A New Moon, A New Year, and Getting Clarity Via Tarot

Hello all!

I'm pretty stoked to be ending 2016 high on New Moon energy, and not just an New Moon, but one meant for intention setting and helping you build confidence to make big changes in your life. I like to get that ball rolling with a tarot spread or seven (surprise, surprise), and am always amazed by the clarity after. New Year's Tarot has the potential to be some of your most solid work of the year, and I'm happy to share steps to get the best New Year's Reading possible. I've done this post "choose your own adventure" style so you can personalize it based on where you are in your processing, as opposed to specific spreads or step by step instructions. 

1. To start, do you know what this year has taught you? Through all of it's ups and downs, do you know what you're supposed to be leaving behind and bringing with you?
   1. If yes, great! Just pull a card or two to see if you're missing anything. Pull an extra card if you need advice on getting over some humps you know you should be getting over but are a little stuck.
   2. If no, never fear! I recommend a very simple four card spread like the one below. The four placements indicate "What is the biggest lesson and takeaway from this year?", "What am I supposed to leave in 2016?", "What am I supposed to to take with me into 2017," and a final card for "What is the best action I can take to ensure I wrap all of this up neatly over the next week or two?
       

More on this deck here.

1. Next, do you know what you want out of 2017? Are you a goal-oriented person who has been climbing steadily, or is comfortable with where you landed during setbacks that you're still pretty sure of what you want?
   1. If yes, great! You can either skip this step, or pull a few cards to boost your confidence, asking the deck if you're right about your path, and if everything is in order or good to go as you move through the work of the year.
   2. If not, that's great too. You get to have some fun. I recommend pulling anywhere between one and three cards, asking the deck as you shuffle what your goals and motivations should be for the year.
   3. If you're somewhere in between, you know what you personally but not professionally, spiritually but not in terms of mundane bucket list items, or any combination or split of these things, I recommend pulling two to four cards, asking the deck as you shuffle "beyond my goals regarding ____, what else should I be focusing on or building throughout the upcoming year?"
      
       
2. Now that your goals and intentions are more focused for the 12 months ahead, I recommend Beth Maiden's post on spreads and cards that help with planning. I also recommend just picking a number of steps (at least three, probably no more ten) and laying those out to see what those steps look like. If your goals are in different areas of your life, because this is a practical spread, it probably won't exhaust you to do as many as you need based on the number of life areas you have goals in.
    
3. Finally, it's tarot! It is innately a spiritual and mysterious source of insight, so your Divine and your deck may have a COMPLETELY different set of information to give you. You still have some choices on how to approach this based on how you like to read.
   1. If you read predictively, or are open to it, lay out four cards. The question to keep in mind while shuffling is "What can I expect from this year?" I use the four to represent the seasons, so I read how the energy and events featured may shift naturally as the seasons move. If you're super eager, go ahead and do 12 to represent the zodiac signs or the months, depending on your preference.
   2. If you don't, just ask the cards what else you need to know about the transition from year to year, and what you need to know about yourself and life in 2017. Pull as many cards as you think feels right, but make sure you determine the number beforehand, as you're shuffling. I strongly, strongly recommend doing this Face Up style. Siobhan is a genius, and you will be so surprised by what you end up telling yourself about the year ahead.

That's it! Kind of a lot, I know, and you can and should move through this as often as you need to in as many ways as you need too. I do recommend starting tonight, in spite of the short notice, but you certainly have some wiggle room with both moon phases (that vibe lasts awhile) and New Year's Day (time is a construct anyway) so take your time. Take. Your. Time. Allow yourself the comfort of not rushing intentions and goals so they come from a genuine, pure place, and know that anything can change course if you will it too, no matter what this reading may say. Your life is yours. Your year is yours. The cards just want to help you make it so.

Blessed be, loves.