Capricorn
6 of Knives
This month starts you on a journey of healing, Capricorn, moving from old pain into new territory. This can be healing from a breakup, trauma, negative self-image, self-blame, or repressed sexuality. You often hold onto what hurts, afraid to talk about it, and afraid to let it go, thinking that if you stop reliving it, it will mean that your pain isn’t valid, or that you’re setting yourself up to be hurt again. But the 6 of Knives invites you into a different experience, one in which you honor your past but release it so you don’t have to keep hurting. You have the opportunity to visit uncharted territory, a world where you feel different. Who are you, without your stories of pain? What do you look like under your scars? This month is the beginning of finding out.
Healing can be easier when you allow a trusted person to hold part of your story. You don’t have to let your wounds isolate you. Other people have experienced pain too, and they’ve healed. So let them help you. Accept their support in moving through your trauma into the unknown world of post-pain, into who you are when you feel ok. You may be hurting now; it may feel like it will never end, but it will. This is the beginning of the end. Remember that you deserve help, are worthy of help, and just have to ask for help. And once you’re finished with your pain, you’ll be able to help other people, too.
Aquarius
8 of Pencils
The year starts in a burst of fast-moving fiery energy for you, Aquarius. Pencils in this deck correlate to the traditional suit of Wands and the element of fire. The number eight is associated with transformation, growth, and good luck. You’ll feel the swirling energy, as-yet unformed, possibly as a longing, an urge, a nameless desire. This energy can make you feel alert, in tune with all life has to offer you, and more aware of your own sexuality. It can also feel overwhelming at times, with everything up in the air in a state of flux.
If you find yourself reaching for control this month, be gentle with yourself. What you can do is lean into the fact that everything is still being formed; so many outcomes are possible. Trust what your body is feeling, and trust your energy to show you what you want. Let it be fun! Dance parties are great when you’ve got this kind of energy to burn; they are a passionate and creative outlet that gently helps you let go of a little control. You can’t possibly control everything, so you might as well enjoy yourself. Once all this energy lands, then you can work with it. But for now, just pay attention to the desires that are waking up in you. This will be a month when you learn your body’s rhythms better, and become intimate with your own energy.
Pisces
Wheel of Fortune
January brings you a deep sense of the cyclical nature of life, Pisces, and your place in the great wheel. This is of course, the start of a new year, and pretty much everyone is thinking about new beginnings and the passage of time, but you’re going deep with it. The Wheel of Fortune is all about change, nature, and cycles. In the modern world we sometimes feel separate from nature. We have air conditioning in summer, heat in winter, we can travel to a beach when it’s sleeting in our hometown, or we can import strawberries for our New Year’s resolution smoothies.
You don’t have to give up vacations or special foods, but try being aware of the pull of cycles around you. How does your body respond to the cold, the light levels? This month will be an amazing time for you to listen to your body’s wisdom, and embrace your natural sexual power. As you trust your body, you learn to trust the universe, and vice-versa. There’s something bigger than you that’s turning the wheel of time. Nature will hold you, if you let her. Respect your cycles, both the big ones of the earth, and the smaller ones of your body and hormones. Trust that everything happens in the right time. Work with the flow of the Wheel rather than against it, and see how your life begins to flow as well.
Aries
Temperance
Taurus
King of Knives
Taurus, this month sees you stepping into your power as a communicator and leader. The King of Knives corresponds to the traditional suit of Swords, and the element of air. And air deals with all types of thought, communication, and the realm of the mind. When you embody the King of Knives energy, as you do this month, your words and ideas are powerful. You get to be intelligent, thoughtful, and a master of communication. So what does it mean for you to be a master of communication? Are you going to ask for what you want? Are you going to set clear boundaries? Are you going to let your imagination have free rein, and bring some fantasy into being?
This can be an amazing time to really understand your sexuality, and speak your truth, whether that’s to a partner or to the whole world. You may want to use this energy to write erotica or a sexual manifesto. Remember that the clarity and power you feel this month affects everything you do, and that ripples out to other people. In the imagery of this card, the swarm of bees reminds us that kings don’t acts alone; they are in service of other people. So use your power for good. When you speak up for your needs, you empower other people to do the same. When you share your story, that helps other people share, too. Your words are creating a clearer, better world for you, and for other people. What you say goes.
Gemini
9 of Cups
This month, Gemini, you get to bask in satisfaction. Cups are the suit of water, so they deal with emotion, sensation, and intuition. And nine signals fulfillment. Which means that you’ve really come a long way, and now you get to take a break to enjoy it. This can be a great month for pleasant reminiscences, looking back on romantic moments, great sex, and emotional connections.
If you’re taking a trip down memory lane, keep the focus on you, what you felt in that moment. What you’re doing is recalibrating your pleasure and sensory meters, and remembering that all of those feelings are yours; they come from you. Because emotional fulfillment comes from within yourself. The common thread in all of your happy memories is you. So this month you get to feel really solid and happy with you. Take yourself out to dinner, set aside a whole afternoon to masturbate. It’s important to take time for yourself, and to celebrate yourself. And that is not selfish at all. You have to be solid in your self-relationship before you relate to others. This is the relationship that sets the tone for all other relationships in your life. When you can appreciate yourself, just as you are, you can accept other people as they are. And you can accept appreciation from other people as well. So what a great way to start a new year, reconnecting with yourself and what makes you happy, so you can have more happiness in the future.
Cancer
10 of Pencils
Leo
5 of Pencils
Leo, this month sees you learning how to handle conflict gracefully. You’re the natural leader, the generous, charismatic, big-hearted lion who’s fun to be around. You don’t have to fight anyone for your position. You just have to be fully yourself, and act with integrity, and everything will fall into place. January brings a feeling of chaotic energy going in lots of directions at once, and you may bump heads with people who have different ideas than you do. Maybe this manifests as feeling competitive with other people, or putting down your partner’s ex, or trying to look cuter than your friends to get more attention.
This month, remember that your success is not dependent on someone else’s failure. So rather than looking at this chaos as something to either win or lose, look at it as something to experience. There’s a lot of energy that you can harness and redirect. Rather than using your energy to grab for position, put it into trying something new and creative. Chaos can be good, and stir things up. Think of this month as a time to be on a playground, with everyone running around and playing their own game, but not impeding anyone else’s fun. You can be the queen of your world, without taking away anyone else’s queen-dom. Choosing to take care of your own integrity, and not compete, you open yourself up to more fun. You can lift up other people, celebrate your fellow queens, and remember there’s enough to go around.
Virgo
9 of Pencils
This month, Virgo, you are offered the chance to find strength in softness. The year starts off with you feeling as though you have to handle everything by yourself.
In terms of sexuality, this can be with having sky-high expectations of yourself, to be the perfect partner at all times, available but not clingy, interested but not obsessed, taking charge just enough, texting back after exactly 3 hours, sexy but not intimidating. And there’s an element of wanting to prove yourself after something didn’t work out the way you wanted, to make everything perfect this time to try to make up for the past. Are you getting tired just reading that? This month, you are lovingly invited to give yourself a break. It’s not possible to do everything perfectly all the time, and you don’t need to burn yourself out trying. Handle what you can handle, and trust that if there’s something you can’t handle alone, then you’re not supposed to handle it alone. Call in help. Delegate some tasks. This time around, it will be different, not because you’re going to push harder, but because you’re going to be softer. Softness is not weakness; it is a different kind of strength; one that says, you are enough. It helps you redirect your energy into what is important, rather than trying to be totally, rigidly in control of everything. Letting go of control may bring up fear, but again, softness helps. Rather than trying to push away fear or bluster through, be gentle with yourself. Softness is your new superpower.
Libra
Queen of Cups
January puts you in touch with your intuitive, nurturing side, Libra. This is a sweet, gentle start to the year, that helps boost your intuition and emotional intelligence, and approach the world with more empathy and care. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself picking up on other people’s emotions more than usual, or offering a shoulder to cry on. Embrace the power of your emotions, and what you sense from the unseen world. Remember that you can call upon your intuition whenever you need.
You may want to practice just asking your intuition about daily life, for example, which route to take to work, what to have for lunch, which clothes to wear. The Queen of Cups can be an incredibly sexy energy to work with, because intuition and emotion both come through your body. Feeling emotions more deeply can bring a sense of connection to partners, and a new understanding of your physical senses. And this energy can be healing, both for you and for people close to you. If you find any old fears or behavior patterns coming up this month, imagine surrounding them in a bubble of pure love, then gently ask what they’re here to show you. Put your empathy to use when thinking of your past self, forgive your mistakes, and offer love to the parts of you that are scared. All of this soft, flowing love helps heal old wounds, and make space for more love.
Scorpio
Knight of Knives
Scorpio, this year starts you off at a gallop, full of fast-moving ideas and inspiration you can’t wait to share. You think of an idea, and the next instant you make it happen. In tarot, Knights are figures of motion and action, who go out on quests for truth and experience. So treat this as a time when you’re learning and sharing ideas, and enjoy the fast pace. Let yourself be spontaneous and open to surprises.
This month sex may be more intellectual, with more talking and more fantasy, and you may want to take off on impromptu trips. You may also find yourself wanting to make fast changes, and feel impatient or trapped in relationships. That’s all from feeling this buzzing mental energy, so be aware of what you’re feeling, and fact-check your ideas with grounded reality. This month will also bring clarity to your understanding of your thought process. You’ll get a peek at the inner workings of your mind, so you can see what inspires you, how to tap into that inspiration at will, and how to support your imagination without letting it take over. Working with so much mental energy at the beginning of the year gives you the chance to dream really big, and come up with tons of inspired ideas for 2018. Write everything down, then at the end of the month, sort through them and see what still resonates, what has holding power. Those are the ideas that you’ll get to work with all year, and maybe beyond.
Sagittarius
7 of Cups
Sagittarius, this month sees you indulging in some pleasant distractions, before making an important choice. You have so many options before you, and all of them sound attractive in their own ways. But you have the feeling that you’re going to have to choose just one. Right now you’re prolonging the decision process, both because it’s very pleasant to daydream, and because you’re afraid of choosing. When you get down to it, there’s one cup - one way of feeling, one partner, one option - that really matters, that really fills you up. You probably already know which one that is, deep down. You may love the idea of keeping your options open, but remember that choosing not to choose is still making a choice. And when you’re not choosing, you’re not moving forward. A couple of things to remember here: it’s ok to want what you want, whatever that is, and there is no wrong choice. Anything you choose will take you forward.
Choosing frees up your attention and energy from being spread across all of the options. Respect your energy, give it a focus, don’t split it between too many options. Respect your gut feelings by acting on them, not second-guessing them. And respect the universe, trust that you will get what you need. Making one choice now doesn’t close off all of those options forever. This is a great opportunity to trust your gut, and let it lead you to a choice that is much more enjoyable than distraction.
Tarotscopes are written by Moriah Simmons and delivered monthly, subscribe for updates.
Tarot Card illustrations are from Rebecca Sutton's Tarot Card Deck.
Photography by Anna Demarco Photography
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Model is @donatellaluvsgucci wearing handmade hand dyed silk velvet lingerie by Siobhan Barrett
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