Blog

New Year Tarot Reading

spiritedtarot

What follows is a sample reading of the following New Year Tarot Spread from Biddy Tarot.

2022 was a year of collaboration, working with other people, appreciating the group effort. No one is an island and the value of other people’s input makes the thing better and a success. There was general peace and harmony throughout the year with some celebration as we were coming out of Covid. This all makes for a feeling of stability and security. 

The next twelve months will be a time for truth-seeking and practical mindedness. Getting down to the essence, not accepting flimsy reasons and setting good personal boundaries with a sharp clear focus. It will be time to let people know what you want and how you want it. Clarify what you mean in all instances. You will be bold in this endeavor and sometimes a bit impulsive. You might get some blowback from others who don’t expect this new position from you. Stay true to your meaning and don’t let self-doubt or fear of change dull your aspiration to set your position. i.e. don’t let your mind or old programs sabotage yourself. You are in control of your thoughts. You and only you.

You will bring passion and optimism to your relationships. Get ready for some adventures! Your health and well-being will be good with perhaps a tendency to over-indulge in the good life. But generally speaking you will be in good health and that will reflect on your outlook and your generosity to others. 

You will spend time growing your spiritual energy and inner fulfillment. There is an abundance in this area and a fertile space for deepening and sharing. You are coming into a fullness here with a growing love and acceptance which manifests for the good of others. Nurture this area and allow it to grow your being.

In the year ahead your focus should be on manifesting through your gifts and talents to create a solid base for yourself in order to contribute to the benefit of others. You are a natural nurturer but you must know that your cup needs to be overflowing before you can share with others. Take good care of yourself in body, mind and spirit and you will happily help others to feel secure, loved and able to manifest for themselves.

To be responsible and accountable for oneself requires courage and perseverance. Once you have found your truth you must protect it and never give it away or fall victim to other people’s censure. There may be those who do not accept your new strength happily or they may be jealous and want to take you down. Draw upon your self-confidence, self-belief and know that you can overcome these tests.

Now is not the time to be apathetic or disheartened in any way. The task at hand is clear and the year ahead is filled with strengthening of self which will lead towards greater self-love and love for all. 

Holiday Cactus and Death Card

spiritedtarot

Pink blooms of a holiday cactus push out of green leaves. One bloom is on its way out and hanging tenuously onto its stem. For aesthetic sake I could pluck it off but I keep it there as I like to ponder the inevitability of passing.

In this picture I’ve paired the cactus with Catrin Welz-Stein depiction of the Death Card from her magical Tarot of Mystical Moments deck. In the card we see a woman with a skeletal deathlike chest. However, beautiful flowers, mostly lilies signifying innocence, purity and rebirth, spring from the boney carcass. A butterfly, the ultimate motif of transformation, alights on a lily holding the gaze of our female in transit.

It’s difficult to accept the inevitability of death when you’re living. It’s like young people never think they’re going to die and old people fear death because that’s all they think about. My grandmother always used to say she’d come back as a strawberry in her next life. She loved strawberries. I do think it is soothing to accept that death will come but that’s not all there is. Curiosity will give ballast to the journey beyond.

I suppose when it is time the bloom from my holiday cactus will fall to the ground. I don’t need to hurry it along. I do wonder at the cycles of life, how so much depends on mixture, taking in, letting go, finding the right balance between the two and then trusting the process of creation that the universe guarantees.

Weekly Tarot Card – 5 of Pentacles

spiritedtarot

Fives in Tarot signify conflict and change. They are midway between the ace and number ten, therefore halfway in the arc of the suit’s journey. Here we are midway in the journey of pentacles: material wealth, resources, earthly values.

A destitute couple trudge barefoot in a snowstorm. The man is on crutches and looks up to the heavens in defiance. The woman is bundled in rags and huddled over, eyes downcast. They are so caught up in their despair they don’t notice the illuminated pentacles in the stained glass window of the church at their side. Help is at hand if only they would lift their eyes from their despair to notice it.

When problems come they tend to take over our entire perspective and we get caught in a negative mindset. We go over the problem, how it started, how awful it is, how impossible it is to solve and we become closed off to any chance of awakening to a possible solution. If we don’t believe a problem can be solved then how can we ever be receptive to a solution?

These unfortunate souls in this picture remind us of the pitfalls of a scarcity consciousness. Times may be difficult and challenging. But sure as the Wheel of Fortune goes up and down, nothing lasts forever, there is always change, and even in the darkest night there is the light of the stars.

Weekly Tarot Card – 7 of Swords

spiritedtarot

A fellow steals away from a battlefield encampment. He is carrying five swords and leaving behind two. He seems very pleased with himself by the smirk on his face. Clearly he feels he’s getting away with something.

Many feel this is the card of betrayal. There’s trickery afoot. The question then becomes are you the one who feels betrayed or are you the fellow in this picture who has betrayed? Time to come to terms with this and make amends or let it go, depending on your position.

Others, like myself, see this as the card of strategy since swords in Tarot have to do with thoughts, the workings of the mind and stratagems. Notice the fellow is bringing five swords and leaving two behind. He knows what to take with him and what to let go of. He is thinking strategically.

Is there an area in your life where you need to re-assess and keep what’s working while leaving behind what isn’t? Think strategically, be a boss, and make the tough decisions. Clear thinking cuts through any ounce of sentimentality. You’ll be glad you did.

Weekly Tarot Card – Queen of Swords

spiritedtarot

Facing to the right or the future in Tarot terms, this Queen sits on her throne adorned with angels and butterflies holding a sword upright in her right hand of action while extending her left hand in a soothing gesture of grace. Her relatively stern facial expression belies great mental clarity. She is nobody’s fool and can cut through a fiction as neatly as the double-edged sword she wields. Will she strike you dead or dub thee knight?

The sky for the most part is a clear blue with a bird winging through perhaps with a message for you. Puffs of clouds recede in the distance. Trees stand upright on fertile ground with a river running through. The mind sifts through cloudy thoughts to gain clarity.

Although we might fear this queen’s judgment we notice the butterflies and angels in her clothes, crown and throne and we realize that she is fundamentally a champion of transformation and wants the best for us.

This week you are to use your powers of discernment to seek out the truth in situations. See them for what they are and build a foundation of clarity so that you can grow along a positive path of evolution.