I couldn’t resist the pun.
Why post something about New Year’s on the eve of February 1? Because January is a whirlwind for most of us, mired in traditional resolutions to be better, stronger, and faster—and by February 1, we’re often frustrated. It’s a good time to revisit the idea of the New Year and look at our intentions through a more sustainable lens. Tarot, with its ability to give us a power card based on the date of the year, provides a terrific template for this.
Just after New Year’s in 2022, I was watching an episode of CBS News where a Tarot reader was interviewed. The first thing that ran through my mind was searing jealousy and a keen desire to meet the reader’s publicist. This was shortly followed by jaw-dropping disappointment.
To be fair, the individual featured was not billed as a reader but another type of person. I’m not going to say what and publicly slam the person. But clearly, the person used Tarot cards as part of their professional toolkit.
I don’t have to remind anyone that by the time the end of 2021 was nigh, everyone was fed up with it. I would have otherwise been surprised that CBS would include a Tarot segment, but by that point, everyone wanted to know if something better was on the horizon. By the airing of the episode during the first week of 2022, we wanted some good news.
“Do you have a question?” asked the reader.
“For her,” the interviewer responds, unveiling a wooden puzzle of the United States of America.
Here’s where it got dramatic. When asked what was “on the horizon,” the reader drew a heavy breath—then cut to Jane Pauley! After another brief interlude, we return to the reader, now breathlessly awaiting our nationwide fate.
I really want the contact info for the publicist now.
The camera zooms in on the reader’s hand for intensity. With reverence, a card is turned face up to reveal our mass future. The reader smiles and lets out a tranquil “Oh—” with the kind of tone you use for “Aw, how cute.”
“It’s a time for love,” the reader says, because the card for 2022 was The Lovers card.
This was staged. Any reader knows how to figure out the Card of the Year based on numerology.
How to Determine Your Card of the Year or Your Power Card
If you can add or use a calculator, you can do this! This is BASIC numerology.
Let’s look at 2022:
2 + 0 + 2 + 2 = 6
The sixth card in the major arcana is The Lovers. And while it can be about love, that’s a rudimentary interpretation of a card that often has a lot more to do with learning to live in sync with our values, our yin and yang natures, and other deeper things that I think were characteristic of 2022.
The Card of the Year for 2024
Using our formula, the card for 2024 is:
2 + 0 + 2 + 4 = 8
This is the Strength card in the Major Arcana. Or Justice in some decks. Stay with me, I’m not going to make it complex, so even the most beginner of beginners can follow.
Tarot is divided into two “Arcanas,” or mysteries: the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana. The major is said to be “The Fool’s Journey,” or “The Hero’s Journey.” The Hero’s Journey is your soul’s mission and is a familiar theme in psychology and story archetypes.
The Minor Arcana is more mundane stuff (how you get there)—but we’re only looking at the Major Arcana when we’re discussing year cards. The Major Arcana has 21 cards, and to give a nod to a renowned reader and writer Rachel Pollack, it can be looked at in three lines of seven each:
· Line 1: Self / Personal Awareness (Magician through Chariot, cards 1-7)
· Line 2: Collective / Personal Influence (Strength through Temperance, cards 8-14)
· Line 3: Cosmic / Personal Evolution (Devil through World, cards 15-21)
I like the analogy of how we get from birth to 21 years old—the transformation is undeniably magical when you stop and think about it.
At Strength (Card VIII), we’re entering line two. The end of line one was the Chariot card, and for me, that was about considering my “vehicle” (the image is of a victorious charioteer in a boxy chariot driven by two lions.) Questions I asked myself included, “Is my vehicle (meaning how I live my life) nimble or rigid?” “Are these lions going in the same direction, or am I letting them pull me in two opposing paths?”
At the end of Line 1, I asked, “Should I rest on the laurels of victory or acknowledge the road ahead?”
In Strength, we have a lion and a person who appears to be opening its mouth. Succinctly, the interpretation is strength through persuasion rather than brute force. Meaning, that life will throw you punches, but rather than hitting back, perhaps we should try to find the lesson that comes with them.
It’s here that I find the real meat of Strength. Have a problem? A fear? Go right into the mouth of the beast (albeit with caution.) This is where alchemy happens. Perhaps the lion in the card is really the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz, and what we’re doing when we peer into its mouth is looking in the mirror.
Going with the Oz analogy, the Witch tries to hurl fireballs at Dorothy. Every card in the Major Arcana has an astrological correspondence, and Strength’s is Leo. And the element governing Leo is, wait for it: FIRE!
The message here? Keep following the road, Dorothy; the path is troublesome. . .but also fascinating.
Now consider those darn New Year’s resolutions. Dorothy has only one: find the Wizard. In other words, don’t get lost in the details. Repetition, practice, and disciplined alignment with value-driven behavior will propel you forward.
Think about the world stage for a moment. There may be some dark corners ahead. Keep on the path, don’t eat the poppies, and be kind to new friends on the way.
How to Predict Your Personal Power Card for 2024
Lastly, for another card to add to your yearly prediction box, you can do a little more numerology based on the month and day of your birthday. Let’s take April 25 as an example:
4 + 2 + 5 + 2 + 0 + 2 + 4 = 19
19 = 1 + 9 = 10 = The World
Armed with your new “psychic” powers of prediction (or a calculator), perhaps you, too, can be on CBS “predicting” the card of the year.
I’d love to know how Strength has been playing out for everyone so far, and what energies your personal cards bring in during the next 11 months of 2024!
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