It’s the first day of my favorite month: October.

It’s actually below 60 degrees outside this morning in Austin, Texas. A practically arctic chill after the summer we’ve had, and I’m loving it.

I pulled a card for my altar today, asking: what is the card that best represents October?

8 of Cups.

This is such a beautiful card for this time of year. In the Northern Hemisphere, we’ve already entered fall—the equinox being in late September—but October feels like the month that autumn really settles in. The weather begins to change in earnest, the leaves turn vibrant and start to fall.

And 8 of Cups signifies a similar, internal seasonal shift.

Just as the trees are shedding their leaves, we are being asked to release something. Not because that thing is inherently bad for us necessarily, but because it’s seasonally inappropriate.

We are entering a much different time of year. We have to cultivate a willingness to let go during the autumn. Just like the trees, we need to loosen our grip on what doesn’t serve us in this season.

So, this is a simple release/cultivate spread, but I’ve just added “seasonally inappropriate/appropriate”. Thinking about it this way is a subtle shift, but can be significant for a lot of us. Being asked to “release” something can feel too final, or we can spin ourselves into circles asking why we’re being asked to let go of that thing. Is it not meant for us, is it harmful, are we doing something wrong?! Remembering that it’s a matter of timing and of internal seasons can be very helpful, and allow us to surrender it more willingly.

8 of Cups is a card that often indicates a sorrowful parting. It can reflect that you have left behind a relationship, a business/career path, a place you once called home, and that this leaving was bittersweet. We often poured a lot of ourselves into whatever is indicated here, and it may have made us happy for a long time…..and yet. We must leave, on a path we may not see clearly yet, but that we know will lead us somewhere necessary. The Golden Dawn (an esoteric order whose members Arthur Waite, Pamela Coleman Smith, and Alistair Crowley-who created the Thoth deck—gave us the 2 most popular decks in modern Tarot) called 8 of Cups the Lord of Abandoned Success. And yet, if you are someone who pulls cards as a daily practice, this interpretation of 8 of Cups needs some broadening, as we are not ‘abandoning success’ all that often. I think that within a more everyday context, 8 of Cups asks us to break from emotional patterns that no longer serve us. 8s in the Tarot are about transformation and finding alignment, and relate to the Strength card, which is healthy confrontation with ourselves. When 8 of Cups comes up, you may be in a situation that is bringing up a lot emotionally and you are being offered the opportunity to choose something different. Can you respond consciously instead of react unconsciously? It can ask us to cut ties from our “old self” and choose a path of emotional maturity.

I will also say that this card sometimes comes along very strongly to recommend sobriety, particularly from alcohol.