the year ahead tarot spread (in depth and specific!)
This tarot reading is my favorite way to prepare for the New Year, so I thought I’d share!
This is technically a 36 card spread, so definitely don’t do this unless you have a couple of hours to kill, lol. It’s time consuming, but so worth it! This reading will give you a detailed look at your journey through the coming year, the lessons you’ll learn, and the major milestones along the way. The number 36 also has significance – in numerology, 36 is associated with fulfillment, creativity, and balance.
One thing to keep in mind is that the future is never set in stone. People change, circumstances change, and energy changes. You might experience a dramatic energy shift between now and, say, next November that totally changes the way that month turns out for you. For this reason, I still recommend doing regular “check-in” readings throughout the year.
To start, divide your deck into two piles – one for the Major Arcana and one for the Minor Arcana.
The Major Arcana represent major themes/lessons. (For example, if you draw the Death card for the month of May, your major theme for May will be endings and rebirth.) The Minor Arcana represent major events and milestones. (For example, let’s say you draw the Two of Cups for the month of September. You may be entering into a new romantic relationship in September.)
I like separating the cards out this way because it helps me get a more detailed and in-depth understanding. Another way to think of it is this: the Major Arcana represent the phases of your spiritual journey, and the Minor Arcana represent the ways that journey manifests in your daily life.
If you want to do a simpler version of this reading, simply do not split your deck. Shuffle the deck as you would normally – Major and Minor Arcana together – and pull one card for each month. That card represents the main theme for the month. This won’t be as detailed as the more complicated method, but it is a heck of a lot less time consuming and may be better for beginner readers.
For each month, pull one card from your Major Arcana pile and two cards from your Minor Arcana pile.
The Major Arcana card is your theme for the month – it’s the lesson you need to learn (or relearn) to further your spiritual growth/personal development. This is the archetype that best describes the energy surrounding you this month. Because of this, whatever Major Arcana card you draw is probably going to influence the Minor Arcana cards you draw with it – the major events/milestones in your life reflect your spiritual growth, and vise versa.
Be sure to interpret the cards in relation to each other. Try to look at the three cards as a whole, and try to see the “story” in the cards. For example, the Three of Swords is the “heartbreak card” and may represent a breakup, but if it appears with the Sun card, you can be sure that your breakup will open the door to happiness, spiritual growth, and good fortune. In this case, the Three of Swords is telling you to rip the band-aid off and cut a toxic person out of your life so you finally have space to be happy again.
Make sure you write your readings and interpretations down so you can look back on them later! I record all of my readings in a Google Doc because it’s easier to keep track of than a paper journal lol.
One more thing: make sure you return your cards to their respective piles before shuffling and drawing cards for the next month. Yes, this means you might get repeat cards – that’s the point. There may be some lessons that take more than one month to learn, or that come back up for you several times throughout the year. Personal development isn’t linear!
I hope this is helpful! I got so much clarity from this reading, and it really helped me realize what I need to work on in 2020. Let me know if you decide to try this – I’d love to hear how it went!
For those of you who learn visually, I have a video on my YouTube channel where I do an example reading using this method and talk you through it. Hopefully that clears up anything this post didn’t accurately explain.
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