The Queen of Pentacles is mysterious and glorious and always gives me insight into hope.

She walks the Earth with her bare foot, her right breast bared. She holds a thorny rose in hand, and the symbol of the fruits of her labor, the Pentacle, in the other. She is wearing a goat’s head as a crown. I’ll say that again: She is wearing a goat’s head as a crown! She casually inhabits vulnerability, hope, strength and beauty. She is the embodiment of “this is hard, but you’ve got it if you think you do.”

I took the above photo in the Fall, but it was ready to speak today, 12.26.21, as we move through the portal that is the time between Christmas and the New Year. (And if you follow or study Astrology, this year the time of Venus Retrograde conjunct Pluto in Capricorn). This moment is a time usually filled with hope and celebration and connection, as defined by parties, resolutions, and looking forward. But what do we do when the time where we ritualize hope and change is filled with fear, dread, and the specter of an unknown future?

I can only tell you what I konw to do: look deeply and find allies like this Queen, and perhaps the little rock below, to give aid.

So there you are, that little shining rock trapped between many hard places, just catching a bit of sunlight. What is there to do in the face of seemingly impenetrable stillness? I offer this practice.

Breathe and feel the stillness call you deeply into yourself.
What have you learned over the past 2, 5, 13 years?
Where in your life have I been worked so deeply that you have been left with only yourself and your lonely heart?
What is now presenting itself in that space as a Light or Balm?
What will guide me in receiving that help and support?
What is one word I can take into 2022 to help me remember this?

Take a moment to tune deeply into this place. Could 2022 hold the possibility of connection, relationship, or beauty in what has been a place of ferocious ordeal?