Entering the New Year threshold

Looking back over the past year with gentle exploration and reflection

If you haven’t yet had chance to reflect on your year (which is totally ok may I add, no pressure or rushing from me) but you are feeling called to, why not make yourself a cuppa and settle in with me to take a little look back (from a tarot perspective, of course).

We’re currently existing in that strange, liminal time between Christmas and January 1st where I’m not totally sure what day it is or when I last ate a meal without cheese. These days seem to merge together, going by so fast yet blurring in to one long haze. Over the past couple of years, however, I have made sure to carve out intentional time for my ‘end of the year/beginning a new year’ rituals.

What rituals, traditions or practices do you have, or perhaps could introduce, that would intentionally provide closure for the past year, so that you are able to graciously welcome the new one?

One of my traditions, that is so sacred to me during this period, is watching About Time (my favourite film ever) whilst writing dates in my new calendar. I also sit down to pull a detailed year ahead spread with 13 cards; one for each month and a card for the overall theme of the year.

I was elated when The High Priestess presented herself as my card for the theme of 2023. I had such dreamy visions of where this may lead me; I pictured a mystical, empowered version of myself, deeply connected to her inner wisdom and living in devotion (my word of the year) to her spirituality. This card also harmonised beautifully with the numerological meaning of the number 7 (2+0+2+3) which is all about leading with intuition. Upon reflection, this is precisely what my year held but in a much darker, grittier way than I envisioned. The veil was lifted and I was brought to my knees, all because I listened to and trusted that internal nudge that was telling me it was time to leave my marriage.

Did you have a theme, or maybe a word, for the year? How did this present itself? Do you feel it aligned with how your year unfolded?

Collectively speaking, the card of the year 2023 was The Chariot; the 7th card in the Major Arcana (it being a 7 year) and the final card of line 1. This card is all about how we move through life, progression, growth and the quality of the metaphorical ‘container’ that carries us forward. As the conclusion of line 1 of the 22 Major cards, this card asks “do you want to continue like this? And if not, what do you need to release or change to move forward?”

The Chariot is the vessel we travel in (aka our ‘selves’) and it wants us to conduct a full MOT, service and overhaul of our lives, through asking the tough questions, assessing the baggage we’re carrying and resolving any issues so that we can move forward with ease.

However, we are also the charioteer and at the heart of this card is change and transformation, for our own good. It wants to lovingly, yet also quite forcefully, encourage us to reroute and redirect towards what really matters, rather than what we think we ‘should’ want. It is a liberation of sorts, as we graduate from the outer realms of life (line 1) into our inner world (line 2).

How does The Chariot relate to the year you had? In what ways can you relate to it and how did it present itself?

Feeling into this card as I write to you, everything I have said above is so deeply true for me and has unfolded this past year. This hasn’t been a lighthearted process of just ‘letting go’, it has been a painful, heart-wrenching redirection that I have resisted and dug in my heels at every turn. But through this journey, I know in my soul that I am being rerouted to somewhere beautiful. The path ahead is still yet to become clear but I trust that I am being guided to an expansive, awe-inspiring, magic-filled future.

A short ritual to close…

Take a piece of paper and write down what you wish to leave behind in 2023. We are at the threshold of a new chapter, with a new card to guide us (hello Strength!) and now is the time to turn the page on the past 12 months. So what baggage are you leaving behind so that your chariot feels lighter? When this is complete, safety set the paper alight and watch the words turn to ash, as you consciously close off the year.

Happy New Year to you my love, and thank you for being here.

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