A Tarot Reading For Navigating Your Love Life This Winter

Winter’s festivities and family time can pile on pressure to have a Hallmark-perfect romance, whether that means finding a new relationship or making your current one look just right on a holiday card. If anything, these stressors can backfire.

In the spirit of authenticity and clarity, I pulled some tarot cards to help you navigate love this winter. The advice applies whether you’re partnered or poly, single and seeking, or focusing on self-love. Take what resonates and leave the rest.

What is Tarot?

The first tarot deck was likely created in Italy during the 15th century to be used as a game. The Romani people — an ethnic group originally from India that began to leave in waves during the 10th and 11th centuries, settling in Europe in the 14th and 15th — were the first to use these decks as a divinatory tool.

Upon their arrival, Roma were met with persecution, which persists today. Fortune telling and other traditional work became survival trades, and as such, Roma popularized card reading, palmistry, tea leaf and coffee reading all throughout the West.

How I Read Tarot

Fortune telling is a family trade for me, taught to me by my grandmother starting when I was 4. Sharing Romani culture through divination, my podcast, and other work is my way of blending spirituality and activism.

The five cards below represent embodiment (your energy right now); situation (what’s around you at the moment); obstacle (a struggle you’re facing); action (what to do about it); and a lesson (what you will learn from this month.)

Your Winter Tarot Reading For Love

Embodiment: Ten of Pentacles

The Ten of Pentacles suggests that you are ready to upgrade your relationships. This card emphasizes abundance and family, so dig deep to discover what this means for you. What are you looking to share with your loved ones? What kind of support do you want from your relationships? Understanding your needs is the first step toward meeting them.

Situation: King of Wands

Bursting with the energy of confidence, responsibility, and leadership, the King of Wands indicates that you’re ready to take charge of your love life. You might want to embody these traits yourself, or seek them in someone else. Reflect on how you can bring a healthy sense of empowerment and affirmation into your relationships.

Obstacle: The Four of Wands

The Four of Wands is a card of home, stability, finding your niche, and sometimes even marriage. This card can arise as an obstacle if you’re feeling unbalanced or insecure. If these unsettling feelings are coming from another person, that’s a message to steer clear. These emotions might also stem from your own sense of self. How can you work through these issues, either with your partner or another support system? You’re responsible for bringing yourself into balance, but you don’t have to do it alone.

Action: The Star

The Star is a beautiful card of optimism and hope. It’s important for you to keep faith in romance. Don’t settle if it doesn’t feel right. Believe in your own future happiness, fulfillment, abundance, and self-love; this will help you navigate relationships with honesty and clarity. The more you stay true to yourself, the easier it’ll be to find others on your wavelength. Strong connections are on their way.

Lesson: The Ace of Wands

The Ace of Wands signals that your love life is on the cusp of a new cycle. If you’re single or poly, actively work toward meeting new people, but don’t waste time with connections you’re not excited about. If you’re partnered, you’re due for some excitement. How can you switch up your routines and bring fresh energy to your relationship? Change is inevitable, and it’s a good thing. You are ready to grow. Seize this moment.

How To Use This Reading’s Lessons

The abundance of Wands in this reading brings plenty of fiery passion, but that energy is grounded by the practical Pentacles.

It’s time to reflect on your priorities in your current or future relationship, possibly through journaling. Consider both practical desires (such as geographic location and financial values) and emotional needs (for example, strong communication skills and a sense of purpose).

Repeat the exercise for yourself. How do you want to behave and feel in a relationship? What do you want to offer a partner? What would growth look like? Your answers may be similar or different from the ideas you were raised with.

For inspiration, watch Infamy (Infamia), a Netflix series that tells the story of a teenage Romani girl who dreams of becoming a rapper, but her family has arranged her marriage to a powerful businessman and expects her to become a wife and mother. This story centers around balancing passion and necessity, dreams and tradition, and the journey to discover one’s true self.