january 2025: ace of pentacles // the seeds we plant

hello, friends, and welcome to 2025. after spending 2024 with the suit of wands and fire, this year we'll be diving into the suit of pentacles: a year of earth, of physical embodiment, of corporeality and resources and senses and experience. i can't wait for us to dig our collective hands into the soil, to explore all that this element has to offer together.

i chose pentacles for us because this is the year of the hermit, which is often associated with the mutable earth suit of virgo. and just like last year, this month i'll share a 2025 numerology piece looking at the general energy of this nine year. a reminder that if you love numerology and want to explore this modality through tarot all year long, silver and gold subscribers get exclusive writings and spreads each month looking at the cards and numbers together — and our first monthly piece (along with a fresh invite to my private discord server) goes out tomorrow.

a reminder too that if you are looking for support in slowing down and moving into this new year with gentle awareness, my tarot journaling series find your lantern begins on saturday! signups close at midnight on january 2nd, with no last-minute exceptions (because i'm getting married and will be offline! bless!), so if you want to join you can do so here:

lastly, this month's newsletters will be more condensed since i will be celebrating my marriage and traveling. it's extremely rare for me to take a vacation of any kind, so i appreciate your patience and understanding as i turn on my email auto-responder for the first time in a decade. paid subscribers, i'll still be popping into discord occasionally to check in!

now, i invite you to shake out your limbs, stretch your shoulders, release any tension from your jaw, and take a few deep breaths in and out. let's consider the ace of pentacles here at the top of 2025.

what is a seed? in very literal terms, for botanists and biologists, a seed is a plant embryo and nutrient reserve, wrapped up in an protective coating, that serves as a means of reproduction (and yes, i have seen grease 2. you're welcome.)

but in a broader, more philosophical sense, a seed is potential. it's a dormant idea, dream, or action that is simply waiting for the right moment to be planted, nourished, supported. a seed represents anticipated growth, the beginning of something rich. an intention of devotion. a wish.

in the wild, seeds scatter through any number of means, finding their own path to germination, rooting, flowering, fruiting, and eventually dying, rotting, decaying, and becoming soil for the next seed to thrive within. but if you've any experience with gardening, you know that winter's anticipation of spring growth is one of the most exciting moments — when the sky is the limit, when every seed has the potential to sprout into something magical, when we can dream as big as we like about how large our garden plot may become.

holding that seed, and those dreams, with an open palm: this is the ace of pentacles.

the ace of pentacles is perhaps one of the most optimistic cards in the deck. the beginning of the story of pentacles; imagination and initiation directed into the suit of earth; a seed that will eventually blossom into something that has the potential to surpass any expectation or fantasy. with the ace, we stand at a precipice of possibility, where anything we choose can become reality.

unlike the wild, fiery spark of the ace of wands, for example, the ace of pentacles is a slower, more deliberate energy — yet the vibe here is still one of joyful wonder, anticipatory awe, excitement and eagerness. sure, there will be work ahead, effort required to make those big dreams come true. but in this moment of the ace, we aren't concerned about any of those nitty gritty details. we're instead living in the joyful, delicious anticipation of possibility.

in this way, the planting of every seed is an act of faith — because as potent as this moment can be, not every seed is guaranteed to germinate, to take root. sometimes the conditions are not right, or the seed is damaged, or the timing is off. sometimes we lose interest in tending our seed, or don't realize what it needs along the way, and its growth suffers. sometimes, for whatever reason, the seed simply does not sprout, and we may never know why.

yet none of this means that the planting of a seed is a foolish act. on the contrary: holding a seed, making the choice to bury it in the earth, committing to its long-term tending, all require a tremendous and beautiful hope.

aces always point us to the number one, represented in the tarot by the major arcana core archetype of the magician. this figure is courage incarnate, a fearless innovator who never met a dream they didn't embrace. this is less about the realistic and practical, and more about letting the imagination run absolutely hog wild.

yet when grounded in the sensual, responsible, generative weight of earth and the suit of pentacles, the magician's independence is slowed and calmed, soothed into something a bit more practical. imagination and devotion, potential and patience, all in one gorgeous little package. the ace of pentacles, in this way, becomes a physical representation of all that could be, all that we could make, all that we could devote ourselves to. and it represents the ways that we literally invest in ourselves: by utilizing physical resources, taking care of our bodies and homes and neighborhoods, chasing pleasure and comfort and joy, trusting in our senses and lived experiences, honoring our own limits, and practicing patience with slow, gradual growth.

here in the first days of january, with the month ahead and the whole of 2025 looming, you might just want to crawl back into bed. your magic may feel hidden, small, even out of reach. even in the slower, more sensual energy of the suit of earth, the magician's spark might feel like far more than you can handle.

and to be clear: that's incredibly real.

so many are struggling with financial stability, housing security, juggling multiple jobs, trying to manage disability and chronic illness and COVID risks without support. political divides are intense and painful; relationships are crumbling and communities are shifting priorities. we've been collectively witnessing multiple genocides for far too long, and here in the united states are preparing for a potentially devastating new administration and billionaire shadow president, trying to plan how to protect ourselves without obeying in advance. it's simply too much to manage alone.

this is to say: our collective soil may not seem particularly rich, here on this first day of 2025. your personal soil might feel half-frozen, neglected, under-resourced. we are still in the dead of winter here in the northern hemisphere, where planting is a distant dream, where movement is slow and deliberate rather than hasty, energetic, bountiful.

but the ace of pentacles doesn't have to represent the entire journey, every step from planting to harvest to resting in the shelter of a decades-old tree. the magic, the wonder, the joy of this ace lies in its possibility, its potential. the dreaming, the imagination, the wonder and awe. the sense of anticipation and excitement for all that lies ahead.

personally, i don't particularly like making big goals for the new year. i plan things one quarter at a time in my business, but even then it's more about what i want to create and sell, rather than sales targets or audience growth metrics. yet as we move into 2025, i'm thinking about the seeds i planted last year, that will require steady tending in the months to come. i'm thinking about the conservatory and personal transformation through introspection, about my new book on tarot spreads and what it might become as it takes root in the world, about my regular clients and communities, about my ongoing responsibilities.

and i'm thinking about the grove and weaving the spiritual into the creative, a big lovely seed that i'm planting right now with my soon-to-be-wife jeanna kadlec. i'm thinking about the book on the devil archetype that i'll be finishing this year, on how much i love this tricky card and its many faces, on how it challenges me to think outside the box and push my own limits. i'm thinking about the community work i'm doing locally, about the importance of connecting with people offline, about how i can spend my limited energy and resources wisely and generously this year, about learning more about herbalism and plant medicine and grief and trauma for my long-term community support plans.

i always have so many things i want to do, to see, to learn, to experience, to discover, to understand. but this year, i want to keep deepening: roots, communities, wisdom. planting is powerful, but it's just the start — the real work is in the tending, the weeding, the resourcing, the devotion, the consistency.

this is how magic is made, how creativity builds, how spirituality supports: not in a one-off flash of dazzling light, but in the steady, constant love that we show to our long-term dreams.

with the ace of pentacles, our journey is only just beginning. what do we want our magic to become? what do we want to build, one day at a time?

right now is the moment of pure potential. here in our trembling palm lies a small seed of magic, which holds a promise of hope. this seed is life itself, proof that even when things feel dark and hopeless, there is always something we can try, something we can tend, something we can believe in. something we can look towards and care for, that we can show up for again and again.

i know: hope can feel dangerous sometimes. it can be easier to sink into pessimism or cynicism, to let anger and sorrow and disappointment limit our capacity to imagine new things. it can feel safer, more responsible, to keep our dreams small and compact and easily achievable.

yet this is the medicine and the magic of the ace of pentacles: the ability to dream again, to see potential, to hold it in our hands. the courage to plant a small seed and help it take root. this card can teach us about what it means to really let ourselves believe that our actions today will eventually blossom into something important, something necessary.

because friend: what you do today, tomorrow, next week, next month, really does matter. what you invest in, what you put your resources into, what you create, what you give and receive — these things truly can make all the difference for you, your friends, your family, your community. what could your choices today mean for your future tomorrows?

what would it feel like to envision your future without restriction, without fear? what happens when you allow yourself to imagine stability and comfort, pleasure and reciprocity, and what is the first step in getting to that place? what do you see in your mind's eye when you imagine the world you want to build, and what would it take to make that fantasy a reality?

what is your seed?

as we step into january, into a new year, into the unknown, take some time to consider: which seeds are you most interested in planting in 2025, and what does it feel like to imagine working with them for the next twelve months? what do you envision growing and investing in? what dreams do you hold right now, ones that would benefit from ongoing attention and devotion?

how might the ace of pentacles start you on a path of growth, magic, wonder, satisfaction, comfort, and stability, even in the midst of an ever-changing world?

wishing you a lush, supported, safe, and satisfying january, friends. may the seeds you plant this month flourish throughout the year.

and if one of your dream plantings is around your own creativity, if you are craving community that you can connect with on a spiritual level, if you want to foster deeper devotion with your own creative practice, join us in the grove for six months of collective planting and tending: