This is a reflection on the Slow tarot spread for eclipse season, from the Aquarius dark moon (Feb 17, 2026) to the Pisces dark moon (March 18, 2026).

As the moon wanes to dark again, I return to this spread in the context of all that's occurred these past few weeks. The two of wands crossed by the hermit seems to highlight the tension between the world we have and the world we so desperately need. The Seven of Swords and King of Swords offer to ways of responding to the present: evading the truth or acknowledging it, head on, with discernment.

Astrologically, we are in a time (Saturn + Neptune) where structures can dissolve and reform. Acknowledging and honoring all of the truth of this present moment, tending to our grief for the world we have, helps us to keep an open heart. From this place, we can better seed a world rooted in care and love for life. May it be so. May we embody the Queen of Pentacles, nurturing the life that is here, rooted in our expansive love for it all.

Find more about this spread, previous slow tarot readings, and prompts to go deeper with your own deck here: https://highlowtarot.com/slow-tarot

Music and sound by Beth Bradfish.

This Slow Tarot spread carries us through this month’s eclipse season, from the new moon in Aquarius to the new moon in Pisces. Our cards are the Two of Wands crossed by the Hermit, the Lovers, Seven of Swords, King of Swords, Queen of Pentacles.

The weeks encompassing eclipse season are profoundly disruptive. This month’s eclipses coincide with the highly anticipated saturn neptune exact conjunction, as well as a Mercury retrograde. While the turbulence and confusion of the present moment may persist, revelations are also bound to penetrate the fog. We may not have clarity about what’s happening around us, but we can root into our interdependence; love is the lantern that lights the way. 

The Saturn-Neptune conjunction that peaks on February 20th is an archetypal and symbolic world birthing, occurring at 0º Aries, the birthplace of spring. This time we are currently living through is potent and revolutionary; with real possibility of dissolving faulty and corrupt structures, and finding our way home to a more loving world. This takes a clarity of values and  a willingness to unlearn all of the ways these systems have conditioned within us (King of Swords). It also takes the determination and devotion of the Hermit, the will to traverse the unknown and unfamiliar, with soulful purpose as our guide.  

This otherworld, one rooted in love and care for each other, is a precious dream we can hold in our hands in this moment. We each have a role to play in its nourishment, from seed to shoot to thriving ecosystem. Grounding into this vision helps us to act with integrity when our Seven of Swords moment comes, and helps us to sustain the daily actions of care that keep this world healthy and growing (Queen of Discs).

I will be working with this spread all month, follow along on Patreon for free, or sign up for email updates to your inbox when new reflections emerge. Wishing you ease and loving connection to orient toward amidst the storm. 

How do we hold all of this grief? In the closing square of this moon cycle, I am returning to our slow tarot spread to reflect on all that's happened since it was drawn on the Capricorn new moon. Aquarius is a sign that is about the collective, and this Aquarius season we are seeing collective care rise in response to authoritarian violence. The Ace of Swords crossing our 3 of discs promised revelations this month, and I reflect on new meanings of the reversed 3 in light of these.

Earlier this month, this spread invited me to reflect on Audre Lorde's quote about the master's tools, which I wrote about here.

I will be back next week with a new spread for the new moon in Aquarius, which kicks off eclipse season. Follow me on Patreon or subscribe to the slow tarot newsletter to receive all audio and written updates for each month's spread.

3 of Discs Rx, crossed by Ace of Swords, surrounding by 2 of Discs (below), 6 of Swords (left), Page of Cups (right), King of Swords Rx (top) 

Our collective has reached an impasse, and this year promises some breakthroughs. The road ahead is treacherous, as demonstrated by the first weeks of the year. But within this morass of state-sanctioned terror, we are witnessing the adaptation of the collective into loving, protective shapes. There is an eruption of righteous anger and the emergence of something else, too. As the old system breaks down, we are awash with possibility.

This spread is inviting us to dismantle the limitations that our culture has wrought within our own imaginations. Nature shows us the ever-present mystery of life’s ability to adapt and evolve. The systems of modernism refute and segregate nature, but this duality is an illusion. It is time for us to take new and remembered forms, reconnecting our collective to the mysteries of the enchanted world, and finding experimental paths through the intractable tension of the present.

Reading by Julie Kelton, music by Beth Bradfish. Dive deeper into the spread and moment at highlowtarot.com/slow-tarot.

A collective reading to carry us from dark moon to dark moon, beginning with this new moon at 28 Sagittarius on December 19, 2025.

My dear friend and collaborator Beth Bradfish created the sound for this episode. I love how it reflects the deep and shadowy extremes of this spread and the rawness of this moon.

This spread asks us to reckon with our collective shadows. Insecurity is a massive driver of action. Those who seek power and control often do so from places of deep wounds, and end up wounding others in their attempts to sooth their pain. It takes great courage to enter the our depths with care and compassion, trusting in the gifts that can emerge through the tending of our wounds. It is only through softness with ourselves that we may show up more secure, capable to meet this moment with integrity.

This new moon, conjunct venus, is a time to align with our values and make an honest appraisal of our motivations. This time is asking for us to be bold and take risks towards the change this world desperately needs, but we can only do so effectively if we truly know ourselves. It is a risky proposition to eschew deeply ingrained survival patterns in favor of greater wholeness. It is risky to show up open-hearted in a world of such widespread violence and pain. Loving connection with our own depths opens us up to greater connection with each other; these are risks worth taking.

This spread is meant for us to sit with throughout this season, coming back as the world shifts, and us with it. I will keep returning to it, and you can do so with me at highlowtarot.com/slow-tarot.

This full moon musing returns to the Slow Tarot spread of this moon cycle, from the new moon of Scorpio to the new moon of Sagittarius. This Gemini full moon squares the lunar nodes, representing a turning point for the collective, do you feel it? These cards are read by Julie Kelton with music by Beth Bradfish.

In this episode, I reference the TESCREAL ideology that is underlying the technofascist imaginary, and connect it to our King of Wands and Four of Wands. AI is a flashy new vehicle for a very old fire ethos. This spread asks us to interrogate our relationship to this moment, to these technologies and our systems, and asks what parts of our own imagination are we able to reclaim? This reclaiming, deconditioning process is awkward, and turns us into our sweet Page of Swords. This Page may be unclear about what's happening, but they have their sword, a sword of ethic and imagination that can forge a different path than what's being laid out for us.

Find references, writings about how this spread reflects the astrology of this moment, and various related ephemera at highlowtarot.com/slow-tarot

Thank you for being here.

A spread to carry us from dark moon to dark moon, beginning with the new moon at 28 Scorpio, conjunct Mercury, on November 20, 2025. This spread is meant for us to sit with throughout this season, coming back as this accelerated time in the world shifts, and us with it. Find all my Slow Tarot musings here.

My dear friend and collaborator Beth Bradfish created the music for this episode as she listened to the dark moon reading, what a gift!

This spread shows Temperance crossed by the Ace of Swords, between the 4 of Wands to the left and the World to the right. Beneath sits the King of Wands on his fiery throne, and above sits the Page of Swords.

The feeling I get from this spread, during this Scorpio dark moon, is this betwixt and between feeling. We are in a liminal space, between a world structure that no longer works for us and another struggling to be born. Like the Temperance angel we may have one foot in earth and one foot in water, what Ace of Swords moment might this Mercury cazimi bring?

Embracing this in-between state is more important than figuring it all out right now.

If you listen to the reading, I’d love to know how it lands for you, and what you’re seeing in the cards and feeling in the world right now. I’ll return to this spread as the moon moves around the sky, and add to my website's resources as things happen that feel resonant. Come back by when you feel like slowing down into the present.