Introduction: Connecting Tarot with Nature's Cycles
Having created a nature-inspired deck based on my own interactions with nature in the Pacific Northwest of my upbringing, the Pacific Islands of my ancestors, and the cultivated plants of my garden, I love the connection of tarot to the seasons. It helps me to interpret the cards on a deeper level and broaden my kinship with the plants illustrated on the cards.
The Natural Cycle of Tarot Suits: A Seasonal Guide
Understanding the seasonal correspondences in tarot can transform your reading practice. Each suit in the Minor Arcana aligns with a particular season, creating a natural cycle that mirrors the wheel of the year. In my deck, The Plant Companion Tarot, I've reimagined these connections through plants from the Pacific Northwest and beyond:
- Spring: Wands become Branches
- Summer: Cups transform into Flowers
- Fall: Pentacles manifest as Seeds
- Winter: Swords emerge as Leaves
Spring - Branches (Wands): Awakening Creative Energy
The Branches suit of the tarot fosters a sense of the springtime energy that brings new life, budding trees, and increasing daylight. Branches, after a long winter, begin to unfurl their blossoms and leaves. These cards emphasize creative energy and fire, inspiring us to open our windows to the fresh air, emerge from hibernation, and make action-oriented decisions.
Key Cards in The Plant Companion Tarot:
- Ace of Branches: Wooly Angelica (Angelica hendersonii) - Inspiration
- Two of Branches: Foxglove (Digitalis) - Decision-making
- Page of Branches: Pathfinder (Adenocaulon bicolor) - Exploration
Spring Awakening Spread:
- What new energy do I want to bring to this season?
- In what areas can I grow?
- What new paths can I explore?
Summer - Flowers (Cups): Flowing through Emotions
The Flowers suit of tarot represents the fluidity of our emotions. It's associated with water, like languid days spent at the beach and refreshing dips in the ocean. Flowers in summer bloom with abundance, soaking up the long daylight hours and encouraging us to spend a little more time outdoors with their sweet fragrances. Flowers cards help us to nurture our relationships, feel our feelings and accept the abundance that the season offers us.
Key Cards in The Plant Companion Tarot:
- Ace of Flowers: Big pod mariposa lily (Calochortus eurycarpus) - Contentment
- Three of Flowers: Showy daisy (Erigeron speciosus) - Friendship
- Queen of Flowers: Red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) - Compassion
Summer Abundance Spread:
- What brings me a sense of fulfillment right now?
- How can I bring more joy into my relationships?
- What ought I to nurture in my life more?
Autumn - Seeds (Pentacles): Grounding into Manifestation
The Seeds suit of tarot represents physical aspects of life, the work we put in to achieve material success. It's associated with the earth, like digging in the soil to harvest our crops at the end of the season. Seeds in Autumn are the harvest that will see us through to the next year, helping us to take stock, make preparations and get down to practical business. Seeds cards help us to do the work and make steady progress on our goals.
Key Cards in The Plant Companion Tarot:
- Four of Seeds: Baby blue eyes (Nemophila menziesii) - Security
- Eight of Seeds: Common blue violet (Viola sororia) - Diligence
- Knight of Seeds: Beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) - Routine
Autumn Harvest Spread:
- What am I grateful for achieving?
- What am I ready to harvest now?
- What do I want to manifest next?
Winter - Leaves (Swords): Intellectual Clarity
The Leaves suit of the tarot is associated with the brisk clarity of winter and with intellectual pursuits. It provides that kind of stark truth we see when leaves fall, skeletal branches are revealed, and the tree is nurtured through the season by the decomposition of the fallen leaves. While sometimes the clarity can be challenging to accept, Leaves cards show us that even the darkness of winter serves as a blanket to insulate and feed the natural world through the new year.
Key Cards in The Plant Companion Tarot:
- Ace of Leaves: Rock clematis (Clematis columbiana) - Clarity
- Five of Leaves: Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) - Conflict
- Page of Leaves: Vine maple (Acer circinatum) - Curiosity
Winter Reflection Spread:
- What hidden truth do I need to see now?
- What will help me to make decisions that have been challenging me?
- In what areas can I learn more to find a sense of wisdom?
Integrating Seasonal Tarot into Your Daily Practice
Daily Rituals with Nature's Guidance
You can work with the seasons in your daily tarot practice. Draw your morning card pulls with a seasonal lens--looking at how the cards can spark your creativity in Spring, help you to flow with your emotions in Summer, dig into practical matters in Autumn, and gain intellectual clarity in Winter.
You can also slow down your pace to appreciate the seasons and their transitions with Sunday tarot check-ins to inspire the week ahead, and larger monthly spreads to consider the seasonal transitions at a greater scale.
Creating Your Personal Seasonal Altar
Continue your nature-inspired tarot practice by crafting a space in which to work with your cards. Build a seasonal altar by respectfully collecting fallen objects from nature with a manner of gratitude. Consider an arrangement of branches, flowers, seeds and leaves to correspond to the tarot suits in the deck.
Or follow your daily card pull with a morning walk in nature to contemplate the meaning of the card and how it might apply to you personally.
Your tarot rituals can be yours alone to create, to help you to deepen your kinship with the cards and with nature throughout the seasons.
Embracing the Seasonal Wheel in Tarot
By understanding tarot suits through seasons, you can explore each card's meaning while connecting to nature's greater cycles. This approach creates a more intuitive and grounded reading practice, especially for those drawn to nature-based spirituality.
Ready to deepen your connection with nature through tarot? Join the waitlist for The Plant Companion Tarot.
Want to learn more ideas for reading nature-themed tarot cards? Check out my complete tarot guide for beginners here.