Welcome Back to Kim’s Esoteric Tarot Journal

Posted on June 11, 2026 | Leave a comment

A Summer Solstice Tarot Reflection

The Summer Solstice is one of the most sacred and energetically charged moments on the wheel of the year. Arriving on June 21, 2026, it marks the moment when the sun reaches its highest and most powerful position in the sky, pouring its light and warmth upon the earth with a fullness that will not come again until another year has turned.

Across centuries and cultures, the Summer Solstice has been honored as a time of peak solar energy, abundance, and divine fire. Ancient peoples built stone circles, lit bonfires on hilltops, and gathered in ceremony to celebrate the sun at its zenith. From Stonehenge to the pyramids of Egypt, from the Norse celebration of Midsommar to the Slavic feast of Ivan Kupala, human beings have always understood that this moment carries something extraordinary. The sun is not merely a physical body. It is a symbol of consciousness, of the life force that animates everything, of the light we carry within ourselves.

Spiritually, the Summer Solstice is associated with full awakening. If the Winter Solstice represents the seed planted in darkness, the Summer Solstice is the flower in full bloom. It is the moment when what has been growing within us stands fully revealed in the light. Nothing is hidden. Everything is illuminated. This is why so many spiritual traditions associate the Solstice with truth, clarity, and the courage to be seen.

It is also, paradoxically, a moment of surrender. The sun reaches its peak and then, almost immediately, begins its slow return toward darkness. The Solstice teaches us that even at our most brilliant, even when we are shining most fully, there is a natural turning point. There is wisdom in knowing when to let go of striving and simply rest in what has been created. This is not defeat. It is the sacred rhythm of all living things.

And honestly? It feels like the perfect time to return to writing here. This space actually goes back much further than this year. I started Kim’s Esoteric Tarot Journals in 2014, and it slowly grew into a home for tarot meanings and reflections that thousands of you have visited over the years. Life pulled me away from writing for a while, but I never stopped thinking about this community or these cards. Coming back now, at the Solstice, with the Hanged Man showing up everywhere, feels like more than coincidence. This year, the Hanged Man kept finding me in readings, a card I once viewed with unease, and I finally started listening to what it was trying to tell me. The Hanged Man doesn’t speak of defeat. He speaks of surrender, of willingly stepping back to gain a perspective you simply cannot find while rushing forward. That’s exactly what this past season has felt like for me, and why returning to this space now feels so right.

Looking Back Before Moving Forward

Can you believe we’re already halfway through the year?

January arrived with big goals and fresh energy. Then life happened. Some plans moved forward beautifully. Others took unexpected detours. The Solstice gives us a natural moment to check in without judgment.

Ask yourself:

  • What have I accomplished since January?
  • What lessons have I learned?
  • What am I ready to leave behind?

Tarot is wonderful for exactly this kind of reflection. Sometimes the cards remind us we’ve made more progress than we’ve given ourselves credit for. Other times they gently reveal where we’re holding ourselves back. Either way, the conversation is always worth having.

The Hanged Man: A Card for This Moment

In the Rider Waite Smith tradition, the Hanged Man is depicted suspended upside down from a living tree, his expression calm and serene rather than distressed. He has chosen this position willingly. One leg is crossed behind the other, forming a figure four, a symbol of stability and groundedness even in an unconventional posture. A halo of light surrounds his head, suggesting illumination gained through stillness.

The Hanged Man is numbered 12 in the Major Arcana, placing him between Justice and Death, two cards deeply concerned with truth and transformation. His position in the deck is no accident. He is the necessary pause before profound change.

When the Hanged Man appears in a reading, he is rarely asking you to struggle harder or move faster. He is inviting you to do the opposite. To wait. To observe. To release the need to control outcomes. The wisdom he offers is this: sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is nothing at all, and trust that clarity will come.

At the Summer Solstice, when the sun holds its breath at the peak of the sky before beginning its slow return, the Hanged Man feels especially relevant. Both ask us to honor the pause. Both remind us that stillness is not stagnation. It is preparation.

A Simple Summer Solstice Spread

Try this three-card pull to connect with the Solstice energy:

  • Card One: What Has Blossomed? Growth and wins from the first half of the year.
  • Card Two: What Needs Releasing? Habits, fears, or beliefs keeping you stuck.
  • Card Three: Where Should I Focus Next? Guidance and opportunities for the months ahead.

Take your time. Sometimes the message arrives instantly. Other times it unfolds over a day or two.

When the Cards Challenge You

Not every reading brings comfortable cards, and that’s okay.

A difficult card isn’t a punishment. It’s simply pointing to something that needs attention, healing, or a fresh perspective. Some of my most valuable readings have been the ones that challenged me most. The Hanged Man himself is proof of that. On the surface, he looks like a card of being stuck. Look deeper, and he is one of the most spiritually rich cards in the entire deck.

The cards aren’t here to judge us. They’re here to help us grow.

A Few Journaling Prompts to Close

After your reading, sit with these:

  • Which card felt most significant, and why?
  • What am I being encouraged to release?
  • Where in my life might the Hanged Man’s wisdom apply right now?
  • What one action can I take this week to move forward?

Even a few honest sentences in your journal can become something meaningful to look back on.

The Second Half Is Still Unwritten

No matter what the first six months have looked like, you have the opportunity to shape what comes next. The light is at its peak. The Hanged Man reminds us to breathe it in before we move.

I’m so glad to be back sharing this space with you. Whether you’ve been here for years or just found your way here, thank you for being part of this community.

How are you honoring the Summer Solstice this year? I’d love to hear in the comments.

Blessings,
Kim
Kim’s Esoteric Tarot Journals

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Tarot Symbolism Series: Part 5 – Animals

Posted on August 20, 2026 | Leave a comment
Tarot Symbolism Part 5 graphic illustrating animal symbolism in tarot, including a dog, cat, horse, lion, wolf, dove, raven, butterfly, fish, serpent, and sphinx, with examples of loyalty, courage, instinct, transformation, and spiritual meaning.
Animal symbolism in tarot reveals the instinctive messages beneath the surface, from loyalty and courage to transformation, mystery, and hidden wisdom.

We have covered four layers of tarot symbolism so far: numerology, color, direction and body language, and clouds and weather. Each one adds a different kind of depth to a reading. Today we are turning our attention to the animals that appear throughout the Rider-Waite deck, because there are more of them than most people realize, and not one of them is there by accident.

Tarot Symbolism 105: What the Animals in Your Cards Are Saying

Animals in tarot carry both instinctive and symbolic meaning. They represent aspects of human nature that exist below the level of rational thought: drives, fears, loyalties, and appetites that do not show up cleanly in the human figures. When an animal appears in a card, it is almost always pointing to something primal, something that operates outside of what the conscious mind controls. Learning to read them gives you a direct line into the deeper layers of what a card is communicating.

Why Animals Matter in a Reading

The human figures in a tarot card represent the conscious actors in a situation: the choices being made, the roles being played, the intentions at work. Animals represent everything underneath that. A dog in the corner of a card is not just decorative. It is telling you something about loyalty, instinct, or the presence of a faithful companion, depending on the context. A serpent coiled around a figure is not just visual interest. It is carrying centuries of symbolic weight about wisdom, temptation, and transformation all at once.

I always tell my clients to notice animals the same way they notice people in a card. Ask what the animal is doing, not just what it is. A horse standing still carries different energy from a horse mid-gallop. A dog sitting calmly at its owner’s feet carries different energy from a dog barking at the edge of a cliff. The animal’s posture and position matter just as much as its species.

Animals Reference

Here is a quick reference for the animals most commonly found in Rider-Waite tarot cards and what each one generally brings to a reading.

AnimalCore EnergyGeneral Meaning
DogLoyaltyFaithfulness, protection, companionship, and instinctive trust
CatIndependenceSelf-sufficiency, mystery, and quiet observation
HorsePowerFreedom, momentum, raw energy, and the drive to move forward
Bull / OxEnduranceStrength, stubbornness, fertility, and connection to the earth
LionCourageStrength, nobility, passion, and the force of will over instinct
EagleVisionHigher perspective, spiritual authority, and the ability to see clearly from above
DovePeaceHope, purity, divine blessing, and the arrival of calm after difficulty
Raven / CrowOmenHidden knowledge, the unconscious, transformation, and messages from unseen places
IbisWisdomEsoteric knowledge, communication with the divine, and the written record of truth
ButterflyTransformationChange, rebirth, the soul in transition, and beauty emerging from struggle
Serpent / SnakeDualityWisdom and temptation, healing and danger, cycles of death and renewal
Crayfish / LobsterThe unconsciousPrimitive instinct, things rising from the depths, and fears surfacing from below
FishAbundanceFertility, the unconscious mind, spiritual nourishment, and emotional depth
Ram / GoatDeterminationAmbition, headstrong energy, the push through obstacles, and Aries energy
ElephantMemoryAncient wisdom, patience, and the weight of accumulated experience
WolfInstinctRaw nature, the untamed self, and the call of primal forces
SphinxMysteryAncient riddles, the threshold between the known and unknown, and timeless wisdom

Quick Examples

The Fool has a small white dog at his heels. People debate whether the dog is warning him or celebrating with him, and that ambiguity is the point. The dog represents loyal instinct, the part of us that travels alongside our choices without judgment. It is not stopping The Fool. It is simply there, which says something about the nature of the leap he is taking.

Strength shows a woman gently closing the mouth of a lion with her bare hands. The lion is raw passion, anger, and physical force. The woman is not fighting it or fleeing from it. She is meeting it with calm and quiet confidence. The entire meaning of the card lives in that relationship between the human figure and the animal. Without the lion, there is no Strength card. It is the thing being worked with, not overcome.

The Moon card places a crayfish at the edge of a pool, beginning to climb out of the water. The crayfish represents the most primitive layer of the unconscious: the fears and instincts that live so deep we barely know they are there until they surface. Its emergence from the water is not comfortable. It is the moment when something that has been hidden below finally begins to come up, whether we are ready for it or not.

The Chariot shows two sphinxes, one black and one white, harnessed to the vehicle but pulling in opposite directions. They represent opposing forces that the charioteer has not fully tamed but has learned to direct. The card is not about domination. It is about holding competing energies in enough tension to move forward anyway. The sphinxes make that meaning specific in a way that no amount of text could.

How to Use This When You Read

When an animal appears in a card, slow down and give it a moment before moving on:

•  What animal is it, and what does it carry symbolically?

•  What is the animal doing? Is it still, moving, threatening, or at ease?

•  How is it positioned relative to the human figures in the card?

•  Is the same animal appearing in more than one card in your spread?

That last question is worth paying attention to. When the same animal shows up across multiple cards in a spread, it is usually pointing to a theme that runs through the entire reading. Multiple cards featuring dogs, for example, might be pointing to questions of loyalty or trust running through the situation as a whole. Let the animal symbolism work across the spread, not just within each individual card.

Animals are meant to add instinctive depth to a reading, not replace the card’s traditional meaning. Keep the question, the position in the spread, and your own intuition in the mix. The animals are speaking. It is worth listening to what they have to say.

Coming Up Next

Next we move from animals to the plant world and look at the flowers, vines, trees, and vegetation that appear throughout the Rider-Waite deck. Plants carry their own rich symbolic language, and some of the most quietly important symbolism in the deck lives in the details of what is growing in the background. After plants and flowers, the series continues through the four elements, celestial symbols, clothing, objects, landscapes and buildings, and repeated symbols.

Have you started noticing the animals in your cards? If so, what are your thoughts?

Tarot readings are intended for adults age 18 and older and are provided for entertainment and personal reflection. Tarot should not replace professional medical, legal, mental health, or financial advice.

© 2026 Kim’s Esoteric Tarot Journals. All rights reserved.

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Tarot Symbolism Series: Part 4 – Clouds and Weather

Posted on August 18, 2026 | Leave a comment
Alt text: **Tarot Symbolism Part 4 graphic illustrating how clouds, weather, sky color, sunlight, moonlight, rain, wind, and storms add meaning and emotional context to tarot card readings. ****

Tarot Symbolism 104: What the Sky Is Telling You

We have built up three layers of tarot symbolism so far. Numerology tells you where a situation sits in its cycle. Color tells you how that situation feels. Direction and body language tells you how the figures are relating to it. Today we are adding a fourth layer: clouds and weather. This is the one people tend to overlook entirely, because the sky is always there and the eye moves past it quickly. That is exactly why it is worth slowing down for.

The artists behind the Rider-Waite deck were deliberate about atmospheric conditions the same way they were deliberate about everything else. A clear yellow sky means something different from a gray one. White billowing clouds carry a different charge than a dark stormy horizon. The weather in a card is not decoration. It is the emotional and situational climate surrounding whatever is happening in the foreground, and it will often tell you things the figures and objects cannot.

What Atmosphere Adds to a Reading

Think of the weather in a tarot card the way you think about the weather in real life. A difficult conversation held on a calm sunny afternoon feels different from the same conversation during a thunderstorm. The external conditions shape the experience even when the core event is the same. Tarot works the same way. The sky and atmosphere surrounding a scene color everything happening within it.

When I am working through a spread with a client, I pay attention to whether the atmospheric conditions across the cards are consistent or shifting. A spread where most of the skies are clear and open reads very differently from one where storm clouds are building across multiple cards. The weather pattern across a spread can tell you whether a situation is moving toward resolution or heading into rougher territory, sometimes before the individual card meanings do.

Clouds and Weather Reference

Here is a quick reference for the atmospheric conditions most commonly found in Rider-Waite tarot cards and what each one generally brings to a reading.

ConditionCore EnergyGeneral Meaning
Clear skyOpennessClarity, favorable conditions, and nothing standing in the way
Blue skyPeaceCalm, mental clarity, and a situation that is settled or resolving
Yellow skyOptimismHope, intellectual energy, and a bright or fortunate outlook
Gray skyUncertaintyAmbiguity, unresolved tension, or a situation still in the balance
Dark or black skyCrisisDanger, fear, upheaval, or a situation at its most extreme point
Stormy skyConflictTurbulence, emotional intensity, and forces beyond easy control
Clouds: whiteTransitionChange in motion, possibility, and situations still taking shape
Clouds: darkThreatApproaching difficulty, suppressed emotion, or unacknowledged truth
Clouds: billowingDisruptionSudden change, upheaval, or energy that cannot be contained
RainReleaseGrief, cleansing, emotional release, or a long-held tension breaking
SnowStillnessIsolation, cold clarity, endings, or situations stripped to their core
WindChangeIdeas in motion, external forces at work, or a situation shifting fast
Calm waterReflectionEmotional stillness, intuition accessible, and inner clarity available
Rough waterTurbulenceEmotional upheaval, instability, and situations hard to navigate
Sun visibleVitalityLife force, success, clarity, and energy freely available
Moon visibleMysteryThe subconscious, hidden influences, and things not yet fully revealed

Quick Examples

The Sun card has one of the clearest skies in the entire deck: a solid warm background, no clouds, no shadows, no ambiguity anywhere in the atmosphere. The sky is not doing anything dramatic. It simply gets out of the way and lets the light pour through. That total absence of atmospheric interference is itself the message. Nothing is obscured, blocked, or uncertain. What you see is what you get.

The Moon card sits at the opposite end of the spectrum. The sky is dark, the moon itself casts an unreliable light, and the path running through the card disappears into the distance without resolution. The atmosphere is doing the heavy lifting here. Before you even read the crayfish, the towers, or the howling animals, the sky has already told you that this is a card of things not fully seen and situations not fully understood.

The Five of Swords has a turbulent, unsettled sky of pale green and gray with clouds still moving. The conflict in the card is technically over: one figure holds the swords and the others are walking away. But the sky has not cleared. That lingering atmospheric tension is the card’s most honest detail. The situation may have ended, but the emotional weather has not.

The Ten of Pentacles shows a clear, calm sky and a settled domestic scene. Everything in the atmosphere reinforces the card’s message of established security and completion. There is no weather happening. The sky is simply present, peaceful, and still, which is exactly what long-term stability feels like when it has genuinely arrived.

How to Use This When You Read

When you pull a card, take a moment to look at what is happening above the figures before you look at the figures themselves:

•  Is the sky clear or overcast? Settled or stormy?

•  What color is the sky, and how does that layer onto the card’s other colors?

•  Are clouds present, and if so, what are they doing?

•  Is there a body of water visible, and what is its surface like?

•  Does the atmospheric condition match the card’s traditional meaning, or does it complicate it?

That last question is often the most useful one. When the sky reinforces what the card already says, you have a situation that is straightforward. When the sky contradicts the card’s surface meaning, there is usually something more complicated going on beneath the obvious interpretation. A card with a hopeful traditional meaning but a dark and troubled sky is telling you to look more carefully before you land on the optimistic read.

Atmospheric conditions are meant to add context and depth to a reading, not override the card’s traditional meaning. Keep the question, the position in the spread, and your intuition in the mix. The weather is the backdrop. What happens in it still matters most.

Coming Up Next

Next we are moving from the sky down to the ground and looking at the animals that appear throughout the Rider-Waite deck. Animals carry deep instinctive and spiritual symbolism, and they show up in more cards than most people realize. After animals, the series continues through plants and flowers, the four elements, celestial symbols, clothing, objects, landscapes and buildings, and repeated symbols.

Have you started noticing the sky conditions in your cards? If so, what are your thoughts?

Tarot readings are intended for adults age 18 and older and are provided for entertainment and personal reflection. Tarot should not replace professional medical, legal, mental health, or financial advice.

© 2026 Kim’s Esoteric Tarot Journals. All rights reserved.

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Tarot Symbolism Series: Part 3 – Direction and Body Language

Posted on August 13, 2026 | Leave a comment
Direction and Body Language illustration featuring tarot figures facing left and right, with symbols for movement, openness, focus, stillness, posture, and gaze.
Direction, posture, and gaze can reveal powerful clues in tarot. Part 3 of the Tarot Symbolism Series explores how body language and the way figures face within a card can add deeper meaning to a reading.

Tarot Symbolism 103: What Posture and Gaze Reveal in the Cards

We have covered two layers of tarot symbolism so far: numerology tells you where a situation sits in its cycle, and color tells you how that situation feels. Today we are adding a third layer: direction and body language. This one tends to surprise people, because once you start seeing it, you cannot unsee it.

Every figure in the Rider-Waite deck is positioned with intention. Which way a character is facing, where their eyes are pointed, whether their arms are open or closed, whether they are standing or seated or on the move: all of it is part of the message the card is delivering. When I pull a tarot card, I always make sure to scan the entire card, including the figures and the direction they are facing. The body rarely lies, and that is just as true in tarot as it is in real life.

Why Body Language Matters in a Reading

Traditional card meanings give you the broad strokes of what a card is about. Body language narrows it down. Two cards can share a similar core meaning but feel completely different depending on how the figures are positioned. A figure facing right carries a different energy than the same figure turned away, even if every other element of the card is identical. Direction tells you where the energy is going. Posture tells you how the figure relates to that energy.

This is especially useful in spreads where you are tracking the movement of a situation over time. Cards whose figures face toward each other suggest connection or momentum. Cards whose figures face away from each other can point to disconnection, diverging paths, or something being left behind. You do not need to analyze every limb of every figure. You just need to notice the dominant impression the posture gives you before anything else.

Direction and Body Language Reference

Here is a quick reference for the most common physical signals in Rider-Waite tarot and what they generally indicate in a reading.

SignalWhat It ShowsGeneral Meaning
Facing rightForward motionMoving toward the future, openness to what is coming
Facing leftLooking backReflection, the past, or resistance to moving forward
Facing forwardDirect engagementConfronting the situation head-on, full presence
Gaze upwardSpiritual focusLooking to higher guidance, hope, or divine connection
Gaze downwardInner focusGrief, contemplation, withdrawal, or shame
Eyes closedInward awarenessIntuition, rest, deep inner knowing, or denial
Arms openReceptivityWelcoming, openness, generosity, or surrender
Arms crossed or heldGuardednessSelf-protection, withholding, or internal conflict
Standing uprightConfidenceAuthority, stability, and readiness to act
SeatedDeliberationStillness, judgment, patience, or established power
Kneeling or bowedHumilityReverence, submission, defeat, or receiving grace
Turned awayAvoidanceRefusal to engage, loss, or moving on from something
Dancing or leapingFreedomJoy, abandon, spiritual liberation, or breakthrough
Figure in motionUrgencyAction underway, speed, or a situation in flux
Figure stillResolutionCertainty, completion, or a moment held in suspension

Quick Examples

The Fool steps forward with his face tilted slightly upward and his arms loose at his sides. Everything about his body language says openness: he is not braced for impact, not looking back, not guarding himself. He is moving into the unknown with complete ease. That posture alone communicates the card’s core energy before you think about the cliff, the dog, or the white sun behind him.

The Two of Swords shows a seated figure with arms crossed and a blindfold over her eyes. She is not moving. She is not looking at anything. Her body is closed off in every direction at once. The message is not just indecision; it is a deliberate refusal to see what is available to see. The posture makes the meaning more specific and more personal than the card’s name alone ever could.

The Eight of Pentacles shows a figure bent over his work, eyes down, focused entirely on the coin in front of him. He is not looking at the coins already finished and hanging behind him. He is not looking ahead. He is just working. That downward gaze and concentrated posture tells you this is a card about diligence and practice, not about pride in what has already been accomplished.

The World shows a dancing figure at the card’s center, body mid-motion, arms extended, face turned slightly to look back over one shoulder. The posture captures both completion and continuation at once. She has arrived somewhere, but she is still moving. That specific body language is doing something a static figure never could.

How to Use This When You Read

When a card lands in a spread, spend a moment with the figures before you reach for a meaning:

•  Which direction is the figure facing, and what does that suggest about the energy at play?

•  Are their arms open or closed? Are they in motion or at rest?

•  Where is their gaze directed, and what does that point toward in the context of your question?

•  If there are multiple figures in the card, how are they oriented in relation to each other?

That last point matters especially in relationship readings. Two figures facing toward each other suggest mutual engagement. Two figures facing away suggest distance or divergence, even if the card’s traditional meaning is a positive one. Let the bodies tell you what the situation actually looks like on the ground.

Direction and body language are meant to add specificity to a reading, not replace the card’s traditional meaning. Keep the question, the position in the spread, and your intuition in the mix. The posture is one more lens, not the whole story.

Coming Up Next

Now that we have covered numerology, color, and body language, we are going to look upward: clouds and weather. The atmospheric conditions surrounding the figures in a card are never accidental. Storm clouds, clear skies, rough seas, and still water all carry meaning, and in the next blog we will work through what the weather is telling you. From there, the series continues through animals, plants and flowers, the four elements, celestial symbols, clothing, objects, landscapes and buildings, and repeated symbols.

Have you started paying attention to the direction figures are facing in your readings? If so, what are your thoughts?

Tarot readings are intended for adults age 18 and older and are provided for entertainment and personal reflection. Tarot should not replace professional medical, legal, mental health, or financial advice.

© 2026 Kim’s Esoteric Tarot Journals. All rights reserved.

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