Okay, so I’ve been seeing this “yearly tarot spread” thing all over my socials, and I finally decided to give it a shot. I’m not, like, a super experienced tarot reader, but I do enjoy dabbling. It felt like a good way to reflect on the past year and maybe get some insight into the year ahead. So, here’s how my little experiment went.
First, I gathered my stuff. I grabbed my trusty Rider-Waite deck (it’s the one I’m most comfortable with), lit a candle (just a regular vanilla one, nothing fancy), and put on some chill background music. I wanted to create a relaxed and focused vibe, you know?
Then, I spent a few minutes just shuffling the cards. I wasn’t thinking about anything specific, just trying to connect with the deck and clear my mind. Some people have a specific shuffling ritual, but I just do what feels right at the moment. I’m very intuitive about that, it’s random.
The Spread
I decided on a simple 12-card spread, one card for each month of the year. There are tons of different yearly spreads out there, but this one seemed straightforward enough for a beginner like me. I’ve seen other spreads on the web, some even use more than 20 cards.
I laid out the cards in a circle, starting with January at the top and going clockwise. As I flipped each card, I jotted down some quick notes in my journal. I didn’t try to interpret them too deeply at first, just wrote down the card and any immediate thoughts or feelings that popped up.
- January: The Star – Okay, feeling optimistic! Hope, inspiration… good start.
- February: The Lovers – Hmm, choices? Relationships? Could be interesting.
- March: The Chariot – Movement, progress, maybe travel?
- April: Five of Swords – Ugh, conflict. Hopefully, it’s minor.
- May: Ten of Pentacles- Wow, great! Abundance, family, legacy.
- June: The Hermit- introspection, taking a break, self-reflection.
- July: Ace of Wands- New beginnings, creative spark.
- August: Temperance-Balance is needed.
- September: The Moon- Illusion, intuition, something is hidden.
- October: Eight of Cups- Moving on, leaving behind what no longer serves.
- November: Three of Swords- Heartbreak, sadness, betrayal.
- December: Seven of Pentacles- Assessing progress, harvest.
After I had all the cards down, I went back and spent more time with each one. I looked up some interpretations online (just to get a broader perspective) and thought about how they might relate to my life and the events of the past year, in some months I have pulled the same cards before.
It was actually pretty interesting! Some of the cards definitely resonated with things that had happened. The Five of Swords in April, for example – yeah, there was a bit of a work drama that month. And the Ten of Pentacles in May is fitting. The whole process made me do a small reflection.
I’m not taking this as, like, a definitive prediction of the future or anything. But it did give me some things to think about. It’s more about identifying potential themes and areas to focus on. I’m going to keep my journal handy throughout the year and see if any of these insights play out. Overall, I’d say it was a fun and thought-provoking experience. Might make it a yearly tradition!
