New Moon Gateway: Breaking the Spell for Justice
New moon guidance + reading inspired by the Tarot's Justice, 4 of Swords, and King of Cups, including an invocation for Justice. Plus prompts and offerings for connecting with the Beloved Dead.
Greetings, my fellow seekers!
Time for a laugh.
I would love to hear your thoughts on what Tarot card this could be. I have a few ideas but I want to hear yours first.
The times are serious but we don’t always have to take ourselves so seriously and to point out the ridiculousness of wanna be kings is a powerful strategy used throughout time.
The respite brought by laughter strengthens us to lean into this Justice moonth with its call to serve truth and fairness, uphold legal systems, and cultivate balance and right order over chaos.
This moonth’s passage through the 4 of Swords and the October into November days of ancestral remembrance invite us to call upon our Beloved Dead and the ancestors to gather power for restoring Justice to the center of our institutions. More on these themes below but first a review of these related offerings:
I will share my practice of writing to the Dead virtually in the Shining Tribe Exploratorium on Sunday, October 26th and in person through the Easthampton Public Library on Monday, November 10th. Anytime find prompts for writing on your own on Soul Path Sanctuary.
And a reminder on the Reading of the Moonth: Feel free to use or modify these questions as a reading or reflections for yourself. I do also offer it as a e-reading. It can be an interesting practice to do these readings for a season or a year and see what patterns emerge. I have people who work with me steading over months or even years and some people pop in when a theme or the questions most speak to them. Do what best serves your own soul tending :).
REFLECTION QUESTIONS / READING FOR THE MOONTH
JUSTICE: What contribution can I make to the renewal of Justice during this moonth?
SPELL BREAKING: What spell do I need to break to make my contribution?
POSSIBILITY: What possibility—perhaps only imagined before—can I make real as I break the spell on the path of Justice?
I do offer this as an e-reading in my collaborative intuitive format for $32. Sign up with PayPal or email me about sending a check. When I receive notification, I’ll be in touch to let you know about when to expect to receive your reading by email. I generally have openings to do these readings on Mondays and Saturdays.
New moon blessings to you,
Carolyn
Events
October 31 - November 12, 2025: Twelve Days of the Dead. November’s first days bring Mexican Day of the Dead traditions, Catholic masses for All Saints and Soul Days, Samhain celebrations to mark when the veil between the worlds is thinnest, and secular commemorations on Veterans Day. All offer different ways to connect with those departed. No matter your traditions or your beliefs, the turning of the year issues an invitation to keep up a loving flow between the living and the dead. During these days, I will share my practice of writing to the Dead virtually in the Shining Tribe Exploratorium on Sunday, October 26th and in person through the Easthampton Public Library on Monday, November 10th. Anytime find prompts for writing on your own on Soul Path Sanctuary.
November 2025 - January 2026: Descent and Return of the Light. This year’s Solstice-hinged retreat-in-everyday life to gather the wisdom of the darkest time of the year will begin on Monday, November 25th. Registration will open on the November full moon.
November 2026: Kingston Tarot Lenormand Conference November 13 to 15, 2026 in Ontario, Canada. Registration is open to allow for a very economical payment plan.
New Moon Gateway: Breaking the Spell for Justice
The arrival of the new moon stamps the moonth with an initiating energy that shifts and develops through a cycle of growth, fullness, and descent. Each moonth I look to the Tarot’s astrological correspondences for the new moon to find 3 Tarot cards (a Major showing us the path, a numbered Minor showing us our passage and practice, and a court/people card showing us the posture to take on the path) to guide musings on soul tending, selection of prompts for personal/spiritual practice, and creation of a moonthly reading. The reading can be done any time, but ideally between the new and full moons. Revisit the cards you pull periodically up until the next lunation to gain new insight as the light changes.
The Soul Tending Path of Justice
Justice seems so far away, obscured by terror, purposely ignored, yet as the solar year turns, we have arrived at the lunar gateway associated with the Tarot’s Justice card (exact new moon moment is Tuesday, the 21st at 8:25 am ET, time zone converter). Justice calls to be invoked, renewed, established.
Crying out for Justice
Justice we call you into the center of our hearts, our minds, our spirits.
May the fire of your being inspire us to believe your beauty can shine forth in our world.
May the flow of your being purify and release us from wounds that come from the places where You are violated.
May the breath of your being pass through us and form on the lips of all your words of wisdom.
May the endurance of your being aid us to persist in serving You.
May we hear your truth. May we know your balance. May we gather your wisdom.
Justice, guide our thoughts, words, and actions.
In 2017 I explored facets of Justice in the Faces and Spaces of Justice series. Right relationship between all beings; the role we can play in the renewal of Justice; the importance of Love; and the necessity of Justice’s presence in both the halls of power and community settings were vital themes.
Out of that series and due to the happenings of our times, I have returned over and over again to the Shadow Woman of Justice from Rachel Pollack’s Shining Tribe Tarot.
In 2017, I wrote: When Justice is not honored in the public sphere, she finds sanctuary in the cave.
Before humans built sites of worship, they entered caves as places to connect with and honor the sacred. Our ancestors experienced caves as the origin place of the Gods and Goddesses or the world itself, a passageway into otherworldly spaces, a place to practice divination and ritual, or a burial site. Suggested by its rounded darkness and these associations with life, death, and mystery, the cave is an earthly womb offering regeneration for those who dare to give themselves to its darkness.
In the darkness, Shadow Woman – and all of those who dare to follow her teachings – meets her losses, sees the limits to her power, comes to understand what has thrown her out of balance. In the darkness of the cave she gains this gift of greater self-knowledge. In the darkness of the cave she begins the process of regeneration.
I see the Shadow Woman of Justice, who having given herself completely to the cave’s sacred energy, is beginning her return to the world. She stands at the threshold and has placed her two pans just beyond the cave’s entrance. She’s been casting stones – a kind of divination – to find the right time for her emergence. Now that there are a matching number of stones in each pan, the time is near.
In these last few years of war and authoritarianism on the rise, I am not sure where Shadow Woman is. I can imagine she has receded further back into the cave. Not to desert us but to protect Herself because we are not yet able to. In the US, for example, we are collectively grappling with a spell that wants to keep us from exercising our powers of protection.
If we are to partner with Her, we must follow Her into the darkness. It’s no easy thing to do. In our darkness now, there is terror that is not over but keeps coming. In the darkness there is wild, uncontrollable grief that is absolutely dangerous.
But in the dark, we connect with different powers: the dark powers we most need in these times of breakdown. And at this time of year, I think especially of our beloved dead and ancestors. They may have messages for us about how to defend Justice if we would but listen. They know what they know from their victories defending Justice and from lessons learned from their failures. They know Shadow Woman of Justice because She is there with them in the dark.
Our passage card of the moonth points us into the dark to listen to these wise ones.
Passage and Practice: The Four of Swords
This moon passes through the last third of Justice’s place on the Wheel of the Year, which could be said to be its most developed aspect and associated with the Tarot’s Four of Swords.
In the iconic Rider Waite Smith image, this passage, at first glance, seems to indicate a time of inaction. But there is something mysterious about the central figure in the image. Is the Knight shown, a person sleeping or are we seeing a sarcophagus representing the dead buried within?
Whether living or dead, the hands are actively held up in prayer position rather than resting on the figure’s chest. Reexamining this image, we find dynamic rather than passive action.
As a living being, the Four of Swords Knight is engaged in meditation or prayer to clear and concentrate the mind and invites us to do the same. The Knight has stepped out of the everyday world for these meditations, seeking out a sacred place to support a connection to their highest/deepest values such as Justice. After centering themselves, Knights will be better able to resist the spell that the noisy, political world would cast as it attempts to disrupt their focus on serving Justice. As one dedicated to a quest and cause, this meditative pause represents a temporary time of renewal to gather energy for the work ahead.
Meditation practices scheduled into your day (even 5 minutes helps) or week (can you find a block of time to step out of the busyness of life?) are especially beneficial for moving through this moonth’s passage. This could be as simple as closing your eyes, focusing on your breath, and reminding yourself of the values you seek to uphold. When you open your eyes, you will be more centered in what is most important.
It is also possible that this Knight is an effigy of an ancient ancestor. Perhaps the ancestor prays for us, the living. This moon cycle that goes up to November 20th brings us through the cross cultural days of ancestor connection. First there is Samhain, the Celtic New Year on October 31st when the veil between the worlds is said to be thinnest. Then November’s first days bring Mexican Day of the Dead traditions, Catholic masses for All Saints and Soul Days, and secular commemorations on Veterans Day. I mark 12 Days of the Dead at this time.
In this time of lengthening nights, we can reach out to our beloved dead and ancestors with love. We may put a lot of effort into our reaching rituals, in our sending of love. But the Four of Swords as a passage of Justice reminds us to balance our reaching with receiving. Our ancestors can be active in their support of us. They may be sending just what we need to know to move in a positive direction out of these testing times. Perhaps they are praying for us and we need to open our hearts to receive this loving support.
Posture for Path Walking: King of Cups (known as the Mystic of Vials in the Numinous Tarot)
The King of Cups shows us how to move through this passage on the path of Justice. These masters of the element of water have come into a strong relationship with their emotions. Not suppressing them but letting them flow and riding the emotions that arise, both storm and quiet. This emotional balance supports the King’s ability to imagine and believe in possibilities beyond rational proof, what has not yet come into existence, or what lies waiting in the past to be reclaimed. This King holds on to and shares out this vision of a just and generative world. Even when the world’s realities seem to tip far away from the vision, this King persists in working for the good of the Whole in creative and loving ways.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS / READING FOR THE MOONTH
These questions are offered for reflection and to spark practice throughout the moonth. Pulling Tarot and oracle cards in connection to these questions is appropriate, but not absolutely necessary. You might carry a question with you on a walk for example and observe what is happening in the natural world as a way to find insight into the answer to the question.
JUSTICE: What contribution can I make to the renewal of Justice during this moonth?
SPELL BREAKING: What spell do I need to break to make my contribution?
POSSIBILITY: What possibility—perhaps only imagined before—can I make real as I break the spell on the path of Justice?
I do offer this as an e-reading in my collaborative intuitive format for $32. Sign up with PayPal or email me about sending a check. When I receive notification, I’ll be in touch to let you know about when to expect to receive your reading by email. I generally have openings to do these readings on Mondays and Saturdays.
Soul Path Sanctuary Library
These essays offer inspiration and practice prompts to support the loving flow between the living and the dead. They are available at no cost in the Soul Path Sanctuary library. Feel free to share with anyone who could use support on their grief journey.
Broken Open Heart in the Imaginal Realm
Speak Soul-to-Soul
49 Days and the Green Door of Death
Eternity Box: Anniversary of a Death
Soul Path Sanctuary Offerings
Question-Focused Tarot Sessions
I am offering these 60-90 minute interactive sessions to explore a focus question by phone or Zoom. Cost: $100. If interested, contact me about timing and to receive your focus question prep sheet.
Soul Path Mentoring
Offered through on-going hour-long sessions usually at monthly or seasonal intervals. My studies and life experience make me a mentoring match for:
Developing a spiritual practice
Integrating Tarot into your spiritual practice
Grief accompaniment
Embracing your creative process, especially for writers
Moving through a life transition
Sessions are conversations guided by questions and can include Tarot (or not).
I’m happy to have a conversation with you about if you are interested in exploring this kind of soul support practice.
Perhaps the Moon for the dino and shark because they remind me of the wolf and crayfish on the Rider-Waite-Smith card, scary creatures that have a lesson to teach us about the Shadow. Your musings about Justice in her cave remind me of political commentator Sarah Kendzior's wonderful book, "The Last American Road Trip," where she finds spiritual renewal in caves and national parks as she watches democracy falter.
King of Swords, reversed for the dino-dolphin no kings mashup?? Thank you, as always, for the fodder for new moon contemplation, and for the justice lens. May we all be looking through a lens of justice and interconnection with all of creation, both "living" and "dead."