4th: Super Full Cold Moon in Gemini
17th-23rd: Saturnalia
19th: New Moon in Sagittarius
21st: Yule, Winter Solstice
24th: Christmas Eve
25th: Christmas
31st: New Year’s Eve
What does it mean to enter December in the Hermit Year? A year of careful individual gestation that prepares us for greater communal immersion in the year ahead, more than we have ever known. A year in which we’ve really come to know ourselves–in the shedding, the embracing, the blossoming, the ways in which hardship and obstacles have caused our roots to grow in creative pathways that make us uniquely beautiful and resilient in our own ways. As the season shifts, we are invited to slow down, to seek crevices of warmth, comfort and fuel that will enable us to keep going. We are invited to seek fire and light. As the holidays bring us together, we are encouraged to bond, seek cheer, festivities, and mirth where we can. Like a fire, the memories of the experience will continue to warm our souls. For togetherness, joy and health are the true gifts of life. In solace, we can meet our bodies’ desire for rest with tenderness and compassion . For the snow is a great blanket that says come, you are weary and have done much this year. It pulls us to the pregnant pause that says take a moment and appreciate all you have done for yourself and others. Take a moment to marvel at your own beauty, your unique light, and let that be your lantern in the night as you step into the path that forms ahead.
On December 4th, we can use the energy of the Super Full Cold Moon in Gemini to know ourselves better through inquiry, through our yeses and nos, our light and shadow, our polarities and the grays between. From December 17th-23rd, the spirit of Saturnalia comes into play, a time of revelry and “joyful role reversals” where societal roles can be placed aside and all can participate equally in the pleasures of life. This is the time to dance like no one is watching, to go after what we really want but haven’t allowed because of social rules and expectations. On December 19th we undergo the New Moon in Sagittarius. Per Moon Omens, “this is a time to dare to take a leap of faith without having all the details figured out, a time to take new risks, a time to pursue what lights us up without having to second guess ourselves.” Like the Hermit, we can find joy in a journey that is more luminous than the destination. Two days later Yule ushers us into the Winter Solstice. Per Friends of the Forest, this is a time of stillness and rebirth. Even the longest night of the year promises the return of light. Christmas Eve and Christmas soon follow, which is celebrated with feasts and gift giving. Other holidays such as Hanukkah and Kwanzaa also take place around this time of year. Finally, at the end of the month, we say our goodbyes to the old year so we may welcome the new. We can use this time to reflect on what we’d like to leave behind, what we hold gratitude for, what we’d like to bring in, and what we’ll continue to develop in the year ahead.
Below, we’ll use an original spread called “Snowflake,” to explore the glittering facets of the self.
In what ways am I beautiful and unique? Justice
Though each of us express it differently, the readers of this forecast are unique in that we each embody a strong sense of Justice. Rather than accepting the status quo, we are guided by a higher moral order that trumps the governmental justice system. We will not stand for injustice, and we will speak for what is right. We strive to uphold Justice through our words and our actions. We value respect, honor and truth, and seek to live with integrity. To do unto others as we would do unto ourselves. We are open and do not hide magic tricks up our sleeve–generally what people see is what they get. When something is unfair or unjust, we can see it clearly. We can discern and cut away falsities that stand in the way of fairness and truth. Our intuition and strong code of ethics keeps us grounded even when such methods as doublethink, manipulation and repetition are employed against us. Nothing can shake our commitment to and understanding of what is right.
What struggles must I work through that are unique to me? The Lovers
Our unique struggles center around the message of the Lovers. We stand at a crossroads where we get to decide how to see others and ourselves. Will we meet ourselves and others through the lens of optimism or cynicism, through the lens of hope or despair? Will we choose to see ourselves and others as beautiful, or ugly? Will we look with the eyes of love or hate? Which do we think we (and others) will best blossom under? What we direct our energy towards is what we and others will become. The mirror we choose can be beautifully framed and ornate, or distorted like a funhouse mirror. Spirit is working now to pierce our hearts with the arrow of love, to choose the option where we will see things beautifully. It is ultimately for us to decide which road to follow.
What are my unique gifts and talents? Three of Swords
Our unique gifts and talents come through the ability to grow through pain and loss. We allow these experiences to pierce through to the heart of things, to bring us to a greater understanding of ourselves, the other, and the human spirit. This allows us to see where others are hurting, to meet them in their more vulnerable state, to see into their blind spots and where they might need help. In this reading, the sword is envisioned as a needle, and us as a sewer of the resourceful self. We know where we are hurting, what needs to be cut away and what can be sewn back together. Again and again, we take risks pursuing relationships where we might get hurt, but we do it because of the rewards of finding fulfilling dynamics, and because we know how to put ourselves back together again. We are wabi sabi, we are mended beings, the cracks of misuse filled with the gold of learned experience. The more we are cracked open, the more beautiful, luminous, kind, authentic, and loving we become.
What ways do I need care? Six of Swords
As we go through painful experiences, in situations where we break out of old traumatic patterns, we must tend to the soft parts of the soul. Instead of hardening, we need to tend to the beautiful, vulnerable, thriving parts of us that are at their most real and authentic. To quote the author Iain Thomas: “Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let the pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place.” When the mind feels like harsh terrain, when it tries to hold us back and keep us small, we can challenge that mentality and choose to meet ourselves with the compassion, softness, and understanding that we may have previously been denied. We can show ourselves another way. This is the way forward, to healing and neuroplasticity, to reclaiming an identity that doesn’t rely on trauma to define itself. This is a learning process that takes time, so we’ll want to be patient as we come to understand old habits and how to navigate our way out of them, into something beautiful and new.
What influences and opportunities will bring out the best in me? Page of Swords
The influence and opportunities that bring out the best in us will speak to our youthful energy. This is going to be something new and exciting that we can have fun with and learn on the job. It’s a new endeavor, an internship, an entry level position, a volunteer opportunity, a new project or activity that will make us feel like we’re getting our foot in the door, like we’re finally on a path that fills us with intellectual curiosity. This month we’re encouraged to go for that thing we’ve always wanted to try but haven’t before because it felt awkward, or we didn’t know how to get into, or didn’t think that we could until now. It will be something low pressure without too many responsibilities, but we'll be able to learn and observe a lot while we’re building up our skillset. It’s going to be something we’ll be proud of ourselves for trying. Finally, Spirit has a message: we have plenty of time to pursue this thing, but we do have to start somewhere.
What are my beautiful outcomes? Eight of Pentacles
Our beautiful outcomes include a flourishing, thriving garden that provides fruits from the seeds we plant in December in as soon as eight months time. All creation expands from our center, in all directions. We become generative, with a deep understanding of the ebb and flow of rest and productivity, such that we are able to maintain a flow state in the endeavor we have chosen under the spirit of the Page of Swords. We find ourselves immersed in a state of prodigious artistry that aligns with our authentic self, imbued with the message of Justice. Under the influence of the Lovers, we choose to look at ourselves and our work with the eyes of love, and engage in beautiful ways. We pour our three-of-swords hearts into our work, our willingness to take risks and be vulnerable so we may achieve authentic and heartful connection. We meet the trauma from the six of swords with compassion and say this is not all we are–we are makers, we are creators, we are doers. The Page of Swords helps us realize we have a youthful spirit that is eager to try new things and learn. All of the cards above translate into a magnificent experience that brings us into our fullest expression, growing out from December into the months ahead.