January is just about behind us and our year is getting started. Personally, I don’t really feel like it’s a new year. If you have been reading these check-ins from the very first collective reading, you will notice a theme and pattern I have noticed with myself – days blend together and the month moves much faster than I would like!
Anyway, this month, we are looking forward to February. I will be pulling three cards, as usual, to give us a bit more insight into what February has to offer.
If you need a refresher for our collective reading, you can find that here → Peering into 2023 
Collective Tarot Reading. If you are new here, this is a periodic divinatory reading I do to shine light on the collective reading that I do at the beginning of the year. The cards pulled here for the next month are a reflection and check-in with the relevant card from the yearly reading.
Was January Relevant?
So, since it was the beginning of the year, I do not do a check-in for January. We can go back and look at the card I drew for January in conjunction with the theme of the year, obstacles, and goals.
January 2023: The Three of Swords
Heartbreak, betrayal, and loss. This is definitely not something we want to see for January but that’s what we have. What’s interesting to me is that this may be the tipping point that leads us to the theme of the year. Something may happen this month that causes us to have conflict with those we care about. Watch out for people who are acting unfairly, lying, and being intentionally deceitful to further their own motives. Whoever this is in your life, it may be someone close to you – the swords through the heart show that it has the potential to be especially painful.
Read more: The Three of Swords - Spells8 Tarot Lesson
I can’t say personally that this has truly affected me, though maybe it has and I haven’t seen it yet. It’s never a good omen to start the year off with a painful card like the Three of Swords. The good thing, though, is it gives us a chance to heal and move on from someone or something that we do not need in our lives, even if we can’t see it just yet.
As I said in the original reading, this card and the month of January could be the tipping point to move us toward The Seven of Rods. We have to remember that our obstacle of this year is The Sun, which is a crazy thing to think about! But this conflict may give us a chance to practice our coping skills and learn to set (and honor!) our own boundaries with other people.
This month, we are looking at the month of February!
As a reminder, the collective reading for the month of February has us looking at The Queen of Rods Reversed.
February 2023: Queen of Rods Reversed
Whatever happened last month, it doesn’t seem like it will affect February. We go into the month having an abundance of confidence in ourselves. We know our truth. We firmly stand in our beliefs. We aren’t afraid to share what we know and have that challenged by others. This energy of confidence may start off fairly small this month. This is your sign to build it up and really take charge of your self-image. Watch how others move through life – take inspiration (don’t compare!) from their routines, habits, and lifestyle. Find something that works for you so you can maintain the confidence you need throughout the year.
Read more: The Queen of Wands - Spells8 Tarot Lesson
With this card in mind, I pulled three more cards to give us some more guidance on where February is headed.
The above image shows three cards from the Traditional Manga Tarot. From left to right, they are: The 4 of Pentacles, The King of Pentacles, and The Hermit.
Four of Pentacles 
Depicting a person sitting tightly on their pentacles, this card denotes a scarcity mindset. It is less about protecting what we have and more about making sure we never, ever lose it – there’s a fear there that isn’t usually present. This fear may come from past experiences or current situations. If you aren’t careful, this fear can rule you life. It is more important to have a good relationship with money than to hoard it because you’re afraid you will lose it all.
King of Pentacles
This is an odd card to pull following the Four of Pentacles, because the King of Pentacles is all about having material abundance and using your confidence and knowledge to obtain it. The King sits high on his thrown with his wealth surrounding him, almost like he’s putting on display just how easy it is for him to maintain his wealthy status. However, this doesn’t come from a place of bragging, more of an example of good behaviors to have when following your dreams.
The Hermit 
The Hermit – one of my favorite cards, if I’m being honest, especially in this deck! The Hermit comes along and asks us to go inward for some self-reflection. Sometimes we can only find the answers we are looking for if we look inside ourselves, first. He uses the light from his own spirit to guide him through the darkness of his own subconscious. He knows what he is looking for and that sometimes, the road to get there is through stillness and isolation. Look inward and you will find what you are looking for.
Just as a reminder…
The Card of the Year: The Seven of Rods
- conflict, protecting what you’ve worked for, passionate disagreements
Goals of 2023: Justice Reversed
- lack of balance, unfair treatment, honesty with others
Obstacles of 2023: The Sun
- keeping the peace, complacency, people pleasing, avoiding confrontation
Putting it together…
After pulling the three extra cards, I reviewed the card for February myself and am pleasantly surprised at the correlation. It does not look like February is changing much, besides maybe an increased fear of losing what we work for. I feel like the fear we are seeing from the Four of Pentacles comes from something that happened in our lives in January.
Pentacles are all about material wealth, the physical world, and your home life. Be mindful of how things play out at home and how you spend your money this month. You may have the confidence and knowledge to work hard and save your money, but there is a difference between saving money for a rainy day and hoarding it because you are scared it will all disappear. The Hermit is a good card to have in combination with the rest of the cards because he assures us that when we look inward, we will find the answers we need to move smoothly through the month of February.
What do you think?
Do you have any insight to share from the collective reading? And how do you think February is going to go?
If you want to do your own reading for the new month, you can find the current infographic below. I also have a blog post that goes into more detail about each card in the layout. You can find that post by clicking here.
I totally get it. There’s little concept of time anymore as everything just goes round and round.
I can’t help but feel that this ties in perfectly with Venus’ influence in Pisces (where it will be for most of February) that 
That’s so amazing! You’re right - when things like this line up across divinatory systems or readings, it’s pretty neat!
Still a nice surprise, but glad I didn’t get too carried away!
I really appreciate your card readings, they always seem so fitting.