Welcoming Back the Light with the Tarot

I hope everyone is having a happy Yule-Tide season! In all of the hustle and bustle this time of the year brings, sometimes it can be quite a challenge to find the time to sit and reflect on the returning of the light and what it means to our lives. I know this is definitely often the case for myself, so as I sat down to write this article, I asked myself what could I offer of value to anyone happening by to read this that might help them attune to the turning of the wheel and welcome back the sun in a concrete, yet symbolic way?

I found my answer in the tarot, which is my best loved tool. Often we go to the tarot to reflect on the self or some situation affecting us, to gain some sort of useful information to help us navigate our lives. That’s what it is designed to do after all, but it is also possible to harness the symbolic language of the tarot and use it as an outward expression of what we hope to create for ourselves. We can use it as a magical token in spell work, helping to draw some thing or attribute to ourselves or as an affirmation of what we are cultivating in our lives.

Yule speaks to me of the promise of ever renewing life and of hope. The returning of the light at Yule affords us an opportunity to open up to new possibilities that come with the waxing year. Now is the time to be asking ourselves what we hope for in the new year? What new possibilities and challenges might we uncover and as the light grows, what do we want to be growing for ourselves? The answers to these questions can be represented by the cards of the major arcana.

My suggestion for a Yule activity is to contemplate the answers to questions like the ones I pose above, and gather a few candles. Either on the night of Yule as part of your ritual celebration, or as a separate activity, light a candle for each of the qualities you are hoping to open up to in yourself, and place a corresponding tarot card with each candle. As you light each candle, take a moment to visualize these potentials as becoming realized in yourself. Welcome back the light and ask the Gods to bless this work for you in the coming year. These cards and candles can hang around after the ritual either on your altar or in some other spot in your home for as long as you wish after the ritual so that whenever you see them you are reminded of your goals, and could even be used in personal work on later sabbats as you progress through the year and make progress toward making your hopes reality.

How you choose which cards to represent your goals is up to you, but most of all, use your gut. What speaks to you, what feels right? Examples might be if you want to cultivate more abundance and fertility in your life, you might choose the Empress to represent that goal. If you’re looking at letting go of things that do not serve your well being, you might choose the Devil. If you’re looking at starting a new journey or phase in your life, you might choose the Fool, or Death – depending on your focus and where you’re at personally in your decisions. If you want to cultivate more positivity in your mindset, you might choose the Sun. These are pretty general and simplistic suggestions, but if you choose to do this or something like it, I encourage you to be as specific or general as you wish and tailor make the exercise and associations for yourself. The important thing is that the symbols have meaning for and make sense to you.

I wish you all the hope and promise of the newly reborn Sun, and a very happy Yule!