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To recap, in 2020 I’m using these decks: The Sovereign Oracle, the mini Ceccoli Tarot, and the Animantras deck. I chose them because I wanted to play with mini decks this year. They give me a theme, a means to apply the theme, and a cute animal to act as the guide for the lesson. This whole spread sits on my desk where I can see it, work with the energies, and integrate them into my day.

Theme: Compost
How: Ace of Swords
Helper: Butterfly (be delicate)

In a fantastic fitting display of awesomeness, the final theme for 2020 is Compost. What a great way to end a year that started out with so much promise and then left us to scramble in finding new ways to connect to the world at large. Composting dead matter is an important occurrence in Portland. Gatherings would always have one question revolve around what could or could not be placed in the composter. Believe it or not but we can compost almost everything. It’s awesome. I am being asked this month to break ideas or items down into their components. To let go of whatever isn’t working and reshape it into something new for the next idea. I love that this is coming after a month of Focus, where I have spent so much time digging for completion. Now it’s time to celebrate those achievements (and accolades) and figure out what worked so I can continue on with my efforts.

How to do this is the Ace of Swords. I love the Aces, so full of potential and life. The Ace of Swords is that a-ha moment. The initial suggestion of an idea which has a lot to offer. For me, it comes in the form of a finished physical product, or the idea of a new book. When it comes to composting and breaking something down, I think of lists. Take that product and turn it into the steps for manifestation. What will I need? How long will it take to develop? So I guess while I’m planning for the new year, I should break my ideas down into manageable chunks.

Butterfly darts in to be the last helper of this year. Their message is be delicate and they are another Third Eye chakra member. Butterflies have always represented creativity to me. I love their endless patterns and designs when they flutter around in summertime. We even had a Butterfly and moth center nearby while I was growing up so I got to see more than just the usual Colorado creatures. For Kayti butterflies are just one part of the cycle of life. In her booklet, Kayti suggests that we need to remember that these delicate creatures are also highly resilient and that no matter what goes on in our lives we need to be delicate when we transition from one phase to another. So while I compost the remnants of 2020 into fertile soil for next year, I also need to be delicate with the memories of what I wanted to do with this year and what happened. Not everything can be composted and not everything from this year should be tossed out. I am a fire sign after all, I always have big plans tucked around my mind.

As a child, I had a few winter holiday joys. One of them was the chocolate advent calendars we received as gifts for the holidays. I found pleasure in being able to pop open the door and receiving a small gift during the big countdown to the holiday. Over time and as I grew older, I had forgotten about the calendars and the simple joy of counting down to the holiday. In 2012, Barbara Moore posted her idea for a Tarot Advent Calendar on the Llewellyn blog. Her idea was to sew pockets for cards in a five by five grid. Then she would randomly select one card a day to count down for Christmas/Yule. The inner child was hooked and wanted to incorporate this idea into her winter traditions.

Over the years, I had gathered fabrics and plastics and various tools to replicate one of my own. One problem with doing this is that I did not want to count down to Christmas. I planned to count down each day until the winter solstice, loosely defining the date as December 22nd. This way, I get to pull a single major arcana card each day as the light grows darker towards the shortest day of the year. Year after year past and I was still no closer to getting my calendar done. Then, something cool happened at the end of the holiday season in 2019. 

Kendra and I went into my local craft store, Craft Warehouse. While perusing the aisles for fabric, pens, washi, and other inspirational items, I found a tall, green wooden tree. Then the lightbulb came on. It was the PERFECT size for my solstice calendar. I bought it, along with 22 wooden discs, a small block of pine, and the seed of the dream grew. 

The pandemic hit, and everything changed. My travel plans got put on hold, and I’ve been homebound. When I broke out the Samhain decorations early this year, I discovered how much joy it brought to my mood. An unexpected light appeared in this strange year. With this month’s theme of Focus, I knew it was time to sit down and finally manifest this idea. I wanted to play. 

My ornaments are the 22 one-inch discs. Ours came without holes, so we used a drill press to make holes at the top. When I had all my disks together, I laid down the tree and started laying each disk on the tree. Your inner child will love this step. Make some hang off the branches, space them out and look for a pleasing design. It took me a day or two to come up with a nice layout. We marked each location for the eventual hook screws with a pencil.  

Then we moved onto the block base. Kendra and I decided to cut a groove into the wood to slide the tree in and out for storage. She used our table saw to cut the wood. The tree leans a small bit, so everything hanging on the tree shows well. The whole thing looks great, and it’s secure and stable. We also screwed in the hooks so each ornament would freely dangle.

The next step was to figure out what would be placed on the disks to denote each major arcana card. I wanted to use symbols instead of words, so I searched for cute tarot planner stickers. I ended up purchasing a set of stickers from LightPlansStudio on Etsy. I got their two-pack because you never know what happens when applying the stickers on the final product. After the stickers arrived, I added them to each of the wooden disks (a test run, if you will). Everything looked great, but then I decided I wanted white discs instead of plain wood color.

I got a bottle of Rust-Oleum’s Matte White paint. We set up a small paint station in the garage, and I sprayed each side of the disk. I had to do two coats because the wood was thirsty. Spray painting the discs took a whole weekend to do, set, and dry. When they were dry, I had to clean the discs up by sanding paint off their edges. I used an emery board since I didn’t have access to sandpaper. Please don’t use nail clippers as I did.  Sanding the sides will destroy them, and you will have to buy a new set.

Finally, we got to the fun part, reapplying the stickers. I removed each sticker and affixed it to each ornament. Then I used matte-finished Modge Podge (remember this stuff? I used to glue puzzles together and hang them in my room when I was young! Ah, to be a child of the 80s) to seal the stickers onto the wood and protect the images from damage. I recommend using a fresh bottle because the glue does go bad after a while — ask me how I know. 

To store your ornaments, you can use a small bag. Just dump the discs into it and shake them for shuffling. Because I had snowflake and winter fabrics already picked out (since 2012, remember), I decided to make a custom draw bag. My favorite pattern is this reversible dice bag by Think Craft Thoughts. The original pattern is too big, so we adjusted by making a smol one (15″ long by 8.5″ tall), giving enough space for my grabby hand to remove an ornament once a day.

Starting tomorrow, after I decorate our mantel with our solstice decorations, I’ll shake the bag and draw a disc. Then I’ll hang it on the tree at random. You can follow along here on the blog. I’m looking forward to sharing this journey with you all!

This was such a fun project. It fed the need to create new winter rituals and satisfy my inner child. I look forward to using this tree year after year. I hope it’s inspired you to do something for your practice. 

I’ve had to close the comments on my blog, so if you recreate this project or have other tarot winter traditions, please email me. I’d love to know how you’ve integrated tarot into your winter holiday traditions.

Announcing two events I’m participating in with the fantastic Jenna Matlin of Queen of Wands fame!

This Friday (November 6, 2020), we’ll be going live on Jenna’s Instagram channel. Listen in as we talk about animal symbolism. I’ll share some tips about how you can use them in your readings and a bit about my connections to the animal world. Through the event, we’ll be pulling cards from Jamie Sawyer’s Nature Portals.

Friday’s event is hype everyone up for next week’s Main Event. Throughout this year Jenna was hosting a Gallery Reading event where she and a lucky reader sit on zoom for a few hours to read up to 25 lucky guests! Next Thursday, November 19th at 7 pm Eastern, she and I will be reading for those lucky attendees. This is the last time she’s hosting these reading Galleries. So if you wanted to know what goes on, it’s time to sign up!

Secure YOUR LIMITED SEAT at next Thursday’s Gallery visit Jenna’s acuity page now!

To recap, in 2020 I’m using these decks: The Sovereign Oracle, the mini Ceccoli Tarot, and the Animantras deck. I chose them because I wanted to play with mini decks this year. They give me a theme, a means to apply the theme, and a cute animal to act as the guide for the lesson. This whole spread sits on my desk where I can see it, work with the energies, and integrate them into my day.

Theme: Focus
How: 3 of Wands
Helper: Horse (be reliable)

I adore this month’s theme: FOCUS! This is the month that kicks my ass into gear and makes me take charge of what I want to leave behind in 2020. I’ll be taking the time to look hard at what unfinished projects I have (on my desk, in my head, and on the various lists) and start knocking them off one by one. I want to cultivate more attention to what I enjoy doing and attempt to clear the clutter and distractions. 

How I’ll be doing this is the Three of Wands. In this tarot, we see a young woman sitting in a tree and she seems to be pondering something down in her lap. My first thought is that she is reading or writing dreams down in a notebook. I have plans. I had big plans this year but the pandemic put it all on hold. Instead, I can dream and focus my attention to what is in front of me, both literally and goal-wise, and where I want to go in the future. So, I will focus on those plans and start laying down the seeds to get from where I am now sitting in my house to sending those items and ideas out into the world in 2021 and beyond.

My helper on this journey is Horse whose message is be reliable. Horse belongs to the sacral chakra, which focuses on creativity and feelings of security. I’m deathly allergic to horses and I love them. There is a beauty and grace to them. They have been humanity’s friend for thousands of years, carrying us and our possessions to leading us to safe areas and water. Kayti says that horse is here to remind us that we need to be held accountable to ourselves as well as those who rely on us. While the continuing stay-at-homeness of this new world makes it really easy to slack off, I still need to be reliable to my partner, my friends, and all the creative projects and clients who are continuing to work with me. I promise to be reliable to them all this month.

To recap, in 2020 I’m using these decks: The Sovereign Oracle, the mini Ceccoli Tarot, and the Animantras deck. I chose them because I wanted to play with mini decks this year. They give me a theme, a means to apply the theme, and a cute animal to act as the guide for the lesson. This whole spread sits on my desk where I can see it, work with the energies, and integrate them into my day.

Theme: Sensuality
How: Queen of Wands
Helper: Peacock (be dazzling)

October’s theme is Sensuality. What a great theme for the month in which most of my favorite tastes arrive. Pumpkin spice chai, pumpkin pie, the scents of autumn, and fires burning from fireplaces. I’ll admit that Sensuality is an odd trait for me to explore. Many tie this notion in with sexuality and sex, and as I am asexual, it’s a bit harder to distinguish from something I really like or love. However, I do like the card’s “tactile approach” idea, so this month I will attempt to be more hands-on in my approaches to work and creativity. I will cultivate more fiber arts by creating a few more crochet cases, I will continue to sew some items, and to fix up so favorites. All my Samhain decorations have a various tactile feel to them, from various pumpkins made from different fabrics to the colors and smooth bits of wood statuary on my mantle.

The Queen of Wands is a perfect woman to guide me into how to accomplish the theme. She is no stranger to sensuality and being hands on. She is drama and flare and loves the lavish lifestyle. While I may not have a Queen’s budget for decoration or description, I do have imagination which can help me craft the notion of a sensual lifestyle.

My helper this month is Peacock. Another fantastic critter to have for October. Be dazzling is their message and peacocks love to display their colors. Peacock belongs to the Third Eye chakra and he reminds me that it’s okay to show off every now and then. So, with his message and the power of the Queen of Wands, I will show off my love for the witching season in my decorations, in my clothing, and in the music I love to play throughout this month. Need a fun 8-hour plus playlist that includes songs from through the ages and across genres? Give my “Samhain Songs” playlist on Spotify a try! It’ll delight anyone’s haunts.