Monthly Reflection: The World & The Fool

Deck: Cosmic Cycles Tarot

I’ve been doing monthly reflections sporadically on Instagram, and while they have been interesting, I’ve always felt like there was more to say than can be included in a caption! So, this year, I’ll be bringing it to the longer format here, to allow for a more expansive exploration of the cards, and I hope you enjoy coming on this journey with me!

And what a combination of cards to start with! Though tarot is always profound and insightful, it isn’t always quite so on the nose, but here we are, with our last card of the major arcana followed by the first card of the major arcana.

Quite simply, every ending comes with a new beginning. This is the cyclical nature of life.

And is there any better time to think about cycles and chapters, endings and new beginnings, than as one month ends and another begins? Not only that, but we’re also right at the beginning of a new year.

Closing Out The Old Chapter

What’s interesting is that we have pulled The World as a reflection for January, the first month on the calendar. It would seem like The Fool would typically feel more fitting for January, as we embark on a new year, with all the enthusiasm of “New Year, New Me” without really considering the realities of how we might actually achieve all of our New Year’s Resolutions… to find we’ve given up on them within 2 weeks.

This is exactly why The World feels so relevant here. If you’re in the northern hemisphere like I am, the year begins in the harsh, cold, dark winter, a time when all we want to do is huddle up indoors and hibernate! Not to mention, many people end the year with an incredibly busy (and expensive) December, with end-of-year deadlines, family obligations and social events. This is something I have personally felt. Being one of three people in my immediate family to have a December birthday, let’s just say December was a blur! A lovely blur, but a blur nevertheless.

If you’re anything like me, January has been a month to reset, to get my bearings and catch my breath.

With The World being our reflection for January, it’s possible that many others have felt similar, in that January has felt like an opportunity to complete the chapter of 2024 and get your ducks in a row, looking forward to the year ahead and what you want it to be, so that you can make the most of 2025.

This is framed rather nicely in the imagery we have here, in which the people in the card step out onto their balcony, looking out at the big city. Consider that the people in this image have a very different perspective of the city from the balcony than they would if they were down on the ground and walking around. In the wildness of December, it can be hard to find the mental space to really reflect on where you’re at and what you’ve accomplished in the year past, to get that moment of pause and see things from a removed perspective.

What went well in 2024? What did you achieve? What were the trials and tribulations? What have you overcome? What needs improvement? What do you want to work on in 2025? What have you learned? What could you do differently? What are you leaving behind in 2024, whether gladly or with sadness, and what does that mean for you, moving forward?

Build Your Foundation on Gratitude

We need to think about the fact that The World speaks of endings that are positive and successful. Essentially, part of January has been about feeling gratitude for what you have, whether that was achieved over the last year or not. In order to make the most of the year ahead, we need to appreciate the foundation we have already built. The Fool has a fresh start in 2025, which we’ll talk about in a minute, but we are not a complete blank slate.

Now, I know times are tough for many people right now, and when things are feeling very hard, the sentiment of being grateful for what we have can feel hollow, frustrating and incomprehensible, but before you dismiss this as being irrelevant to you, I call you to consider this for a minute. What in your life, right now, do you want to keep in your life? Even if it’s not perfect, even if it’s not where you want it to be, there must be something that encourages you to build upon it, to grow it, to improve it, or else we’d just throw it out and start again.

The ending cycle of The World gives us an opportunity to assess what we want to hold onto and what we want to let go. Those things you want to keep? That’s the foundation upon which you’re building your next chapter. The more gratitude we have for that foundation, the better structure we can build on top of it in the year ahead.

We All Have Baggage

As I said before, as we embark upon the new chapter of The Fool, we are not a completely blank slate. Unless you’re a newborn baby (which would be rather remarkable as you’re sitting here reading this post), you have baggage, as we all do, and we see our Fool carrying hers as she embarks on an exciting new journey.

We always talk about having ‘baggage’ as if this is stuff that is piled on top of us, and we have no choice but to carry the burden of it with us forever.

But when we pack our bags to go on a trip, we choose what we take with us. And so, the question is, what are you packing into your suitcase and bringing with you into 2025 and beyond?

This is why January’s card being The World is so important, because we have to reflect and assess, in order to pack our bags most thoughtfully and effectively for the year ahead. You get to decide what (and who) comes with you for the journey in 2025. This can be literal and physical things, such as belongings and places and relationships, but it can also be the psychological and emotional baggage that we carry with us. In fact, this ‘baggage’ may be the most damaging, when we aren’t carefully considering what we’re taking with us. Forging forward and diving headfirst into a new relationship, for example, when we’re still carrying the heartbreak of a previous relationship, leaves us vulnerable to either repeating the same cycle, or being ‘triggered’ by a situation that bears similarities, but is not exactly the same, exploding something meaningful over something trivial.

Doing the thoughtful, hard work of packing your metaphorical bags in January before you embark on the journey of 2025 is, indeed, a great place to begin.

Now, as February begins, it’s time to dive into action.

You Will Never Be Fully Prepared

All this talk of careful packing of bags, reflection, planning for the year ahead, all sounds very careful, considered and thoughtful, and it is, but there comes such a time when we have to just take the leap. February is that time.

To continue with the same packing/travelling metaphor we’ve been using, there is always going to be something you forgot to pack, or something you didn’t know you were going to need, or something that would have been more appropriate or useful to you. But we don’t let that stop us from going on our trip.

Essentially, be careful not to get stuck in preparation phase. At some point, with all things, we have to be brave and take the leap.

Love With An Open Heart

We can’t talk about the outlook for February without talking about Valentine’s Day, especially when we have The Fool, and she’s holding a bouquet of flowers - perhaps she’s off to visit someone special?

Valentine’s Day may be a very commercial holiday, but whether we choose to partake in that or not, it is an opportunity to tell someone we love that we love them. We all want to be loved, valued, seen and appreciated, but we’re often so afraid of showing someone our affection for them (and I mean this in all types of bonds and relationships).

You see the problem here, right? We’re all craving connection, but we’re not willing to be the one to reach out. After all, we all fear rejection. But what if we’re thinking about this all wrong? When we fear rejection, we are reaching out to someone and expressing our love for them in a way that expects or requires a reciprocation in some way. What if, instead, we expressed our love to someone, whether through words or actions, in a way that doesn’t require any reciprocation? What if we just told someone we loved them, simply so that they knew they were loved?

Beware of Red Flags

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the warning sign on the right hand side of The Fool. She is so enthusiastically headed for her airport gate, that she hasn’t seen the sign on the right of her. Of course, as a collective reading, there are many ways and places in which this could show up in your life, but an obvious example to contextualise this in is around love and romance, being the month of Valentine’s Day. When love is in the air, it’s easy to get swept up in, and be blinded by, grand gestures of romance. If something seems too good to be true, take a minute and look at the full picture. Is there anything you’re missing? Is there something ‘off’? What is your gut telling you?

It’s Okay, We All Make Mistakes

All of this considered, it’s also important to remember that no one is perfect, and, as we said before, you can never be fully prepared. So, is it possible that we could be so invested in the joy of the present moment, like the person in this card, that we miss one of the warning signs and end up slipping over on the wet floor?

To be constantly on the lookout for issues, problems and warnings, we’ll never experience the joy of the present moment, not to mention the fact that, while we’re busy looking out for issues in one direction, we might still miss something, because we looked the wrong way. Mistakes are an inevitable part of life. Don’t let it prevent you from living this month.

Forge forward with an open heart. This year is full of potential, and it’s time to seize it.

Love & Light

N x