. So how do we balance this? How do we make sure that we are tending to our emotional side without checking out or hanging all our hopes on things magically changing when the year is no longer 2020? Is the work really almost over?

Community Reading

The Six of Swords has graced our reading, indicating a time of transition and a need for realignment. Some of us may feel our journey is nearly over, but it is important that we still move forward and seize the opportunities we find to create important change. It has been a long period of difficulty, and while it is tempting to see the end of the year as a beacon of guaranteed change (I know I’m guilty of saying “I can’t wait until this year is over” as if the date change will make everything bad just stop), the cards caution us against feeling that the journey is really over. The calendar changing dates does not automatically provide all of us with the justice, peace, and normalcy that we seek. Many of us are still going to have to keep moving forward for that change. And to be blunt, for those of us with more privilege than others, it is easier to pretend that things can just be returned to normal with a New Year’s celebration and what we view as a clean slate. For others of us, we are nowhere close to being done with the necessary changes that need to be made; there is still work to do and some of us could be at risk of checking out.

What echoes this message is the next card, the Two of Wands. This card asks us to make a choice. Do we sit back and stall, or do we make the choice to walk forward out of our comfort zone and acknowledge that we have more to do? This card is that little spark within us that tells us that we can still do better, and we can still want more for each other. It is a time to follow up on our hopes for our society with action instead of falling into complacency.

The final card, the King of Cups, brings us some encouragement on this journey because the cards do acknowledge that we cannot sustain our efforts if we are tired and burnt out. This King reminds us that our emotions are not our enemy and that they are actually a great strength that we can rely on. Emotions can also be the path to self-discovery and a powerful learning tool, and it is wise to form a good relationship with our innermost self. We are encouraged to move forward as our truest selves with the most honest intentions, and to walk this journey exactly as we are, and with an openness and vulnerability that allows us to be accepting towards growth and change. As we walk ahead, it is important to keep our compassion and emotional awareness of ourselves and others. If you make a mistake, it is time to meet that mistake with understanding. It is time to heal emotional wounds that may make us defensive or closed off. Our emotional selves do not need to be repressed; they need to be understood and tended to. So as much as the other cards want you to stay at the ready for more change, they also want you to keep tending to yourself along the way.

These cards are not meant to worry you or to make you feel disheartened. It is my hope that with this new year, we still maintain our focus on the important matters and all the events that the sorrows of this year brought our attention to, and that we choose to keep holding our society accountable. It’s been a long year, I know. It is important to recognize that for marginalized groups, it has been far longer, and we cannot afford to let our efforts stall. There is a power among those that have heart and integrity, and that is what the cards are trying to reach within us.

Healing Exercise

Grab your journal and ask yourself some questions. Remember that your journal is an open and safe space where you can be truly honest with yourself. How have you been coping with the stress that this year has brought? How are you preparing to keep the momentum of change going? Is there any self-care that you need to do before you can do that? Are you remaining emotionally open to not just yourself, but to others? How could you be tending to your emotional side a little better?

Take your time and keep these questions as your point of reflection for the month. The task at hand is to be emotionally honest with yourself as we near the end of this year. Feel free to revisit these questions as you see fit, so you can track how your emotional well-being is going.

Jae Melland is a tarot and rune reader at Lotus of the Moon in Richland. You can schedule readings with Jae by emailing her at jae.melland@gmail.com. Jae also has walk-in hours at Lotus of the Moon Fridays and Saturdays noon–3 p.m.