Tarot Review 1.10.25: Mars Controls The Cards
The god of war, men, and violence shows his hand as the cards urge us to listen to our intuition.
The following tarot rumination spans the week beginning January 6th, 2025, and there are plenty of inferences that can be made now that we are heading into a weekend which bookends desperation and chaos for many around the globe. The inextricable link between astrology and this particular brand of cartomancy is brought into sharp relief, not only because of the archetypes associated with current transits, but also the choice of deck, which varies by day. Each card was pulled two weeks in advance, and decks are chosen based on lunar transits. Try to marinate on the art and symbolism of each card before diving into the below extrapolations…what do you see? Never forget that synchronicities show up in both large and small ways, can be unique to you, and occasionally appear in multiple places.
Monday, 1.6.25
The Chariot often features horses; noble creature bent to the will of humans and captured in a moment of exaltation or distress, depending on the position of the viewer. Here, muscles are taut and her mouth is agape, bearing huge teeth and a tongue which echoes the cherry red of the sky behind her. We know she is a war horse by her articulated armor, the breeze tearing at her mane, and her one visible pupil, wholly dilated with rage, fear, or a concoction of both. This is a state that cannot be maintained indefinitely.
The astrological correspondence of this card is Cancer, a feminine, cardinal sign whose passion comes at people sideways, like a crab. When upright, The Chariot reflects our agency as we enter the summer of our lives, having matured to some form of freedom. Think back to the first time living as an adult - the excitement of a home filled with furnishing and sundries subject to no scrutiny other than one’s own. Mars transiting Cancer in retrograde, which began on this day, is itself an upending, or disrupting of our cancerian comforts. The pink tourmaline beside The Chariot hints at a need for protection and compassion, and the pink streaks in the stone echo the ominous color of the sky. We are being attacked or thwarted in some way, our independence and agency threatened by a force as yet unknown to us.
Tuesday, 1.7.25
The sun in Scorpio rules The Six of Cups, capturing what extremism and obsession can bring us on the best of days. A woman is tangled in the vines of six lotus flowers in full bloom, her eyes closed and reflecting the red of their petals as though she is reminiscing on a past love. When she is reversed, this character appears to be free falling into delusion, or so absorbed by past indulgence that she cannot properly assess the present. Scorpio opposes an equally stubborn sign in the zodiac, that of earthy, sensual Taurus, where Luna happened to ingress on this day. Like Ferdinand The Bull, Taurus would happily eschew reality to sit in a grassy flower field, responsibilities be damned.
Sodalite brings the temperature down when we must communicate distressing or emotional news. As with most blue stones, sodalite opens and heals the throat, the body part that Taurus rules and that allows us to speak out about our needs, desires, and fears. It may be that we are avoiding the future, choosing instead to dwell in a past that has been sanitized and idealized. We are stuck looking back at the Five of Cups because we refuse to synthesize disappointment or sadness that might change the way we face our future, but we cannot hold reality off forever.
Wednesday, 1.8.25
The High Priestess, blind yet wise, is on the cusp of making a decree or declaration. Her mechanized hand hovers in the air and her black sleeve has slid down her arm, revealing code decipherable only to her. She has no need of external sight; the knowledge of the universe is stored in her cyborg body. When she comes to us reversed, it is a signal to shut out external voices and look for the deeper implications of a situation. A companion pull of tiger’s eye further underscores the benefits of internal focus and drive in this moment. We are distracted, unsure of ourselves, or reaching for shallow meaning and solutions. The High Priestess knows that the surface level of a thing is rarely the whole story, and like inexperienced sailors dodging icebergs, we have focused on only the visible peak and neglected the massive body beneath dark water.
Thursday, 1.9.25
A leap of faith is contemplated on the edge of a high-rise building, the reticent figure’s scarf rippling in anticipation. Encouragement comes in the form of urban marketing; a winking dog on a distant billboard. The Fool dangles a backpack in one hand, and hope in the form of a rose in the other. He seems to be ginning up the courage to step off into nothing and taking all of his worldly possessions with him. We can’t see how high he has scaled, nor the landscape beneath him - just like The Fool, we have to remain open to any possibility.
This card has a strong association with Uranus, the god of technology, beginnings and upheavals. Uranus is in the hot pink sky and the fiberoptic cables on the horizon, distributing data and messages between endless buildings. He destroys in order to create, and innovation often follows. This duality is echoed by a companion onyx, the crystal for both grief and peace, destruction and recovery. We are being asked to take a leap of faith off a crumbling fire exit. What other choice do we have?
Friday, 1.10.25
The fiery Nine of Wands always shows up when we are overworked, lagging, and wondering why we began a journey in the first place. Here, an elderly man has taken a seat to rest between laborious landscaping tasks. We know he is far from finished by the felled tree behind him, and the barren space around his fence. Instead of quitting entirely, he takes a moment to play his flute-like instrument, attracting a variety of birds to his nascent garden. Beyond the relief of rest and company, his avian friends assist him in his work, pruning the foliage and spreading seeds.
The Nine of Wands corresponds to Sagittarius, a sign known for constant expansion and exploration, but also for burnout and exhaustion when prone to extremes. Iolite, also known as The Viking’s Compass due to ancient navigational use at sea, shows us a better route to success, which makes this the ultimate, “Work smarter, not harder”, tarot message. We needn’t abandon our work, although we may be tempted. We simply need to forge a different, more sustainable path to completion.
Saturday, 1.11.25
A cultish figure imparts elemental mysteries inside the imagery of The Magician, seen here with a youthful, pink mop of hair and startling blue eyes. Reversed, his intentions are questionable, and we get a strong sense that he is hypnotizing us as a form of distraction. We are at risk of being bamboozled in some way, pockets picked and valuables nicked while we stare at his fiery hand. Like his corresponding planet, Mercury, he is fast, learned, and wily; just as likely to sell you some secrets as he is to steal your wallet.
Emerald is an interesting accompaniment to The Magician, revered as a stone of devotion and love in most Western lore, yet worn to counter deception and lies among ancient Asian civilizations. This card hints at such an illusion, likely in the form of a youthful figure selling us solutions that seem too good to be true. That’s because they are.
Sunday, 1.12.25
Heavy is the crown of The Emperor, caught here on his throne in a brief moment of repose and cushioned by the enormous eagle perched at his back. The yellow gold of his royal accoutrement draws our focus to the foreground and recalls the sun at high noon, blinding and vibrant. Sol represents kings, fathers, and leaders we hold up as ideal arbiters of order, much like this beleaguered figure. The Emperor corresponds with Aries in the Western zodiac, the sign which kicks off spring and welcomes solar energy into our lives. Mars is the planet taking the action, however, as the ruler of our initiatory zodiac sign, and we can sense his presence in the coiled strength of this figure’s bicep, as well as his sandals, which remain laced in case of battle.
Green aventurine is associated with love and money, neatly encapsulated in the stone’s planetary correspondence with Venus, who often tempers the more aggressive attributes of Mars when she is ideally positioned in the sky. Interestingly enough, on this day in 2025, Mars and Venus are a hair away from each other and looking bright as a fever, due to Mars spinning at the point in his orbit that hits closest to Earth. It may be that we experience a fruitful convergence of their energies today, like the colorful, harmonious diamonds in the background of this emperor. A higher authority could also be responsible for some kind of abundance or prosperity that he bestows on the citizenry in an attempt to retain order - either way, it would seem he keeps the loyalty of hi subjects…for now.
I love seeing the cards in color! The neon spread is especially striking.