It's the end of February and I haven't updated with my annual tarot reading. Truth is, I did it at the usual time, but the results were really weird and I didn't know if I wanted to share.
I used to do a "Year Ahead Spread" which would have one central card to symbolize the whole year, then 12 cards surrounding it in the positions of the numbers on an analogue clock. It seems that spread fell out of fashion since it was too much like "fortune telling". Tarot is supposed to give a full picture, including the past and present, and offer options and advice with one or more potential futures based on behaviours that you can choose to adopt or reject. It doesn't usually cement your fate.
So I stopped doing that spread and for the past few years I've just been doing the Celtic Cross, which is the most standard.
For Christmas Lee-Anne got me a tarot journal and it offered a "New Year's Tarot Spread". I tried it, and I'll share the results here and the meanings of the cards, but I won't get too into the analysis since, as I mentioned above, it's a weird reading.
1. The Previous Year In Summary: The Magician
The Magician is card #1 of the Major Arcana. It comes after The Fool, which is card #0. It features a man at a table with a wand, pentacle, sword, and cup laid out in front of him, each item representing a suit in the Minor Arcana. This card is the spark of life that sets everything into motion, and the presence of each of the suits represents limitless potential.
2. Lessons Learned From the Past Year: 9 of Cups Reversed
Cups represent emotions and the element of water. This card features a man sitting in a chair, backed by nine cups. Upright it means emotional contentment and stability. In reverse it represents some kind of emotional stagnancy.
3. Aspirations for the Next 12 Months: King of Swords
Swords are the element of air, the mind, burdens, and strength. The King of Swords is someone that has reached a level of stability and projects a sense of authority. He is able to carry life's burdens without distress.
4. What Empowers You in Reaching Your Aspirations: 6 of Cups
The Six of Cups features a young man passing a cup filled with flowers to a young woman. There are four cups in front of the couple and one behind the young man. This represents generosity and some kind of emotional exchange. Wearing your heart on your sleeve. Usually it's emphasized that there is a playfulness and childishness to this. An inner child surfacing.
5. What May Stand in the Way of Reaching Your Aspirations: The Devil
We have an image of classical devil sitting on a throne. A couple stand before him with chains around their necks. It should be pointed out that the chains are loose. They could be free if they only had the strength to lift the chains off of them. This card represents addictions.
6. Your Relationships and Emotions in the Coming Year: 3 of Swords
This card shows a heart with three swords piercing it. It represents heartbreak and emotional pain.
7. Your Career, Work, and Finances: 9 of Swords
We see a man sitting up in bed, his face buried in his hands. There are nine swords in the background. This card means restlessness, difficulty sleeping, a feeling of heaviness. It shows burdens weighing down on someone, to the point that they feel like they cannot find reprieve even when they try to relax.
8. Your Health and Well Being: 6 of Wands Reversed
This is the first time getting a suit other than cups or swords. Wands represent the element of fire, energy, spirituality, and everyday tasks. This card shows a man on a horse riding forward, lifting a wand high in front of a crowd of people. The people in the audience raise wands in support.
Despite being the spirituality suit, in the latter half wands get weirdly combative. Upright, this card shows a leader bringing forward a group of people to challenge some opponent. In reverse it's the same, but the person is being foolhardy, their bravado is empty or unwarranted.
9. Your Spiritual Energy and Inner Fulfilment: Ace of Cups Reversed
Aces are beginnings, so this card means the beginning of an emotional journey. In reverse, it means the person feels apprehensive about the path forward.
10. What You Most Need to Focus On in the Year Ahead: 7 of Wands Reversed
This is the natural continuation of my health and well-being card. In that one the person was marching off to battle. In this one they've arrived and are actively in combat. We see a man at the top of a hill, using a wand to fend off the blows from wands striking out at him from below. In reverse it just means that he isn't doing so great. He's taken a few licks.
11. Your Most Important Lesson For the Coming Year: The Star
The Sun is one of the happiest cards in the deck. It means that everything you want is right before you. The star is similarly positive, it's just that what you want is much further away. This card represents reward after long, sustained effort.
12. Overall, Where You Are Headed in the Next 12 Months: 4 of Wands
This card depicts a couple lifting bouquets of flowers in front of a castle, there are four wands before them that are decorated with a wreath. This card represents celebration.
Analysis
Obviously the card I'm most worried about is the Three of Swords under relationships and emotions. Getting the heartbreak card there in the year you're supposed to be married is not nice. It bothered me enough that I pulled a clarification card (which I never do). I got three of cups in reverse, which shows three women dancing and clashing their cups together in celebration. In reverse it represents overindulgence or undeserved celebration. Confusing and unhelpful.
I grew doubtful enough about this spread that I tried a Celtic Cross. I was keeping my eye on the "people in your life" card which is where relationships would surface and got the six of swords reversed. Represents a difficult journey full of burdens, and going in the wrong direction. My advice was Lovers in Reverse. If I take that advice I get King of Pentacles Reversed, and if I don't I get Queen of Swords Reverse. This is all not very reassuring.
There's been a theme lately of anticipated heartbreak and a desired future where I am a bad leader.
As far as this spread goes, my past and future cards look decent enough. Last year was full of potential. I should have learned not to be static in how I feel, and to open myself up to changes of heart. My biggest hope is to get things under control, establish myself and rise above my challenges. I can accomplish this by being generous, vulnerable, and reaching out to others. I might fall short of my goals if I indulge in addictive behaviour. What I need to keep in mind is that it's a tough battle forward, and I'm sure to take some blows in the coming year. What I'm sure to learn is that my goals won't necessarily be achieved this year, but I'm still on the right track. Overall, the next year will be a celebration.
Pretty straightforward. But there also appears to be four "human aspect" cards, and those have me looking pretty miserable. I'm going to be emotionally heartbroken, I'm going to be restless from financial burden, I'm going to be undeservedly confident about my health, and I'm going to be spiritually apprehensive.
As far as personal connections I can see... There isn't much. I've got a lot of swords, cups, and wands, but no pentacles so I guess finances and material goods won't be much of an influence in the coming year. I can see the bit about being overly confident in my health and later getting hit for it being connected to my recent successes in lowering my blood sugar and losing weight. The devil could be explained as me lapsing into old habits after celebrating too early and getting punished for it.
Finances might not be too important, but since the spread pushed the topic and it said I'd feel restless, I anticipate that that's about spending a large sum of money on a wedding while the economy isn't the best. But it doesn't present as especially concerning.
That's all that comes to me at the moment though. Maybe it will become clearer with time.
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