Releasing Winter

Welcome to March’s New Moon in Pisces. On March 20th we will welcome Spring at the Vernal Equinox. We shift from Pisces and The Moon, into Aries and The Emperor.

The work we do in Winter is to rest and digest. The soil of our spiritual gardens requires this time to compost. What appears dormant is actually in preparation for the explosion of creativity and growth that begins in Spring.

When asked, “what are we releasing?” in this final week of Winter and in preparation for the Equinox, the cards that came forward are the 5 of Pentacles and The Hermit.

The fives of the Tarot are always in support of our contraction times. In preparation for and in reaction to great expansion, we honor contraction.

In this card, we see two characters that have been afflicted with both poverty and physical pain. Their clothes are inadequate for the snow, one carries a crutch and the other is bandaged.

They have each other, but their hardship has been their bond. These pilgrims have become so accustomed to struggle and strife, they have forgotten how to receive.

Above them, five pentacles shine light from a stained-glass window of a church; however, the figures do not see the light or the church. Without a door, the figures appear to be locked out.

At its most painfully acute, this card can reflect the feeling that we have been abandoned by God.

The five of the Major Arcana is The Hierophant. It is also the numerological card of 2021.

A hierophant is defined as, “A person who interprets sacred mysteries.” It is the first card in the Major Arcana to depict more than one figure.

In it, two figures make themselves supplicant to a purported leader, a keeper of sacred orthodox knowledge. Alister Crowley saw this card as our initiation to unity with the universe.

The five points in The Hierophant are the head, the fingers, the staff, and the two figures’ heads. These points are arranged in the same way as the five pentacles in the church window.

The original message of The Hierophant suggests that through structure and study, we can become inducted into Spirit.

Releasing the 5 of Pentacle this week is a microcosm of the work we as a collective are called to do in 2021 – reforming how we conceive of our initiation to unity with the universe.

This COVID winter has been legitimately difficult for so many of us. The physical poverty and ill health that characterize the 5 of Pentacles are recognizable to so many millions. Isolation born of necessity has left so many individuals feeling locked out of our old sanctuaries.

For those who have been living with family or a pod, it may feel that only this hardship now characterizes those bonds. We can feel where our avenues to Spirit are contracted