The Moon Returns: A Lunar Return Tarot Spread
Last month I wrote about the magick of Lunar Returns, framing the practice of calculating and observing your monthly return of the Moon to the exact location it was in at your birth as act of rest and homecoming. As I shared in that post, I'd been wanting to write about Lunar Returns for a while, but waited until I had a bit more insight and feeling about the practice before doing so. One of the gate-openers for me to write about this particular aspect of Lunar magick was reading through Awakening Together: The Spiritual Practice of Inclusivity and Community by Larry Yang.
It is a beautiful book and one that I'm recommending more and more alongside my longstanding recommendations of books like Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown. While Yang is specifically speaking to the Buddhist community (and especially the one within North America that many white folks practice within), the wisdom and insights within his book are easily applicable to many spiritual communities. My own activism - both my personal roots and official trainings - have always been from a spiritual (mostly multi-faith) foundation, so I'm always looking for resources like Awakening Together. Yang's book is honest, welcoming, and encouraging while talking about difficult subjects like spiritual bypassing and what liberation for everyone actually looks like and asks of us.
Cards from The Pagan Otherworlds Tarot.
Part of why Yang's work inspired my post on Lunar Returns was because writing about astrology (and herbalism and magick) is my small attempt to expand the language in which we talk about our experience of self and the world beyond the limiting words and concepts so many of us were given. And that our revolutions need the tools of protest and agitation as well as the tools of softening and homecoming. I'm not proposing that protest and softening are on opposite ends of some arbitrary activism spectrum, but that it can be very easy, especially in our increasingly visual age, to value public works over instead of alongside private work. The energies of protests can burn quick and hot and we need that forge and fire to spark change. We also need the cooling and adaptable lunar energy which reflects to us the truth of change and our very real need to turn in before we strut out again. To value the ebb as much as we love the flow.
I'm so encouraged and humbled and in love with the work of so many activists and organizers, in all their myriad forms, that I'm basically trying to write love letter after letter to all of you, focusing on the wisdom of tending to your tenderness. Because tenderness is a fertile land for our hope.
So here is another lunar-oriented love letter for all of you that is tied into the magick of Lunar Returns but can also be used for the Moon cycle in general. The Moon Returns tarot spread helps us to connect with the energies of our Lunar Return (or the monthly cycle of the Moon in general) illuminating where we might find places to rest and places to extend our energies. If you’re wanting to read this spread for your Lunar Return, be sure to read my tutorial first.
The Moon Returns is a simple three card spread that is meant to be cast monthly, helping us to both find deep meaning and honor the swift passage of the monthly Lunar Return or Moon cycle. There are plenty of ways to read the cards and practice divination in general, but eventually we are faced with developing the skill of interpreting time, its passage, and influence on us through our chosen divinatory medium. When working with Lunar Returns and the cycle of the Moon we learn to practice the infinite of our consciousness - its revelation, growth, decay, and renewal - within the embrace of the finite. In interpreting time and the weight of interpretation of each card within a Moon-centered spread we can explore how to hold meaning with an open hand passing through eddies of time rather than trying to hold the waters of wisdom in a closed fist. I guess what I’m trying to say is allow space for whatever comes through in the following spread to be both profound and passing.
Card 1 · The Moon Returns, I Return
This card illuminates some of the messages from the House that the Moon will be returning to. So, if your Lunar Return is happening in the Second House, this card might highlight issues of your emotional wellbeing as it is tied into your financial and material security and access. In other words, this card helps us to understand the overarching themes of our Lunar Return (or monthly Moon cycle if you're not reading for your Lunar Return). Since I also pay attention to the House of Cancer in a Lunar Returns I might pull two cards here - one to represent that House of the Lunar Return and another to represent the House of Cancer.
There are two alternative approaches to this card if you are not using this spread with your Lunar Return and just the monthly Moon cycle. You can choose to have this card represent the sign of the New or Full Moon. Another approach is If you have a bit of astrological know-how you can choose for this card to represent the House that the New or Full Moon will be in.
Card 2 · The Moon Ebbs, I Ebb
This card helps us to see where we might need to pull back, pause or rest your energies during your Lunar Return (or Moon cycle in general). If a particularly challenging card shows up here it might be highlighting areas of your life that need extra love and care that you've been ignoring or pushing aside (we all do this, don't worry, be kind to yourself). A challenging card here can also help us to understand a place of stagnation we might be in from another perspective including seeking out additional community support and resources to help you manage a deep pause.
Card 3 · The Moon Flows, I Flow
This card helps us see where you might extend, stretch outward or fill out your energies during your Lunar Return (or Moon cycle in general). If a particularly challenging card shows up here it might be highlighting areas of your life that you've been overextending yourself for too long - which is easy to do with so many of us living unsupported in overproductive cultures. Challenging cards showing up here can also warn of burnout and the need to examine beyond this lunar cycle where you are extending your energies too far beyond what is sustainable for you.
Looking for more lunar inspiration? There are Moon spells, a tutorial on shadow work and the Lunar Mansions, Moon-inspired teas, and a whole year of New Moon healing magick. I am a decidedly Moon-oriented Witch and I'm happy to provide plenty of resources to connect with the sacred Moon in all sorts of ways.
This post was made possible through patron support.
❤︎ Thanks, friends. ❤︎
