This season’s tarotscopes feature The Fountain Tarot and the Compendium of Constellations.

Friends, we now sit firmly in a new year. And as exciting as that flip of the calendar can be, in many ways we may still feel stuck in 2020, in the same broken systems and cycles that we’ve been struggling against for some time. We may be moving through a shift in political administrations here in the United States, we may be able to embrace 2021 with all of its intensities and imperfections as something new, but there is still much to do. Our work is not yet finished. As hard as that may be to hear, my hope is that in moving into this new astrological season, we can also invite in some fresh energy, find new outlooks, and consider this next year from another lens.

Our recent time of Capricorn encouraged us to consider where we exercise control and where we may be trapped by our own desires, to be honest with ourselves about what is driving our choices and shaping our actions. We’ve spent time considering our individual goals, our definitions of success, our long-term plans and the ways that we hope to make them tangible realities. And now that we have released an old habit or destructive pattern, whether by choice or necessity, we can step into the observant, perceptive, forward-thinking energy of Aquarius.

This fixed air sign has a reputation for being independent, unique, even eccentric. They’re often called the weirdos or aliens of the tarot, described as outsiders. But this oversimplification of Aquarius energy ignores so many of the pieces that make this sign brilliant, potent, and empowering. Aquarius dares us to dream of bigger futures and brighter ideas, to look carefully at our existing structures and consider how we can break and rebuild them, the ways that we can make them work for us. This is an energy that is objective and authentic, seeking truth, honoring both the reality of what is present and imagining all that is possible for the future. And while there can be a necessary coldness here, an ability to emotionally distance ourselves from what all that is happening, Aquarius allows us to think beyond the individual to the collective. What serves all of us? How do our personal dreams contribute to bigger networks, systems, communities?

Our archetype for Aquarius season is the Star. And in the fool’s journey, after the warnings of the Devil and the chaotic destruction of the Tower, the Star is a card we link to healing and recovery, to gentle awareness, to fresh starts. It’s a chance to view the world through new eyes, to take the lessons that we have learned about ourselves and our gifts and put them to new use, to set goals and dream dreams that reflect the people that we now are, rather than the people we once were. But after such a tumultuous, complicated, impossible year, the Star feels like it’s an opportunity for something bigger than individual, personal healing. We are being called to reimagine the collective, to consider what our larger future entails, to not be afraid to dream big and reconsider all of the broken things that have been revealed. What is really possible, not just for us but for all? What kind of world can we imagine for ourselves, if we release existing structures and cycles and allow ourselves to build something new? In the wake of the Great Conjunction, as we consider this new 200-year era of Saturn and Jupiter in air signs and the restorative energy of the Star, this season asks us to face our fears while taking a leap of faith, to be willing to innovate and think outside the box, to consider what we could be if we weren’t constrained by old ideas and priorities. What is essential, and how can we build around those pieces? What do we want to center, and what can we leave behind? What is our north star, and what does following that brilliant light really look like?

Collectively, our cards urge deep awareness, asking us to take our time and assess what is really happening, what we really have access to, what we really want. How do we untangle our own biases and perceptions from the truth? What helps us take a more objective viewpoint, and how often do we step back to evaluate the bigger picture? In this season of Aquarius, consider the ways that you facilitate healing for yourself, and the ways that that healing can be extended to broader communities and collectives. How do you show yourself care? How often are you fully honest with yourself, and how does that honesty give you space to grow in ways that are richly authentic? Experienced tarot readers or astrologers can plug the cards I’ve drawn for their sun, moon, and rising signs into the spread below to create a custom reading for this season. Aquarius is ruled by both Saturn and Uranus, so if you know your placements for these planets feel free to integrate one or both cards into your spread for a fuller picture of your Aquarius season.

I recently shared an essay on the numerology of 2021 here at Autostraddle, worked with Valerie Anne to explore the queerest moments of Critical Role in 2020, and I’ll have a new piece on negative card pairings up at Astrology Answers tomorrow. Check out my daily writing and card draws on Instagram, and you can get my latest tarot writings delivered straight to your inbox by signing up for my Substack newsletter. I’m currently taking a break from client readings, but you can check out my website for larger spreads, writings, and purchase my three original e-books for learning tarot, including a brand new PDF of my popular Unlocking Archetypes major arcana card study.

As always with these tarot readings, take what you need and leave what you don’t. Have a magical Aquarius season.

Aries

The Magician

For you, Aquarius season may feel like it’s bursting with ideas and inspiration, with your confidence flowing and a beautiful sense of purpose and energy manifesting in powerful, amazing ways. If you’ve been working towards something big, if you’ve been waiting to make a big step forward or take a big chance, this is the moment. Consider this the sign that you’ve been looking for, whether you’ve been consciously seeking it or not: the Magician is a big yes from the universe, a reminder of all of the resources at your fingertips, of all of the infinite possibilities that are stretching out before you. You have everything that you need to get started, even if you don’t completely realize it yet. What do you want to see, to do, to make, to create, to pursue, to become?

Taurus

Ten of coins

After the steady, comforting structure of Capricorn season, you may find yourself feeling stable, secure, and content in both your home and places of work. The choices that you’ve made, the ways that you have prioritized your energy and resources, are finally paying off, and this season will bring opportunities to celebrate everything that you have achieved.

In the midst of your joy and contentment, take some time to consider ideas of legacy. What have you been building? What do you want to be known for, remembered for? What ideas or projects or philosophies do you want to be associated with you, to endure beyond you? You often look to the past for anchors and inspiration, but Aquarius is all about the future, considering what is coming and what we want to build. How do you think about your personal footprint? What do you want to be known and remembered for? And how can you begin to establish those through-lines for yourself here and now?

Gemini

Three of wands

It may feel that the vision you’ve been building, all of those dreams that you’ve been clarifying and imagining, will finally start manifesting in the world this season. Inspiration has been flowing, new ideas building and collaborations bringing out new layers of magic and power — and as incredible as that sensation can be, as intoxicating as working with others to create complex projects and powerful ambitions is, don’t get so caught up in what you see in your mind that you forget to put it out into the world. What are you going to do with all of those ideas? How can you make them real?

Even if what you initially create doesn’t perfectly match the vision in your mind, try to cut yourself some slack. Right now your purpose is not to create something flawless and ready to share — instead it’s a time to see how it feels to make your dreams tangible, to let others interact with and experience them and provide new insights, new feedback, new suggestions. How can you celebrate every step of the process? How can you allow others to see all of the brilliance within you?

Cancer

Ace of swords

You’re someone that’s deeply connected to your heart center, but who doesn’t always allow others to see all that you’re feeling. Your emotions, your relationships, guide your choices and actions, shaping the world that you are building for yourself. But this season, you may find yourself thinking a bit more objectively, seeking truth in a way that relies more on perception and instinct rather than intuition and emotion. What has been becoming clear for you, and how does that impact the ways that you view your world? What changes have you been thinking about, and how would they shift both your everyday life and your future ambitions? Sometimes it’s tempting to ignore flashes of understanding or truth, to bury them deep and hope that we don’t have to deal with them down the line — but this is an opportunity for you to be honest with yourself, to recognize fully what it is that you need to do moving forward. How do your mind and heart work together? What do you need to address, and how can you do it in a way that honors all that you are?

Leo

Five of coins

With your independent nature and fiery confidence, you’re someone that isn’t afraid to stand out, to let your brilliance and magic and courage be seen by the world. But you may feel this season that you’re stretched a bit thin, perhaps lacking some of the resources or assets that you need to truly shine. As difficult as this sensation can be, and as hard as it is to be without something important, there’s a good chance that the things you believe you lack are actually available to you, if only you’re willing to accept them. Where is help being offered? Why are you reluctant to take it?

The urge to “go it alone” may feel overpowering, but in this case, stubbornly clinging to ideas of self-sufficiency may cause you to be making things harder for yourself than they need to be. Is it more important for you to do something by yourself, or for you to do it well? Pay attention to what you have access to, to the people that are extending a helping hand. What do you really need? And what do you already have?

Virgo

Seven of coins

For you, this will be a season of evaluation and awareness, for digging into the nitty gritty and carefully analyzing those details and processes in that way you do so well. Go back and review the plans that you made weeks or months or even years ago, reviewing your original visions and ideas, the objectives and ambitions that have gotten you to where you are now. Are you where you expected to be? Are you ahead of schedule, behind schedule, or have you shifted in an entirely different direction? Going off course is not a bad thing, but make sure that if you’re moving away from your original goals, that you do so with intention. Instead of giving in to panic or frustration if you aren’t where you wanted to be, take a beat to celebrate the progress that you have made. How are you showing yourself grace? What are you excited about? What didn’t work the way you thought it would, and how did you adapt? What do you want now, and how is that dream different than the one you started with?

Libra

Four of swords

If last season brought a flash of insight and truth, allowed you to see your world through new eyes and with a clearer perspective, Aquarius season may urge you to slow down on progress and instead take some time to process and recover. Where have you been pushing yourself? How has that work and the revelations that have come forward impacted you? This may be a season where you need to take some time to reflect on all that you’ve discovered, on the ways that you are already evolving, and create the space that you need in order to truly rest. You’re someone that naturally seeks out balance and harmony, that appreciates beauty, so give yourself permission to indulge your senses, to find places of comfort and pleasure, to reconnect with the activities and communities that make you feel happy and safe. How can you take care of yourself? What helps you treat yourself gently?

Scorpio

Ace of cups

It may have felt like last season revealed a lot of harsh truths, forcing you to look at yourself and your circumstances through a particularly sharp lens. And as comfortable as you are parsing through the shadows, sometimes it can be painful to have so much come forward so quickly. For you, Aquarius season may feel like a return to center, as you get more in touch with those intense emotions and consider what it is your heart may be trying to tell you.

A new connection, emotional journey, relationship, or revelation may be coming forward for you, urging you to open yourself up to possibilities and exploration. Where have you been curious? What has been captivating your imagination? This card is often an invitation to be more vulnerable than you typically allow yourself to be, to peel back a few layers of your natural defenses and allow yourself to be fully seen. What would it take for you to feel safe enough to show yourself completely?

Sagittarius

Ten of swords

Perhaps you’ve been wrestling with some difficult truths, or perhaps you’ve been getting caught up in spiraling negative thoughts — but whatever has been coming forward for you, it may feel like you are consumed by it this season. Sometimes we get so tangled up in our own ideas, in our perception of a challenge or situation or relationship, that we completely ignore the reality and instead become obsessed by our worst fears. On the plus side, things aren’t nearly as bad as you believe them to be. But the harsh truth here is that you need to pick yourself up, stop feeling sorry for yourself, and find a more objective viewpoint on what’s really going on.

There are many ways to deal with destructive thought patterns, but for most people, bringing in a trusted friend or therapist to help you get your head on straight can be the best way to understand what you need to do next. What are you really afraid of, and why are you letting those fears consume you? What side of the story have you been ignoring, and how does that shift the narrative that you’ve been clinging to? Get yourself a reality check, take some time for self care, and make a new plan for how to move forward. You’re going to be okay.

Capricorn

The Devil

As lovely and auspicious as it feels to have your birth card come up for you in this new season, especially on the heels of your own season, seeing the Devil may indicate that you have some unresolved business that still needs to be addressed. What came forward for you during Capricorn season, and did you actually deal with it? Or did you check it off the to-do list without doing the real work necessary to clear and consider where you may need to make adjustments?

We often think of this as a card of flashy addiction and obvious vices, but the Devil is subtle, quiet, slow-moving. It creeps into the spaces that we think are safe, slides into the shadows and whispers and taunts until we’re so wrapped up in those murmured words that we take them for truth. What are you tangled up in? Where is your grip so tight you’ve lost track of other, potentially more important things? What have you surrendered without even realizing it?

Aquarius

Page of cups

Happy birthday, Aquarius! As you move into your season, you may find yourself making a new connection or deepening an existing one, recognizing an opportunity to pursue something with an open heart. You’re someone that can sometimes be perceived as cold or overly rational, who’s able to be objective in a way that can cut you off from your deeper emotions or more powerful intuitive drives. And as useful as that can be when you’re making plans and breaking structures, sometimes it can make it hard to connect or feel understood. How can you tap into those deeper feelings, and give your heart room to speak?

Relationships and emotions and connections aren’t always things that you can plan and control, so consider how you can give yourself some leeway, a chance to be artistic and expressive and creative. What fils you with joy and contentment, helps you feel like you’re tapping into your deepest purpose? How often do you let yourself be a beginner, and what can you learn about yourself and your partnerships by being open to growth?

Pisces

Two of coins

Capricorn season may feel challenging for you, with the emphasis on structure and boundaries perhaps feeling a bit confining. As you move into airy, forward-thinking Aquarius season, you may find renewed energy and confidence, a desire to run towards your dreams head first. And as brilliant as that new sense of movement may feel, pay close attention to just how much you’re taking on, to the responsibilities and tasks that you are taking ownership of. Planting seeds is a powerful process, and if you’re in the midst of a new beginning you may find yourself with a lot of irons in the fire, juggling multiple jobs and trying to keep everything in balance. Do you have to do everything yourself, or are there things that you can delegate? For you, Aquarius season is an invitation to prioritize your energy and your resources, to closely consider how you are spending your time. How can you reorganize and restructure in a way that allows you to place more focus on the things that really matter? What might you be able to let go of, that will free you up to pursue what you truly want?

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!