In Episode 2 of Seeing Tarot, artist Anna Rose Stabler and tarot reader Gina Wisotzky continue their card-by-card exploration of the tarot, beginning in the Minor Arcana and moving slowly through the suits.

Rather than defining cards through fixed meanings, this podcast explores what happens when you live with their energy over time: through art-making, daily life, season, and conversation.

This month’s focus: The Ace of Wands

In this episode, Anna and Gina discuss:

The negative space of the Ace of Wands and the fear of open sky

Fire as both creative impulse and destructive force

The pressure and impatience that can accompany new beginnings

How snow, illness, and disrupted schedules mirrored Wand energy in real life

Moving from inspiration (Wands) to intention and structure (Swords)

The sword as a forged tool: shaping energy, setting parameters, making decisions

Gardening and seasonal planning as embodied Swords practice

Sensory correspondences: cold green scents, ginger, roots, foliage

The relational nature of tarot and how one card evolves into the next

The conversation lingers on initiation not as pure excitement, but as something expansive and at times overwhelming. The Ace of Wands brings spark and desire along with exposure and intensity. The Ace of Swords follows as response: discernment, clarity, and the deliberate shaping of energy into form.

Over time, Seeing Tarot walks through the tarot by creating and exploring images together, allowing meaning to emerge through relationship and emerging correspondences rather than memorization.

References & Influences

Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack

Twin Peaks by David Lynch

Scents & Sensory Correspondences

Ace of Wands

Fragrance

Aura by Thierry Mugler

Green and Amazingreen by Comme des Garçons

Natural Material

Fresh ginger root

Ginger tea with honey

Lush green foliage

Mineral and concrete accords

Environment

Cold green air

Dandelion growing through concrete

Expansive open sky

About the Hosts

Gina WisotzkyThe founder of Incandescent Tarot, Gina has been reading and practicing tarot and the intuitve arts for over two decades. Her work weaves tarot, writing, seasonal practice, and somatic inquiry through readings, classes, and audio reflections.

Incandescent Tarot/Alchemag

Anna Rose StablerAnna Rose Stabler is an illustrator whose work centers symbolism, still life, and narrative imagery. Her practice explores how meaning forms through visual language, material, and seasonality.

Website/Podcast/Tumblr

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit incandescenttarot.substack.com

Episode Description

February 2026 continues the intense arc we entered in January, deepening our collective experience of the Wheel of Fortune. In this live tarot reading, we explore what happens when a period of exhaustion, over-analysis, and emotional saturation reaches its breaking point…and how genuine momentum becomes possible on the other side.

Using a four-card spread, this forecast moves from the Ten of Swords as the month’s core theme into the activating presence of The Magician, with The Moon returning as a challenge and The Queen of Wands offering a path forward. Together, these cards describe a moment where rumination has run its course and learning shifts from internal processing to vibrant, embodied engagement.

February asks us to stop studying our pain and begin responding to life again. Creativity, agency, humor, and decisive action become a path towards newness and growth.

Cards Drawn

Theme: Ten of SwordsOof. A moment of undeniable saturation. This card marks the end of a cycle of overthinking, rumination, and psychic overload. February begins by asking: what has become too much to carry? Where has analysis, information, or suffering reached its limit?

Environment: The MagicianDespite the heaviness of the Ten of Swords, the surrounding environment is charged with possibility. The Magician signals available energy, agency, and catalytic change. Engagement with the world - people, projects, conversations - can quickly generate momentum.

Challenge: The MoonThe challenge is lingering too long in January’s fog. While lunar disorientation was necessary last month, February asks us to stop performing confusion and start responding. Trust in motion can replace prolonged uncertainty.

Opportunity: Queen of WandsCreative action, leadership, and visible engagement are supported now. This card invites confidence without rigidity, passion without over-attachment, and movement without needing full certainty. Fire warms the late winter landscape!

Key Themes for February 2026

* Endpoints, limits, and psychic saturation

* Releasing over-analysis and repetitive suffering

* Learning through action rather than theory

* Creative engagement as restoration

* Agency returning after collapse

* Leadership, visibility, and warmth in community spaces

Closing Invitation

February marks a shift from endurance to response. You’re invited to reflect on what you’re ready to put down, and where you’re willing to step back into the world with curiosity, creativity, and trust.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit incandescenttarot.substack.com

In this opening episode of Seeing Tarot, artist Anna Rose Stabler and tarot reader Gina Wisotzky begin a collaborative project using art and intuition to explore tarot as a visual, symbolic, and intuitive practice… and build a tarot deck.

In this episode we explore learning how to look, how images carry meaning, and how intuition develops through attention, conversation, and lived experience.

Together, we discuss:

* Tarot as a visual language rooted in illustration and storytelling

* The difference between memorizing meanings and cultivating intuition

* Tarot’s layered history, from Renaissance art to modern decks

* How artists collect symbols and build personal mythologies

* The Minor Arcana as the “everyday” tarot, and why it’s often overlooked

* Elemental associations as an accessible way into the cards

* Seasonality, place, and daily life as sources of meaning

This episode also sets the foundation for the project moving forward. Over time, Seeing Tarot will walk through the cards by creating and exploring images together, beginning in the Minor Arcana and focusing on the everyday, human-scale moments the tarot reflects.

Welcome to this collaborative journey!

About the Hosts

Gina WisotzkyGina is the founder of Incandescent Tarot, where she has been sharing her tarot experience of over two decades. Her work weaves tarot, writing, culture, and seasonal ritual through readings, newsletters, and audio reflections.

Anna Rose StablerAnna is an illustrator and artist whose work centers symbolism, still life, and quiet narrative worlds. Her practice draws from place, personal archetypes, and the everyday magic of objects and rituals. You can find her work at annarosestabler.com and her podcast Exploring Videogames.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit incandescenttarot.substack.com

In this surprise audio edition of the January forecast, we return to a live, spoken tarot reading after a pause from the podcast. January opens the first full month under our new collective archetype for 2026: The Wheel of Fortune. This reading explores how disorientation, emotional processing, and shifts in communication shape the month ahead—and why clarity may not be the goal right now.

Using a four-card spread (Theme, Environment, Challenge, Opportunity), this episode looks at how lunar energy, old mental patterns, and productivity culture interact with the Wheel’s turning.

Cards Drawn

Theme: The MoonJanuary opens in uncertainty, confusion, and psychic recalibration. The Moon reminds us that disorientation is not a failure—it’s part of the process. This is not a month for forcing clarity or demanding answers. Instead, we’re invited to notice what’s washing through us as the Wheel begins to turn.

Environment: Three of SwordsThe surrounding emotional climate points to old wounds, familiar patterns of mental or relational pain, and moments that echo past hurts. Rather than signaling catastrophe, this card highlights the beginning of a cycle—where awareness of pain creates the possibility for change. Reactivity is unlikely to be helpful here.

Challenge: Eight of PentaclesThe challenge this month is the temptation to hide inside productivity. Busyness, fixing, and “working harder” may feel culturally sanctioned—but they can also become a way to avoid deeper emotional or spiritual questions. January asks us to question whether effort is truly needed, or whether it’s functioning as a distraction.

Opportunity: Ace of SwordsNew clarity is available—but it emerges slowly, through rest, reflection, and restraint. This Ace represents a shift in how we think and communicate, especially in charged situations. Unexpected breakthroughs may come from speaking differently, less defensively, or with greater simplicity.

Key Themes & Takeaways

* January is a liminal month, more about sensing than deciding

* Confusion and emotional churn are part of the Wheel’s movement

* Not every feeling requires action or communication

* Rest and withdrawal (Four of Swords energy) support real insight

* Productivity can obscure desire and lunar practice reveals it

* Watch for subtle shifts in how you speak, especially under pressure

Mentioned Resource

For a deeper exploration of the year’s governing archetype, including journaling prompts and practices, the Wheel of Fortune Guidebook for 2026 is available in the Incandescent Tarot shop for a limited time.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit incandescenttarot.substack.com

This month’s reading situates us in the Two of Wands’ visionary talents. What do we want to dream and then enact this month? The visions, goals, and questions we bring to the following month are likely to yield potent answers, especially if we devote ourselves to creative optimism and peaceful practices of the Queen of Cups. Of course, as with any wands-y reading, burnout is a real danger, particularly the vision-obscuring busyness of the Ten of Wands. Yet if we manage to thread this challenging and worthwhile needle, a whole new chapter can open up via the final card of The Fool’s Journey and the final card of our reading: The World.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit incandescenttarot.substack.com

This reading is brought to you by a technical difficulty resulting in a surprisingly cozy nighttime recording! It’s lovely as always to be back with a forecast, but first an important announcement: I’ll be pausing the regularly scheduled content here on the newsletter for a creative and spiritual reset; of course, paid subscriptions will also be paused during this time as well. If you have any ideas or input about the next phase of Incandescent Tarot, do reach out here or to [email protected]. I always love to hear from you - you’re the reason this space exists!

Now, onto the cards… This month’s reading plunks us right into the darkness of the Nine of Swords where we’re asked to hang up our suffering, feel through it, and let ourselves feel and be held by the support available to us. In a beautiful gesture, the world reaches back when we reach out as our environment card, the Six of Cups, shows that tenderness and connection is on offer if we can step towards it. Our final cards illustrate a tricky process of discernment wherein we’re tasked with resisting the complacency of the King of Pentacles in service of the spontaneous, riskier magic of The Magician. Energy and growth is on the table, but if we choose The Magician’s path it will be both deeply meaningful and propulsive.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit incandescenttarot.substack.com

July highlights the burgeoning excitement, experimentation, and direction of the Two of Wands - this is a month to pay attention to what inspiration is appearing naturally while protecting this tender new growth from harmful influences. The Knight of Swords indicates a critical environment and a choice for us to turn against ourselves or turn against what’s holding us back via the Eight of Swords. The Knight of Pentacles reveals a different approach, one we may already be taking behind the scenes: slow, diligent, and dedicated work that can grow to support a meaningful life.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit incandescenttarot.substack.com

A robust and fiery energy for the start of the summer! This spread features the powerful, authoritative Emperor as our theme card. We’re positioned to make big gains this month, using our strength and determination to shape projects, routines, relationships - anything that requires our focus and vision. In our environment position, the Six of Wands shows an abundance of support and collaboration. Success is possible if we engage with others, delegate, and practice mutuality. The challenge, however, is to avoid burnout and emotional withdrawal via the Four of Cups while accepting the fast-moving developments (and successes!) of the Eight of Wands. Listen in for the entire forecast and be sure to share your comments below!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit incandescenttarot.substack.com

In May we step out of the world of pentacles and into the suit of swords. Led by the Page of Swords, our theme card, we’re inspired to revisit old narratives and step into a future that has us revising our assumptions and feeling awkward and inspired. The Queen of Swords asks us to be on the lookout for people, resources, and situations that encourage us to think flexibly and to trust our powers of discernment. It’s a powerful time to shift our viewpoint around struggle and effort: Will we choose to feel put upon and irritated like the Seven of Wands or dynamic and confident like the Two of Pentacles? All in all, this is a month of blue skies with clouds receding and a remarkable opportunity to reframe our lives, plans, and even beliefs. Listen in for the full reading and be sure to share your thoughts in the comments!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit incandescenttarot.substack.com

April sees us stepping onto the throne of the King of Pentacles as we’re asked to appreciate and be empowered by our increased ability to support ourselves, our lives, and communities. All things pentacles are getting a refresh as this powerful card joins forces our envrionment card, the Seven of Pentacles. What actions, plans, projects, and jobs have yielded results? Do you like them? This month gives us a wonderful opportunity to edit and prune our growing plans. Our challenge comes in the form of the Five of Swords as miscommunication and even betrayal from ourselves and others enters the scene. Grounding ourselves in what’s real, what feels generative, and what we’d like for the future can help offset any hurt feelings or impulses to lash out. Finally, our opportunity lies in the expansive vistas of the Two of Wands: What new horizons are calling us? This month we’re seeing how the small steps we’ve taken have led us to a pivotal and exciting turning point.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit incandescenttarot.substack.com