This spread is a bit unorthodox, but then, so is the Aquarian energy it pays homage to. Astronomers, astrologers, and historians alike debate whether the visionary Age of Aquarius has already begun or is still on the horizon. But Aquarius season certainly happens annually, and in the Northern hemisphere it does so right in the dead of winter, just a few weeks after the new year.This period has potential for innovative thinking and electric ideas, but for many of us it’s often difficult to plug into that current when one is also battling winter blues, post-holiday blahs, and chilly, dark days.
How perfect that the tarot card most associated with Aquarius is the Star, for the Star is all about glowing in the dark. And like the figure of Aquarius, in Pamela Colman Smith’s iconic rendering of this card, the Star is also an airy water-bearer bestowing the terrestrial sphere with her flowing hope. The Star’s message is about being a source of light and generosity – even during the darkest hour or the most solitary night of the soul.
She also teaches us to be at peace with duality and to practice the “third way” of being. Like the Magician, the Star balances opposites. Unlike the Magician, both of her hands point down and inward as she gives her liquid gifts equally to the land and the sea. Which needs it more? Hard to say, and she doesn’t really care anyway. She knows she can’t control the outcome; the Star is just here to share her individuality and her creativity as steadily as she can, simple as that. And so it is for us all.
This spread is intended to help you stir up your own Aquarian Star energy, and better trust yourself as you embark further down your own shimmering path through the darkness. It traces the starry pattern of the pentagram – the occultist’s symbol of equilibrium and integration of all the elements.
Please begin by placing the Star card in the centre. Meditate on this card for at least five minutes, and write down whatever communiqués she may have for you.
Proceed by selecting the following cards, placing them in the order you see above, while asking the following questions:
- Fire: How can I best keep myself fueled and inspired?
- Air: How can my thinking be more inventive and clear?
- Water: How can I dissolve what is keeping me from shining my brightest?
- Earth: How can I be more creatively abundant?
- Spirit: How can I most effectively share my gifts so that they might enlighten and elevate others?
May you know your own radiance, and may you use it to replenish this world.
Pam Grossman is a writer, curator, and teacher of magical practice and history. She is the host of The Witch Wave podcast and the author of Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power (Gallery Books / Simon & Schuster) and What Is a Witch (Tin Can Forest Press).