We revisit The Coffin this month, at the Autumn Equinox, a perfect balance from the time this card was last drawn in March. As we bid farewell to the Winter at the Spring Equinox, we now say goodbye to the summer. 

Life is a continuous cycle of endings and beginnings. Persephone descends and ascends every six months, over and over, an endless spiral of leaving behind and welcoming new. As the summer fades, the trees shed their leaves, we are reminded that we too are nature, and we too must let go, to let things fade and die, in order to make way for new life to begin. 

What are you ready to bury this month, dear reader?

Virgo - The Hourglass

Reading: You are being asked for patience, Virgo, to trust the flow of time, that all things will come when they come. The Hourglass is a reminder that each grain of sand falls when it is time for it to fall, you cannot hurry it, nor can you stop the flow. Paired with The Coffin, perhaps you need to let go of feeling that you need to hurry, or that you are wasting time, and just let things be. What if the very act of letting go was the thing that brought you the peace you need?

Libra - The Arrow

Reading: The Arrow card lands when you are trying to do too many things at once. If your thoughts are scattered, your to-do list is overflowing and you don't know where to begin, take a lesson from The Arrow and focus. One thing at a time. You cannot hit multiple targets at once. Paired with the coffin, these cards suggest you may need to let go of some of the targets you're aiming at altogether. Aim to clear some items from your list entirely so you can concentrate on the things that matter to you the most.

Scorpio - The Death Grip

Reading: An interesting pair of cards for you this month, Scorpio. Whilst one card is telling you 'Don't let go', another is telling you to lay something to rest. They may seem like they are in direct opposition, but The Death Grip card asks you to keep a tight hold of something that is important to you. Perhaps you are trying to keep the peace, or please everyone, and your own beliefs, values or dreams are being sacrificed because of this. The Coffin asks you to let go of whatever is not important, or does not align with your most true self - The Death Grip asks you to hold firm to what does.

Sagittarius - The Pendulum

Reading: The Pendulum is a reminder that your fate is not set in stone - you can always affect the future by your actions today, dear Sagittarius. Even if you sometimes feel as though all your efforts are getting you nowhere, remember that everything you do sends ripples out into the world, and though you may not see the consequences immediately, a seed may have taken hold out there somewhere. The Coffin asks you to let go of the notion that you are powerlessly walking a pre-determined path. You are the master of your own destiny.

Capricorn - The Wishbone

Reading: The Wishbone card is the nudge that you need to go ahead take your shot, Capricorn. "If you can dream it, you can do it", so the saying goes, and The Wishbone is here to tell you to stop just dreaming and actually do it. Fortune favours the bold, and so it is time to be bold - take action, make the move, push the needle! The Coffin agrees. It's time to lay to rest the dreaming phase, the 'just wishing' and the hoping, now is the time for action. Go for broke, Capricorn, you got this.

Aquarius - The Winged Heart

Reading: The Winged Heart asks you to follow your heart, to let your heart lead the way, to follow your joy. This card is a reminder that not every decision needs to be logical, strategic or sensible. Sometimes the heart knows things the head cannot understand. Paired with The Coffin, these two cards ask you to lay to rest the voice that tells you that joy is frivolous, or that following your heart is irresponsible. This Dark Moon, Aquarius, give yourself permission to choose what makes you happy, even if it doesn't make sense to anyone else.

Pisces - The Ouroboros

Reading: The Ouroboros - the serpent devouring itself - is a symbol of the unity of all things and a reminder that everything is a cycle, each chapter feeding the next, the past becomes fertiliser for the future. Paired with The Coffin, which asks you to lay something to rest, these cards are urging you to let go of the past and move on to your next phase. We cannot go backward, only forwards, and dwelling in the past is not useful. Instead, use what you have learned to create the future you want. 

Aries - The All-Seeing Eye 

Reading: The All-Seeing Eye is card of intuition and inner knowing. It reminds us that we know more than we think we do. The conscious mind only presents us with the information we 'need to know' so we are not overwhelmed with all that is really happening around us, but we 'see' much more than we notice. This dark moon, tap into this knowing, dear Aries, and see what you can uncover. Paired with The Coffin, perhaps these cards are suggesting that you have turned a blind eye to something for too long, and it's time to turn to face it.

Taurus - The Sacred Heart

Reading: Love Conquers All - that is the message of The Sacred Heart. This card urges you not to turn away from love, not to let your heart go cold. When having an open heart makes you feel vulnerable and exposed, remember that it is precisely this openness that allows the deepest connections to take root. The heart that has been broken is proof that it loved well. Paired with The Coffin, these cards ask you to lay to rest the walls you have built and let yourself love freely.

Gemini - The Draped Urn

Reading: The Draped Urn is often seen in Victorian cemeteries and is a symbol of remembrance and the fragile boundary between life and death. It speaks of honouring what has passed - people, chapters of your life, relationships - without being consumed by grief for them. Paired with The Coffin, these two cards together ask you to hold a small, quiet ceremony for something, or someone. What you once had will always be there, just on the other side of the veil.

Cancer - The Black Sheep

Reading: If you are feeling, or have always felt, like a black sheep in your family, workplace or in a crowd, this card urges you to embrace this difference. Paired with The Coffin, you are being called to leave behind your need to fit in. Stand in your strangeness, be your own authentic brand of weird. The world needs people who see things differently, that is what makes life interesting! The right people will find you, and they will love you for exactly who you are.

Leo - The Skull

Reading: The Skull carries the banner 'Memento Mori' - a reminder that death comes for us all, and that this is not something to fear, but something to hold close. Because when we remember that our time is finite, we stop wasting it. Are you living the life you really want to be living, Leo? Or merely existing? Paired with The Coffin, these cards call you to lay to rest the ways of living that no longer serve you. If you are prone to people pleasing or are doing things because you feel you ought to, rather than because they genuinely align with you, perhaps it's time to stop.

The second edition of The Storm Cloud Oracle deck is out now! Get your own deck here and create your own readings or daily card pulls.