Seasonal Spread #

Introduction #

The Earth’s seasons offer a natural rhythm for living: spring for planting, summer for tending, autumn for harvesting, winter for resting. By aligning our intentions with these cycles, we work with nature rather than against it, finding support in the larger patterns of the living world.

This simple three-card spread offers guidance for each seasonal transition. Whether at solstice, equinox, or simply when you feel a season shifting, this spread helps you consciously engage the energy of the incoming time.

Simplicity is this spread’s strength—three cards for three essential questions, aligned with whatever season you’re entering.

The Layout #

1 Release

2 Focus

3 Embrace

Drawing order: Release (1), Focus (2), Embrace (3)

Each card answers a key question for conscious seasonal living.

The Positions #

Position 1: What to Release #

What it represents: What no longer serves as you enter this new season. What to leave behind from the previous cycle.

This card answers: What should I release to enter this season fully?

Reading this position:

Every new season requires releasing the old
This may be behaviors, beliefs, projects, or patterns
Release makes space for what’s coming
The card may name what you’re reluctant to let go

Position 2: What to Focus On #

What it represents: The primary theme, intention, or area of attention for this season. Where your energy belongs.

This card answers: What should be my focus this season?

Reading this position:

This is the heart of the reading
It suggests where to direct your attention
The focus may be internal or external
Let this card set your seasonal intention

Position 3: What to Embrace #

What it represents: What new energy, opportunity, or quality to welcome as the season unfolds. What’s becoming available.

This card answers: What new energy should I embrace?

Reading this position:

This is the invitation of the incoming season
It may require stepping into something unfamiliar
Embracing fully allows the season’s gifts to arrive
The card shows what to say “yes” to

Seasonal Energies #

Spring Equinox (March) #

Energy: Renewal, birth, emergence, new beginnings, planting seeds

Release: Winter’s inwardness, old projects, stagnant energy Focus: What new things want to be born? What seeds to plant? Embrace: Fresh energy, optimism, action, starting

Summer Solstice (June) #

Energy: Fullness, activity, expression, growth, outward focus

Release: Timidity, holding back, incomplete projects Focus: What’s blooming? How to express fully? Embrace: Visibility, activity, celebration, expansion

Autumn Equinox (September) #

Energy: Harvest, assessment, gratitude, preparation, letting go

Release: What’s complete, what didn’t work, summer’s busyness Focus: What’s ready to harvest? What have you learned? Embrace: Gratitude, wisdom, preparation, slowing down

Winter Solstice (December) #

Energy: Rest, reflection, darkness, gestation, the inner world

Release: Activity for its own sake, external focus, doing Focus: What needs rest? What gestates in darkness? Embrace: Stillness, depth, the dream world, being rather than doing

Working With This Spread #

When to Use It #

Solstices and Equinoxes: The four cardinal seasonal transitions
Cross-quarter days: Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh, Samhain
Personal seasonal shifts: Whenever you feel a change in energy
Monthly practice: At each new moon as a micro-seasonal check-in
Beginning anything new: Projects, relationships, phases

Sample Reading #

Question: “How should I approach the coming winter season?”

Cards Drawn:

Release: Eight of Wands
Focus: The High Priestess
Embrace: Four of Swords

Reading:

Release (Eight of Wands): Release the rapid pace, the urgency, the constant motion of the previous season. The wands fly through the air, but winter asks you to land, to stop, to cease the endless forward momentum.

Focus (The High Priestess): Your focus this winter is the inner mystery. Turn toward intuition, the unconscious, the dream world, the sacred feminine. This is a season for knowing through stillness, not action. Trust what arises from depths.

Embrace (Four of Swords): Embrace rest—literal rest. The knight lies in repose, and so should you. This is medicine, not laziness. Winter invites you to recuperate, to pause, to let the body and mind restore.

Synthesis: Stop the rushing (Eight of Wands), turn inward (High Priestess), and rest (Four of Swords). This winter is for stillness, mystery, and restoration. The season offers healing through pause.

Creating Seasonal Ritual #

Use this spread as part of a seasonal practice:

Preparation:

Note what season is ending
Light candles appropriate to the season
Create an altar with seasonal elements

The Reading:

Draw the three cards with intention
Journal on each position
Set a clear seasonal intention

Action:

Create a release ritual for Card 1 (burn, bury, throw away something symbolic)
Write your focus (Card 2) somewhere visible
Create a symbol of what you’re embracing (Card 3)

Throughout the Season:

Return to your three cards monthly
Notice how themes play out
Adjust as needed while honoring the intention

Affirmation #

I honor the turning of seasons. I release what’s complete. I focus where I’m called. I embrace what arrives. I am part of the greater cycle.

The seasons turn whether we notice or not. But when we turn with them consciously, we find ourselves supported by forces larger than individual will—the rhythm of the Earth itself.

May each season bring its gifts. May you receive them fully.