(The following is a Boldly Naive reading - I am no Tarot King in the terms of accuracy and depth of the cards - I can only speak to my own awareness and interpretations, the following tend to be my initial thoughts unfiltered.)
Using ‘The Jungian Tarot Deck’
The Cards in placement are represented in following - and card interpretation by the Jungian Deck Book -
Center - The High Priestess - The Cailleach - Mother of Winter - Decrowner of Prince’s - The Magic in Resilience - The Ensuring Shroud of Liminality
Top (North)- 10 of Swords - Gain through Partnership - Success by working together, Hard Work, Long Hours - Pay off. (Under bad circumstances - disloyalty)
Right (East)- Judgement - Archetype of Rebirth - Isolated Introspection. Struggle facing opposites. A murky, lower level of Justice. Forces behind appearances.
Bottom (South) - The Moon - Archetype of Deadly Mother - Illusion, Deception, dark dreams, changing moods - Test of the Hero. The Home. Change and Rhythm. Visions welling in the imagination.
Left (West) - 9 of Pentacles - Selfishness - Egocentric Control. At best, one has earned a reward; at worst, ruthless and destructive. Social conventions at which others must abide.
The Placement:
The focus/initiator - The High Priestess being center - and the four directional cards representing the cardinal directions (North, East South, West) - the representation of travel and the rising and setting of the Sun and Stars. Directional time and Rotational Earth.
Card Interpretation:
North - the forward moving direction - 10 of Swords - Gain through Partnership
Bringing up to the surface in the mind, in the being; the awareness of - The Cailleach - and Her Present Time to Reign - is the partnership of the Seasonal. The way we taste our Harvest, the way we nurture our Heat to survive, the way we sing to the season’s ‘spirit creating’. For most - it takes a larger effort in the Winter to Survive, and survive happily - as we navigate our resources gathered from the year to make it through the season. Earth is colder, covered - deader. The Winter is a time of spirit (as credited by the Holiday Season - our light in the dark hours).
In Union and reverence to the Power of Our Hag Mother - the spirit that brings us forward IS our ‘livelihood’ come to rest.
South - The Coming From/The Traversed Path - The Moon - Archetype of Deadly Mother
The Year has been the cultivation - from Spring to the Ending Moment - and turning into our homes/our hearths/our rhythm of life changing for the ‘tidal winds’ of Winterhold. We have all traversed the hardiness of living - and it will not cease for the sake of any weather pattern or condition. If one holds to the illusions of incessant change, deceived by the glows of the past, the dark dreams of what is Real - then, One cannot be gifted the even darker and deadlier hands of - The Cailleach - as she bears her present Testing to Your ‘Royal-ness’ - de-crowning the prince’s of the world - turning us back into ‘our selves’ before we ensured all the grandeur for ourselves.
As long as you can be with the Old Light and Darkness - You can face the world with your Cultivated Being - the Authentic One before we ostentatiously crowned ourselves.
East - The Rising/Birthing/Welcoming - Judgement - Archetype of Rebirth
What’s a better symbolism of the Rising Sun than that of the Rebirth. Jesus was born under the careful guise of The Winter Queen - The Cailleach. In Winterhold - we learn to love our light given hours - yet the comfort is dutily found in the dark hours of bundling for warmth, enjoying a Yuletide Story, and comforting our body with warm and hearty food. Rising over - The Cailleach - within our own senses is our Justice for being human. She may not be the worldwide known Queen of the Season - yet she creates us - and for us - that depth of cold, that gratitude for homeliness, and our gatherings for One and Old.
In - The Cailleach - reign, in our servitude to Her conditions, we have created the Spirit Season for Humanity - a time for love and tenderness as our timeliness Gifted Culture and Traditions.
West - The Setting/Resting/Returning UnderBelow - 9 of Pentacles - Selfishness
It only makes sense that the Winter time months is time for reflection to Humanity, what we represent to One Another, and How we can reach the Hearts of One Another to survive the scarcity of Winterhold. All this a contrast to the Selfishness. Think Scrooge of course… It’s a time for Honesty in One’s position in life - acceptance of frailty and accepting (or even making clear your needs) of support - and contrasting: the critical amount of how much you are able to give (no matter how small it may seem). All You give to One Another - as long as it’s real, heartfelt, thoughtful to the person in need, not want - there will never be felt Emptiness.
We Are Here for One Another - each season is the time and space to create/re-create Love - in whatever senses that may be cultivate within.
If I may try to sum it all up -
This sounds like a stark, simple reminder of what the Winter Season and Holidays surrounding it should mean. Yet, and perhaps speaking form my own lackluster-ness of my own living (trying to survive Chronic Illness during this time) it’s what I needed to hear.
However, as I am sharing this out - there’s something here for All of Us to hear…
That the Simplest and Clearest message lives here for us All. We can contrive and manipulate the season as much as we want to for our own reasons - I know I do - to better be understood by all we know.
That we need to cut the bullshit of passing by - day-to-day - feelings and awareness’ and ‘moments’ for our own ‘Loveliness of Life’ - and return to the Simplicity of it all.
Simplicity is Gratitude.
Gratitude is simply - full Witness. You are You in the Moment of Gifting - both the Giving and Receiving.
Simplicity of the Season:
Let it Snow
Let Your Heart Be Light
And, I could be completely wrong. I could be pushing - The Cailleach - into my own box, trying to have Her make sense in my own life. All I know, is that I am doing my best to be in service to Her Hagitude.
Blessed Be