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December 15 through December 21, 2025

There are three important astrological events on the horizon this week, beginning with Mars’ entry into Capricorn, a Sagittarius new Moon on Friday, and ending with the Sun making its annual entry into Capricorn. Mars is the planet of action, and moving into Capricorn on Monday will provide us with two months of emotional security, financial stability, and a sense of solid footing in all we do. The Moon will travel through Sagittarius from Wednesday through Friday, with a new Moon occurring on Friday. Marking a two-week cycle of new beginnings, this is the perfect time to set your goals for the new year and make a wish for your greatest desires! The Moon will empower us over the weekend as it moves into Capricorn, allowing us to get everything on our list completed in record time. The Sun moves into Capricorn on Sunday, marking the start of Winter in the northern hemisphere and Summer in the southern hemisphere, and heralding in a four-week period of fresh starts, new beginnings, and solid movement.

World’s Smallest Problem-Solver Tarot Spread, by T. Susan Chang

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

When it comes to tarot spreads, I am a great believer in keeping it very, very, very simple. As is true for many readers, my first real experience with tarot spreads was the Celtic Cross, that hoary old standby with its spooky, spell-like phrasing: What covers you....what crosses you...what lies behind you, etc. etc. I enjoyed the incantatory rhythm of the Celtic Cross, and the way it invited long, pondering insights from both client and reader.

CLIENT: Should I act on my crush?
CELTIC CROSS: Let's examine why you're asking that question! or: Let's reframe the problem! or Love yourself first!

With its 10 talkative cards, the Celtic Cross offers a huge holistic download of information. Sometimes that can be an excuse for not really answering the question—either because we're not sure we can, or because we don't think it's a constructive question, or because we feel it ought to be re-framed in a more affirming light. These are all valid motivations. We want to help the people we're reading for, and we want them to experience the reading as positive. We don't want a starkly phrased question to lead to melodrama and angst. On the other hand, as the late, great Rachel Pollack once said to me, "Who am I to say whether the question is good or bad?"

The Celtic Cross always offers depth, and sometimes offers clarity, but what I so often found was that the person sitting with me wanted answers. And over the years I found that sometimes the best way to get them is JUST TO ANSWER THE QUESTION.

If I want to know whether it's a good idea to quit my job and try something new, I don't necessarily need to know everything about how my insecurities get in the way, or how my friends and family influence my decision, what could possibly go wrong and whether that is likely happen, and so forth.

Honestly, all I really need is two cards. Card One: Suppose I stay at my job. Card Two: Suppose I try something new. And while weaving in and out of the labyrinth of connections in a big spread may make me feel fully seen and heard by the forces of the cosmos, it also might help me put off any kind of actual decision.

Over the years, the two-card reading has become the little black dress of my tarot wardrobe. And there is one two-card reading in particular that I absolutely, positively cannot do without. I use it for myself, I use it for friends, I use it for strangers—and I hope you will use it too. Let's call it the World's Smallest Problem Solver Spread—or maybe just The Problem Solver. Because, as I've been trying to hint, life is short.

The Problem-Solver Tarot Spread
To use the Problem Solver, you're only going to have to draw two cards. ACTUALLY, you're only going to have to draw ONE card. The other one you're going to choose, on purpose.

Card #1: The Problem.

One of the core principles I teach in my new book, The Living Tarot, is this: Everything in life is in tarot. Rather than looking at the card—which forces you to extrapolate from the keyword in the little white book ("Energy! Authority! Balance!" Huh?)—look around you. Your rollerball pen is not a tarot card. But if it were, what would it be? The Ace of Wands? Close enough! This is what I call, "Tarot Backwards" (Chapter 2): we start with the thing itself, and then we figure out where it lands in tarot.

So, using our tarot Backwards technique, let's ask: What's the problem? Is it romantic disappointment? Work drama? Writer's block? Whatever it is, choose a card to describe it—and don't be too fussy. The 8 of Swords may not be a flawless portrait of your inability to finish your novel, but today, it's close enough!

Here are a few suggestions for cards and the problems they might represent. Of course, there are no wrong ways to do this, so feel free to come up with your own:

I recently gave this spread a spin with my online Living Tarot class. The results were fascinating. For example, Bette had the brilliant idea to use the 7 of Cups to represent her journey with ADHD, with which she'd been diagnosed at age 57. With its beclouded, phantasmagoric display of distractions, the 7 of Cups seemed like an apt representation for a mind pulled in too many directions. Her solution card? The 4 of Swords! Looking at the symbolism of the cards, it was easy to imagine the chaos of the 7 of Cups slipping into a contained "frame" in the stained glass corner window of the 4 of Swords.

Bette told us how the "Power of the Pause" (a concept used in ADHD coaching) had transformed her mental landscape, helping her to slow down and process; how a practice of "inner sensing" helped her find her "transcendent point" on the way to regaining focus. As always, I was struck by how simply and elegantly tarot spoke both to the challenge and its resolution.

Another reader, Tina, chose the 3 of Swords to represent the heartbreak she'd been going through with her younger sister. We talked about the visual parallels between the two figures on the cards in her deck, the Rose Tarot. We used astrological correspondences to consider the Saturnine remoteness of the 3 of Swords (Saturn in Libra) versus the solar immediacy of the Strength card (corresponding with Sun-ruled Leo). We talked about the contrast between rain and sun in the Rider-Waite-Smith versions. And we talked about the way maintaining a positive and heart-centered yet also strong and non-deferential posture might produce healing for both Tina and her sister.

As is always the case with tarot, there is no single right method for interpreting even a single card. Some may look first at the images themselves, at symbols and the body language of the figures on the card. For others, the cards might be a personal window that opens onto past memories and dreams. For others, the meaning comes to life through keywords and esoteric correspondences.

With time, the same spread with the same cards can evolve, yielding different meanings as our circumstances change. This, I believe, is because tarot is an infinitely flexible language, but the story it tells is always the story of our own lives. As we grow and change, so do our cards—and there is no better companion on our lifelong journey than the living, breathing tarot.

Once you've completed your Problem-Solution card, take a moment to stand back and appreciate it. You may "get it" instantly, or it might take a little while. Even if the answer seems obvious, don't dismiss it too quickly. You can take a picture on your phone (maybe even set it as your wallpaper for a couple days). You can carry the cards around in your wallet, or put them under your pillow. You can write a spell. For as long as the problem remains a live issue in your life, make sure you have easy access to the reading and allow its layers to unfold. When the issue resolves, the spread's work is done.

I share lots of simple techniques like this one in The Living Tarot: Connecting the Cards to Everyday Life for Better Readings. Whether you're a veteran reader with decades of client work under your belt, or you just bought your first deck yesterday, I hope you'll find many ways to strengthen and refresh your practice in its pages!

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2023. All rights reserved.

My dad passed away December of 2022. Before we knew he was sick, my son told us that Papaw was going to get sick and die. (My son often says weird things and then they happen.) Two weeks later, we found out Dad had cancer. He lived for eight months after being diagnosed. After he passed, I received a text on my phone that would not receive texts. This was two weeks after he passed and it came from my sister's number but was dated for the day my dad passed. It said, Help me find my phone I can't find it where is my stuff someone please help me. My sister never sent any such text. Now the TV changes channels all the time and we hear banging and doors shutting. We hear footsteps like someone in boots is walking. Right before Dad died, we were renovating his room because we moved into his house with him and he wanted it done. Now my husband and I are waking to the sound of someone sanding the walls, which is the next step in that room. My daughter once turned and said, Good night, Papaw, when she was going to bed. I feel him here sometimes and I talk to him daily! I have an overwhelming need to talk to him. So my question is, do you think all of this just my way of trying to cope with losing him and needing to talk to him, or is it really possible he's here? I ask him all the time for a sign that he is here, and once I got what sounded like someone whispering in my ear but it could have been me just needing him to contact me. I was his caregiver and we were very close and this has been so hard on me. I just don't know if all of this is really happening.

Marisa

Susyn:

It sounds to me like there is plenty of evidence to suggest that your father's spirit remains in your home and is regularly sending you affirming messages. For centuries, people have dismissed legitimate signs from their deceased loved ones by attributing them to grief or imagination, so both the signs you're experiencing and your skepticism are very normal.

First, I encourage you to give yourself permission to acknowledge these events as real. I think we insult the spirit world when we shake off spirits' attempts to connect with us as wishful thinking. I can only imagine how frustrating this may be for the spirits involved.

It's clear that your son and daughter are highly in tune with your dad's spirit; they even openly acknowledge his presence. Your son was able to intuitively predict his illness long before anyone else was aware of it. Children are much more psychically open and expressive of what they sense. Please encourage them to continue to honor their intuition/sixth sense.

The events you speak of are true blessings. To see so much evidence of your father's spirit around you must be a great comfort. It does help that you are living in his home, where he can easily make his presence known. As his caretakers, you and the children would naturally be the people he is closest to.

Your father remains a very strong presence in the home. I find it quite amusing that you are waking to the sound of sanding in his room, for it is as if he is reminding you to finish up the work he started. With so many signs that his spirit continues to reside in the house, you should feel free to speak to him whenever you like. Though you may not receive obvious or immediate responses, sharing your thoughts, dreams and memories with him will fill you both with joy.

He will continue to watch over you and your family in a protective way. At some point, you may feel that his presence is fading. This is natural as he adjusts to his new form and prepares to begin a new life in the spirit realm. However, you can trust that he will always be there when you need him, just as he was when he was alive.

I do have one note of caution for you: A remodeling project in an older home can sometimes awaken the spirits of other individuals who have lived in the house. If you ever get the sense that these paranormal events are not connected with your father, or if negative events start to happen, you may need to do a cleansing or call in someone to clear unwanted entities. From your email, I do not feel that this is what has been happening, but it's something you should be aware of.

*****

Oceania:

I'm sorry for your loss. What a loving daughter you are to have been your father's caregiver, and to have set your own life aside and moved into his home to care for him. It can be very stressful to juggle caring for a sick parent with sustaining a marriage and raising children!

Losing your caregiver role so suddenly and unexpectedly was another big adjustment. You had momentum going, and when it screeched to a halt, you had to shift gears and deal with all the tasks that accompany the death of a loved one. I feel certain you've been a good role model for your children, and have helped them see that illness, dying, grief and change are all part of a messy, imperfect and wonderful life.

Often, there's a rebound effect after caregiving. If you were unable to honor your need for rest as you went along, it probably caught up with you when the job ended! You may still need some down time to replenish yourself and to appreciate how well you responded to the call for action created by your father's diagnosis.

While stress and a lack of sleep can make us vulnerable to misperceiving and misinterpreting what's going on around us, there is good reason to assume that your father is still around. The abruptness of his passing was probably a shock for him, too, and he may not be ready to let go and move on.

It's common for the dying to have regrets about things they did not do or complete in their lifetime. Your father may feel a sense of incompletion about the room renovation. You might remind him that while the room and other projects went unfinished, there were many things he DID accomplish in his life.

Tell him what you loved best and appreciated most about him. When a loved one passes without warning, we are usually left with things we wish we would have shared but didn't. Though he has left this world physically, you can still do that; in fact, it would be healthy for you to talk to him now.

I invited your father to guide me in choosing two tarot cards. The one for you is Guardian, Woman of Crystals. It depicts a contemplative woman holding a beautiful gem, surrounded by many more. Your father clearly treasured you and your loving care. The message of the card is to focus on the positive, count your blessings, and guard against negative thoughts.

The card for your father is Seer, Sage of Wands, which is the highest card in the spiritual suit. It depicts a wise guide or teacher. You can rest assured that your father is with you in spirit, and you can always turn to him for strength and wisdom both now and when he finally moves on.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.