Harvest Season Tarot Spread: 5 Cards for Growing with the Season

As the season turns colder and the leaves turn into brilliant autumn fire, we are nudged to turn inwards. The Harvest season is a time for sacred pause between the rush of the summer and the silence of winter. Farmer's gather what they've grown to allow their soils to rest; we too are called to tend to our inner gardens.  

With Lughnasadh passing by recently, I was inspired to create a Harvest Season Tarot Spread to help others do a fun little reading to get into the autumn spirit. This main focus of this reading reflects on what has happened this year so far, release what no longer serves, and to nurture what remains. Each card aligns with a stage of the growing cycle: Weed, Sow, Harvest, Compost, & Replant.

The Harvest Season Tarot Spread

✦ CARD ONE: WEED
| What needs to be released to make room for growth?

You cannot grow where there are weeds, they will choke out whatever you plant. In order to make room for abundance, you have to get rid of which that no longer serves you. This first card invites just that. This will require a lot of shadow work and challenging everything you know and have built for yourself. But trust that the universe is making room for better things in your garden of life.

✦ CARD TWO: SOW
| What new energy or intention should I begin nurturing?

Now that space is cleared, what is it that you want to grow in your life? This card represents the ideas, desires, or habits you are being invited to cultivate. Perhaps it's a new project, a relationship, a shift in mindset, or a spiritual practice. Remember, nothing will grow if it is not consistently tended to. 

✦ CARD THREE: HARVEST
| What am I beginning to receive from past efforts?

What are we grateful for in the seasons of our lives? Reflect and express gratitude for all that you have sown that is ready for you in this season. It's okay to celebrate those tiny micro wins because they eventually grow into even bigger ones. Take some time to cherish these moments and document the journey.

✦ CARD FOUR: COMPOST
| What lesson or experience from the past can be transformed into wisdom moving forward?

Compost nurtures the soil. Learning a lesson and recycling it into wisdom helps enrich the human experience. Not every failure is a waste. What can be salvaged? What truth can be uncovered? This card is about transformation: turning pain into perspective, missteps into guidance, and experience into nourishment.

✦ CARD FIVE: REPLANT
| What deserves a second chance or a new start in a different way?

Just because something didn’t work before doesn’t mean it can't work out now. Some dreams or desires may come back -- not to repeat the past, but to be reborn with new energy. This card invites you to reflect on what (or who) might have a place in your life again, this time with healthier boundaries, intentions, or understanding. Revisit old dreams and see what you can salvage from them to replant.

✎ JOURNAL PROMPTS FOR THE SPREAD

• What is taking up too much energy in my life?
• What do I want more of in my life?
• What energy am I willing to give to it?
• What has gone right this year?
• What am I thankful for that I once prayed for?
• What am I afraid of letting go?
  
• What has life taught me through difficulty?
• How can I use this to help myself or others moving forward?
• What have I left behind that I’m curious about again?
• What would it look like to try again from a new place?