Winter Solstice Tarot
The Winter Solstice and Tarot
The Winter Solstice is a quiet hinge between cycles — the longest night giving way to the slow return of light. In Tarot, this moment invites inward tending from stillness into renewed purpose.
I have done a winter solstice Tarot reading for you, using the Heaven and Earth Tarot deck by Jack Sephiroth.
Winter Solstice 3‑Card Tarot Reading
Card 1 — The Magician
The Magician speaks of channeling your internal will and manifesting your desires.
His message: You already have everything you need. The Magician lights up the workshop of the self — will, tools, focus. This card says: stop waiting for external permission. Your ideas, intentions, and actions line up now. Conjure with clarity — set a concrete aim, gather your tools (skill, resources, attention), and begin. Small, decisive acts will carry the potency of ritual.
Card 2 — Ace of Cups
The Ace of Cups sends a message about feeling gratitude and having compassion for yourself and others.
A fresh wellspring of feeling. The Ace of Cups pours in gratitude, self‑compassion, and an openness to receive emotional nourishment. Let your heart be a receptive vessel: celebrate quiet joys, give yourself the kindness you’d offer a friend, and allow tenderness to refill your reserves. This compassion lubricates your manifesting engine — gratitude expands what you already have and invites more.
Card 3 — Strength
Great Strength can be yours if you can learn to harness the raw power of your emotions. The trick is learning when to use constraint, and when to unleash the raw energy of your emotions.
Strength is not brute force; it’s masterful restraint and the courage to feel. You’re asked to meet passion with patience, to hold and direct heat rather than scorch with it. Use inner calm to steer powerful emotions into steady action. Softness and firmness together become your greatest leverage.
The season supports deliberate beginnings and quietly powerful transformations.
You can achieve the manifestation of your physical needs and desires through willpower, gratitude and strength.
This winter solstice reading points to a potent recipe: focus your intention, let gratitude widen your capacity to receive, and govern your emotions with gentle authority. Together they create practical, grounded manifestation — meeting physical needs and wishes by aligning desire, heart, and determined self‑command. Begin with a clear aim, nurture it with appreciation, and steer your energy with composed courage.
The winter solstice arrives as the year's deepest inhale, the moment when nights are longest and the sun lingers at its lowest arc before beginning its slow, comforting climb back toward light; it is a time steeped in ritual and wonder, when many cultures celebrate rebirth, reflection and the promise of renewal through gatherings, fires, feasts, and festivities.
Beyond the celebrations, this is also a time of quiet observances. The winter Solstice also invites us to turn inward, honour darkness as part of the cycle, and plant seeds of intention as the return of the sun nudges the world — and our spirits — toward warmth and growth.
Winter Solstice Tarot Spread
Do your own reading
Card 1 — What to release (let go as the year turns)
Draw one card for what’s ending in your life right now.
Action: Give yourself permission to stop controlling outcomes. Small, steady dismantling works better now than dramatic gestures.
Card 2 — What to nurture (what to carry forward into the light)
Draw one card for what’s receiving light. This is the energy you wish to grow and carry forward through the upcoming year.
Action: Create a simple ritual of silence or journaling at dawn or dusk. Note recurring symbols or feelings.
Card 3 — Guiding energy for the new season (how to move into the coming cycle)
This card is for emergent opportunities, these are things that will assist you moving forward into the light.
Action: Plant a tiny seed (literal or metaphorical). Make one hopeful intention for the coming cycle and tend it weekly.
How to use this reading:
Shuffle with the intention of closing one chapter and welcoming the next.
Lay three cards left to right.
Reflect on each position, noting what feels complete, what needs warmth, and what energy will guide you as daylight grows.
May this spread help you close with warmth and begin with wonder.
Example reading with brief interpretations.
The Tower (reversed) The Winter Solstice marks the darkest point before light returns. With The Tower reversed, endings this season are more internal than explosive. You're shedding old structures and beliefs quietly — relief and slow rebuilding rather than dramatic collapse. Let go of what’s brittle; you’re moving through necessary clearing even if it feels awkward or uncertain
The High Priestess On the longest night, intuition is your lantern. The High Priestess sits at the center of this reading: inner knowing, dreams, and subtle messages are especially accessible. Pay attention to dreams, synchronicities, and the wisdom that rises from stillness.
The Star As the wheel turns toward lengthening days, The Star brings hope and gentle renewal. This card promises that faith and healing are available if you remain open. Small acts of care — for yourself and others — will re-illuminate your path.
Summary This Winter Solstice invites quiet unmaking (Tower reversed), deep inner listening (High Priestess), and a gentle, hopeful rebirth (The Star). Keep your rituals simple, trust subtle nudges, and nourish one small intention into the returning light.
Ritual suggestions for the winter solstice:
Light a candle, sit for five minutes, breathe, and ask: "What needs to fall away? What is asking for my attention? What small hope can I steward?" Let answers come without judgment.
Write one sentence for each position: “I release…,” “I nurture…,” “I will move forward by…”
Keep the notes by a window or on your altar through the Solstice to anchor the shift.