This month opens with a full moon, sometimes called the Snow Moon, as well as the festival called Brigid’s Day or Imbolc. I wouldn’t say “snow moon” calls forth much promise of spring; but Brigid and Imbolc do, assuring us that if we continue to hold on through the cold, the light will return to coax spring back out to play.
We do need some reassuring this time of year, and this year in particular. But even if you are shivering under a sweater, two blankets, and a cat or shoveling the car out of the driveway, the truth is that spring is closer now than it might seem.
Full moon is exciting. Full moon turns up to the party with her arms loaded, bringing all sorts of things to keep the engagement level high. She dumps the bags on the counter and flounces off to mingle, and so what if the first thing you pull out of the heap is some weird, purple, gluten free “chip” product that also has the dubious benefit of being “salt free!”
Keep digging. The virtuous stuff obviously got thrown in the buggy after too much bad, excellent, tasty snack food was gleefully selected first. There are treats to be had if you’ll be patient and put in the effort.
Full moon reveals a path ahead, but with soft edges. Can you see the road? Yes! Can you see the roots, rocks, and uneven ground on which you might trip? No, or at least, not well. Can you make out with detail what the moon is showing? No, not until you get right up to it and take it in your hand. That requires a little bravery, and some trust. You might like what the full moon brings, or you might not, but you can’t say she didn’t lay it all out there for us to examine, or discard, as we chose.
This Snow Moon’s energy will influence us most powerfully over the next week, then lessen as she wanes.
The cards for this energy forecast are:
- Ace of Swords, Reversed
- The World
- The Tower, Reversed
- Temperance, Reversed
- Knight of Wands
Oh, super! Three cards in the spread are reversed, meaning they are unable to do their jobs. But they’re here, getting in everybody’s way and being more rocks in the stream that we have to paddle around.
Out of a five card spread, three big rocks to paddle around are A LOT OF ROCKS.
Our reversed cards obstruct us potentially in these ways – trouble communicating, delays in major, needed transitions, and impatience with the whole situation. That Ace of Swords, reversed, is particularly unhappy because it indicates that what we really need is a new way to get the point across – but that’s not happening, so now it’s another hassle.
The Tower is always a problem so I almost dismiss it. In a time when so many societal towers are falling, can we really fret over one that teeters but does not topple? It’ll come down eventually. Just not in the next two weeks.
And poor Temperance, our beautiful card of faith, does cause some real grief with her energy shut off. Faith gets us through when things are hard; when she shows up in reverse, our faith is sorely tried. Right now, with Imbolc urging us to believe in the return of long, sunnier days and Temperance reversed, we might have more trouble staying hopeful than usual.
Yes, that’s demoralizing, I agree. But take heart, because the World card is upright, as is his courageous friend, Knight of Wands.
This makes me think of the closing minutes of the fourth quarter of a football playoff, when everything (The World) is on the line but time is so short that the players will need all their skill, and the coaches must dig deep into their Hail Mary drives and miraculous clock management.
It’s not over until it is over, and there is always that one great player stalking up and down the bench, waving his arms and exhorting his teammates not to give up. He knows they are exhausted. He knows, with the two minute warning on game clock, that the scalding hot showers in the locker room and then silence –finally, blessed quiet– on the plane home are now powerfully seductive to these aching warriors.
But this guy, our Knight of Wands, also believes that passion can overcome physical limitations. He’s seen it. He’s done it himself. He’s here to remind everybody to leave it all out on the field, win or lose.
What are the next two weeks bringing your focus to, that feels like it means the world? If you are limited in your ability to communicate it to others, and you are delayed and worried that it might never happen – can you hang in there, and find strength within yourself to not quit?
This isn’t a jolly reading, or one that gives us a big thumbs-up. But it is good to know what is ahead, and to be reminded that a shadowed path is still a path, and we need to stay on it if we hope to keep going forward. Like spring, it is waiting for us.