Ahmet Kurt

How You’ll Survive (+Thrive) This Winter, According To Zodiac + Tarot

Each zodiac sign has a Major Arcana Card, and that card can bring you insight and guidance on how to approach important aspects of your life. As we move through the winter and the holidays, it’s common to feel hurried, emotional, and raw. Your major arcana card, when read in the context of self-care, can give you an idea of how to approach your self-care.

Make sure to read the description for both your Sun sign and your Rising Sign. For all signs – Stay hydrated!

Aries

Your Card: The Emperor. The way to survive the winter, Aries, is to be fearless about the boundaries that you set, and direct about enforcing them. Having clear, protected, and enforced boundaries will help you to create a firm foundation for your emotional and mental health. Be intentional and disciplined. Invest in your self-care routines and give yourself the space that you need to thrive.

Taurus

Your Card: The Hierophant.  The winter holidays give us a chance to reconnect with ancestral wisdom through familial tradition. It doesn’t have to be any different with understanding what you need to care for yourself, Taurus. You may discover that you are holding space for traditions – even if you aren’t looking to explore them in traditional ways. Make the old ways your ways, and you’ll find them more meaningful and rejuvenating. 

Gemini

Your Card: The Lovers. Gemini, caring for yourself means making an effort towards it, and choosing it when given the option. Give yourself space in your winter schedule so that you can do the sorts of activities you need to keep your spirits up, your mind engaged, and your body healthy. Make sure your choices are an expression of self-acceptance and self-love. If you find yourself split among options, make the choice that matches the person you are becoming

Cancer

Your Card: The Chariot. Keep moving at a steady pace, Cancer, one where you’re able to keep everything under control and do so for a long time. This is a marathon – not a sprint, and you need to be disciplined and orderly in your approach. You’ll gain more from your self-care rituals if you keep them steady instead of sporadic. Balancing your routines and giving yourself time to rest and recharge will be invaluable in your progress.

Leo

Your Card: Strength It is no surprise that your Major Arcana card includes a lion, Leo. The card isn’t about the lion, though, it’s about the gentle woman who has kept the lion calm. The strength being demonstrated is a gentle, consistent strength, the sort that can tame even the most energetic of beasts within. Instead of trying to overpower yourself with a list of‘shoulds,’ be gentle with yourself by engaging with what is most comforting. Resilience is more important than raw power.

Virgo

Your Card: The Hermit. To truly care for yourself, Virgo is going to require you to look within instead of mimicking what others do. The answers for your best approach are already within you, and they won’t be revealed in the moments you are sharing with others. You need to invest time on your schedule when you can allow yourself the space to meditate and introspectively engage with your emotions. Your emotional health is worthy of your time.

Libra 

Your Card: Justice. It should come as no surprise that your tarot card includes scales, and that they are in balance. To engage in meaningful self care this winter will mean balancing your needs with those of your friends, family, and other commitments. You’re going to need to choose yourself, Libra, and that’s going to require you to release that FOMO. Your new year holds a great amount of potential, but you won’t be able to reach it if you don’t give yourself a break.

Scorpio

Your Card: Death Scorpio, your nature means that you’re intune with the rhythms of life, and you understand that renewal means allowing yourself to let go of the old and make room for the new. To engage in self-care this winter will mean you will spend a lot of time emotionally and mentally decluttering. You won’t be able to greet the new year if you are holding on to things that no longer suit the person you’re struggling to become. 

Sagittarius

Your Card: Temperance. As a Sagittarius, I joke that I reach balance by bouncing between the extremes, but the biggest lesson I could learn is that the best balance is achieved incrementally. Engaging in self-care this winter means evaluating how you are spending time and emotional energy, and seeking a balance in those activities that will create space for growth. Instead of enjoying everything, be more intentional about how you invest your energy and time. There’s nothing wrong with being selective.

Capricorn

Your Card: The Devil. You’re more than willing to invest in solutions, and to keep a healthy balance for yourself and create space for self care will mean taking a fearless inventory of how you relate to yourself, and the boundaries and limitations you’ve created. If you’re still engaging in negative self-talk in the hope that it will ‘correct’ bad behavior it’s far past time to let that habit go, and instead be more positive, engaging with what you are doing right. Allow yourself the same space and grace that you’d give to others for healing, and know that the sort of radical self-acceptance you need to embrace will take time to cultivate. You’re worth it,  Capricorn!

Aquarius

Your Card: The Star. Spend some time with yourself, Aquarius. Not the one you create and cultivate for others, but your true, authentic self. Reconnect with what you love and what moves your spirit, and you’ll find even the most painful and integrated of masks start to slip away. Remember why you do what you do, and allow yourself to feel the optimism and hope that comes from enriching your inner life. You may even find that literal stargazing may give you the space and perspective you’re seeking.  

Pisces

Your Card: The Moon. It can be scary to be vulnerable and admit that you need some time and maintenance,  Pisces, but I encourage you to do just that. Understand that giving yourself the time to reengage with your intuition, and to process what your experiences have been throughout the year is as important as the experiences themselves. You could experience some profound moments in the moonlight, so be aware of when the full moons are. Face your fears, so they don’t calcify into limitations.