As is tradition, me and Lee-Anne did New Year tarot readings for each other. The readings were done in January, but it's taken me this long to make a blog post on it. Last year I tried an innovative new spread from a prominent tarot reader, but I didn't like it. Ironically, it was developed by the same person who made the deck that I got Lee-Anne for Christmas, and the one that we used for this post. She's a better artist than spread inventor, I guess.
This reading's past cards will cover 2023, and the future ones will cover 2024.
This Covers You: Six of Pentacles Reversed
This card represent the querent as they are presently in life. Pentacles represent finances and tangible resources. The Six of Pentacles features a man with a set of scales in one hand, distributing coins with the other. He is surrounded by impoverished people, crouched on the ground, looking up at him with their hands cupped, awaiting the man's decision on how much he'll give each of them.
Upright, it would represent the querent being in the trusted position of allocating resources to people in need. In reverse, the meaning is similar, but with more doubt from the person giving, either because they feel unqualified, confused about what they're doing, or because their own resources are scarce.
It's also possible that the querent is not the person handing out coins, and is instead one of the people receiving, vulnerable to the judgments of others.
This was a big year for me financially. I got married, which was a significant financial investment, and I was also in the position of receiving significant financial support. As of this reading, I had just got through the Christmas season, which created another influx of giving and receiving, uncomfortable after so recently investing in the wedding.
Rising prices of groceries is pretty unsettling as well, even though we're in a financial position to tolerate it.
Normally I would assume I was the giver, doubting my own ability. As a social service worker, I work with people that grapple with scarcity and am trusted with providing support. However, this year I might be the person receiving due to our reliance on support throughout the wedding.
This Crosses You: Two of Swords
The crossing card represents the presenting issue that the querent is dealing with. It is always presumed to be in the upright position, although considering a trend we're going to see in this reading, I almost want to challenge that.
Swords represent burdens and the element of air. The Two of Swords shows a person sitting in a chair under the light of the moon. Their hands are crossed over their chest, each one holding a sword. They are blindfolded.
This card represents a feeling of being weighed down by burden, confusion about what is happening and what should be done. So my presenting situation is dealing with stagnation due to burdens and an unclear understanding of my surroundings.
This is Beneath You: Death Reversed
This is the recent past. Usually it could be any point in time, so long as the event depicted is sometime before the before card (weird sentence, there's a "this is before you" card coming later) and after the behind card. In this case, it still needs to have come after the behind card, and it has to have happened sometime in 2023.
Death is the most misunderstood card in tarot. It's a bit of a cliche that people unfamiliar with it will panic if it shows up in a reading, and the reader has to rush to reassure them. It represents an end, which makes way for a new beginning. Tarot is all about journeys, and with Death in the middle of the Major Arcana, while it represents an end it is also only midway through the overall journey. It is unlikely to mean physical death. In reverse, Death respresents resistance to change.
I don't like linking this card to literal death, but this year we saw the passing of Cassidy and Thor, two of my mother and brothers cats, leaving them cat-less. One a tragic and young passing, the other peaceful and with the best longevity of any cat I've known. It also opened them up to receiving Castor and Pollux, two kittens they received from Lee-Anne's sister in law at our wedding.
This is Behind You: The World Reversed
This is the distant past. In this case, it can only be as distant as January 1st, 2023, and it has to have come before the Death Reversed event.
The World is the last card in the Major Arcana. If The Fool is before the beginning, then The World is after the end. It's the reward received for completing an important journey. When reversed, it means that this reward has ome about in a way that was unexpected or undesired. A bittersweet end to an important journey.
I can't think of any signifiant endings in 2023.
This is Above You: Two of Cups Reversed
This is the distant future as it looks right now. Because the future is so easily changed, to the point that doing a reading has the potential to shift it, tarot gives two optional results. This card represents an uninterrupted future.
Cups represent emotions and the element of water. This card depicts a man and a woman exchanging cups. It represents two people investing emotions in one another. In reverse, upside down cups look like they're being spilled. It might represent a messy or harmful exchange of feelings. Hope my other future card is better.
This is Before You: Ace of Cups Reversed
This is the near future. Aces represent the beginnings of journeys, reversed adding a layer of doubt or apprehension. In this context, it means the beginning of an emotional journey where the querent is lacking confidence. Might be insecurities surrounding managing married life.
These Are Your Fears: Nine of Swords Reversed
This place in the reading is pretty self explanatory. Image is of a person sitting up in bed, face buried in their hands, with swords in the background. It represents an inability to rest from feeling weighed down by burdens. However, sleep is theorized to be a tool for working through our negativity, so in reverse, it represents resting with pain as a way of relieving it.
I want to address the elephant in the room here, in that this is the seventh reversed card in a row. After the reading I suspected maybe it was somehow a bad shuffle so I looked through the rest of the deck to see if there were other long strings of cards oriented the same. This was the only example of that, so I think it's fair.
These Are the People in Your Life: Two of Wands
Wands represent spirituality, everyday tasks and the element of fire in the form of energy. The Two of Wands shows a man, a globe in one hand, gazing out at the world from atop a structure. There are two wands, one before him and one behind him. This is the first card that is positioned upright in this reading. The fact that he is holding a globe and looking out toward the world indicate that he is planning a long journey, but he is still within his home. The wands in front and back of him represent that he's invested in his future journey, but also in where he comes from.
It's always tempting for me to say that the person depicted here is Lee-Anne, because not only do we live together, we also do each other's readings so it kind of guides the cards in that way. Technically it could be anyone, but sine this seems like a marriage reading, I'll guess that it is her.
This is Your Advice: Four of Swords
This is the potential intervention that decides between the cover card and the outcome. If the outcome is desired, this will act as advice. If it isn't, it serves as a warning. The Three of Swords shows a man laying on his back, with four swords positioned above him and one beneath. This card is very similar to the nine of swords that I got earlier. Both have to do with resting with your burdens. Since the Nine of Swords was my fear, I suppose the Four of Swords is asking me to realize my fear. Well, presuming the next card is positive.
This is Your Outcome: Three of Wands
This is what will happen if I follow the advice of the Four of Swords. The Three of Wands depicts a man gazing out at a long ocean ahead from a cliff, backed by two wands and holding one forward. This card is very similar to the Two of Wands, which I got as the People in my Life. The difference is that, while in both cards the man is anticipating a long journey ahead, invested both in the past and future, in this one he is contemplating this after beginning the adventure. He has left his home.
This is a preferable outcome to my other future card, so I will aim for this one.
Conclusion:
I think this reading surrounds my marriage, my mindset going into it and how it's likely to develop this coming year. More specifically, it concerns my attitude about accepting support. My current self feels like a beggar waiting to be handed his share, showing resentment for needing help. I am dealing with confusion and stagnancy. If I remain in this position and this attitude, it will eventually lead to difficulty in my ability to communicate effectivey and exchange emotions healthily with Lee-Anne.
For a better future, the cards advise me to do what I am afraid of, which is to rest with my pain. I think this is a call to slow down, meditate on my problems, and digest them before sharing with others. If I am able to do that, I will be able to enter a mindset similar to Lee-Anne's.
The near future is an Ace of Cups in reverse, then the unwelcome outcome is a Two of Cups, while the happier outcome has a Two and Three of Wands. All early journey cards and direct progressions from that Ace. It looks like right now I'm focusing on my emotions, but if I want to have a positive outcome I should transition to a focus on my spirit, whatever that means.
I'm unsure what the bittersweet end was in 2023, or what Death Reversed represents. It could be the end of life before marriage, but since we were already living together, that doesn't seem too important. I speculated it could be the Guelph cats passing. The World Reversed is more likely to be physical death than the Death card is. Then Death in Reverse could be the adoption of Castor and Pollux. The card means resistance to change and I did advocate for them not to adopt, as I didn't think enough time had passed since Cassidy's death, and I was worried how Thor would react as he was quite elderly.
Back when they adopted Cassidy, I really pushed for them to do it and supported them through the process. Only a couple months after her passing, another cat that I'd helped get adopted, also died tragically young and in an unexpected way. I felt cursed and said that I would never help anyone adopt a pet again. But Mom and Duncan already knew about a couple of kittens that Lee-Anne's sister in law was trying to adopt out.
So I don't know. Marriage and cats dying were the primary themes of 2023 so maybe it makes sense that both events would get a mention, they just don't seem too connected.
The overall takeaway of this reading is that I need to rest with my pain and avoid focusing on my emotions, instead favouring the development of my spirit.
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