New Year 2017 For Me! And For You Too?

Happy New Year! We are already one week into 2017 so I thought I would sit down and do my New Year Tarot Spread for 2017. I love doing a tarot reading for myself at the turning of the year. It is a very symbolic time of change, of turning over a new leaf, of beginning fresh. I'm easing into the new year this time around, taking much of January to make plans, transition, and set my intentions for the year. There is no rush to do it all at once, although I did pull my 12 cards, one for each month of the year, on New Year's Day. What a wonderful way to start the year! If you would like a 2017 New Year Reading, please get in touch :) You can see an example of what you will receive below expect it will be all about you, instead of all about me! I'm also happy to do a 12 month ahead reading if that is more your thing. Just let me know! I'll deliver you a beautiful PDF reading straight to your inbox ASAP so you can kick off 2017 with your best foot forward, full of insight and empowerment!

Here are the cards I drew for myself for 2017: 

Reflecting on 2016 1. What are you ready to leave behind in 2016? What energy will no longer help support you in your life purpose going into 2017?- IX of Wands 2. What should you bring with you into 2017? What lessons did you learn in 2016 that will still be useful for you going forward?- Queen of Wand reversed Manifesting Your Best 2017 3. How can you support your health and well-being in 2017?- II of Cups reversed 4. How can you nurture and foster loving and healthy relationships in 2017?- IX of Cups 5. How can you create a productive and worthwhile work environment in 2017?- The Empress reversed Themes for 2017 6. What lessons will help you learn and grow in 2017?- VI of Pentacles reversed 7. What will be your greatest obstacles and challenges in 2017?- Queen of Cups 8. How can you use the Magician energy of 2017 to your advantage?- IX of Pentacles 9. What will be the overarching theme or energy of your 2017?- King of Swords

Reflecting on 2016: Let's start by processing a bit of last year, 2016. The first two cards I drew are both Wands cards, the IX of Wands reversed for what I need to leave behind me in 2016 and the Queen of Wands reversed for what I need to take with me into 2017. The Wands are action cards, fiery, passionate, inspired cards. Right off the bat I know that I need to leave some of that constant motion and push to be doing behind me in 2016. The IX of Wands is about stamina and determination. It is powering through, never giving up, doing whatever it takes to succeed even against the greatest odds. This reminds me of what I just wrote at the beginning of this post about easing into 2017. 2016 was a slog, it was difficult, it tested me and I spent the majority of the time just holding myself up and together. I'm not going to pull that same move this year. Instead of constant striving and action, I am going to give myself more down time and more time for being. I'm going to take time off when I'm tired and rest up instead of propping myself up when I am damaged and exhausted. When I show myself this type of care, I show myself love, and I always want to bring more love into my life. With adequate self-care who knows how much more I will be able to do with less effort and exhaustion.

The IX of Wands fading into the past is also a sign of success achieved. I have proven my strength, my courage, and my resilience. I have show great discipline and perseverance. Look at all that I have done! Look how far I have come! I am truly proud of my accomplishments and where I am at right now. I can take a break for a minute now. Life doesn't have to be a constant forward march. Sometimes progress can reach a pinnacle or a plateau and I should just hang out and enjoy it. The grass is always greener, there are always more things we want to do, and it is hard to be satisfied. The IX of Wands asks me to consider the idea of being content for a moment where I am. I have fought hard to get here, why not take a little break to enjoy the view?

The Queen of Wands being reversed is another sign that action and doing need to be lower on my priority list this year. This Queen is a go-getter, a mover and shaker, a fiery force of nature. With her here reversed I know that I can continue to embody these personality traits, they are always a potential inside of me, but I don't have to manifest them quite so hard. Last year I made a big transition to move to Nashville. I got a dog. I figured out a way to pay the rent. I got a new car. I finally made it to Ireland. I didn't give up on my tarot business, I started planning my wedding, I started building a community in Nashville- lots of balls were set in motion. The Queen of Wands reversed is here to tell me that I can nurture all of these beginnings but I can also slow my roll a little bit and delve deeper into all these things I've already started.

The Queen of Wands is also the significator I use for my fiancee, Kristen. Whenever the Queen of Wands shows up, I know Kristen's energy is making itself known in the reading. Here obviously, I see that Kristen will come with me into 2017. We are getting married in June! Yippee! I see the reversal as a little nudge to remember that even though we are getting married we are still two separate people with different interests. There is a large area of overlap in our needs and desires but I still have my own life and I still need to prioritize what I want out of that life. This coming year Kristen and I may find ourselves spending more time apart as we work on different jobs and I stop touring so much since our dog Cosmo can't always come on tour. Kristen and I can be codependent in some beautiful ways but I must still remember that we are ultimately on separate yet compatible soul purposes in this lifetime.

Manifesting My Best 2017: The next three cards are addressing the three practical areas of well-being, relationships, and work. We all want to manifest the best life we can during our short time on Earth and these tend to be the three areas we obsess over the most. The II of Cups reversed as my well-being card integrates well with what I was just writing about the Queen of Wands reversed and my relationship with Kristen. This II of Cups reversed is telling me that it is very important to remember that even though I rely on Kristen and we are getting married this year, we are ultimately two separate people and I cannot rely on her for my spiritual well-being. She is a huge influence and addition to my life and my health, but she isn't the end all, be all, as far as my happiness and spiritual calling.

I do believe that one of my soul purposes during this life time is to experience love, be in relationships, and to bring more unity through love into this world. This isn't just about romantic love, but all relationships. When we work with one another in any capacity, we seek to integrate our needs and goals with other souls. This is an amazing and wonderful thing to do! The II of Cups reversed suggests that I may have some difficulties in this department in the coming year. I am seeking a spiritual community here in Nashville and I'm not sure if I'm actually in the kind of open-minded and open-hearted space I need to be in in order to make that dream a reality. I tend to be an introverted and solitary person when it comes to my spirituality (another girl with much to share on her blog and with her online community but a resistance to in-person communication!). If I want to find fulfillment and foster my spiritual well-being, I am going to need to figure out a way to open more and meet people in person.

The next card shows the potential of that opening up. The IX of Cups is a jolly card to find in my relationship and love sector. This is the card of wishes fulfilled, of happiness, and of satisfaction. There is a great energy of having lasting, loving, and joyful relationships in the coming year. This is encouraging after the somewhat chastising energy of the II of Cups reversed in my well-being sector. If I can effectively foster the types of relationships I am looking for in my spiritual community, I will find great satisfaction in the new friendships and associations that I create. I must remember not simply to dream big, but to work towards my goals. The IX of Cups carries a bit of a warning not to daydream about that which you want, but to also work to manifest it. The loving, spiritual community where I want to make friends may certainly just show up at my door out of sheer luck, but it is still my responsibility to open that door!

As far as romantic relationships go, the IX of Cups couldn't be a better sign for a happy marriage. The IX is a number of completion and integration and with the upcoming wedding, Kristen and I are telling the Universe that we are ready to take our relationship to the next level. This is a lucky sign that we will have a happy year together and may even experience some jackpots of good luck. I actually feel like we already have, even in just the first couple of days of the year! We are on our way to having our best year yet. The IX of Cups is a reminder to count my blessings, be grateful for my abundance, and to bask in each precious present moment. It is time to slow down, take stock, and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! What is the point in having a full and happy heart if you don't appreciate it?

The area of work and finances is ruled by The Empress reversed in my reading. This is an interesting and exciting card placement and also the card I chose last week as my overall theme of the year. Who doesn't love The Empress card? She represents abundance, growth, fertility, and beauty. She is an inspiring sign that my work could bring abundance, creativity fulfillment, and a sense of alignment between my soul purpose and my actual actions in the world. The issue here is that The Empress is in reverse. This says to me that this won't be an easy thing to manifest. I have the potential to be The Empress, as we all do!, but I also have a tendency to shy away from super hard work, preferring to indulge in whatever it is that pleases me the most at that moment.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I shouldn't depend on my creativity to make me money. Yes, and that includes that tarot. I love working with the tarot. I love writing on this blog. I love the work I do with The Willow Path Tarot. But I don't want to depend on it to pay the rent. I want to depend on it to fulfill my creative spirit, but I don't want to bog down that spirit with financial worries or constraints. I think this Empress reversed is telling me that I'm going in the right direction here. I have found a part-time job which is simply a job. It will pay the bills and it won't distract me from my creative purpose. I'm super happy about this guys. I want The Willow Path to be a place of fun, love, and magic. I don't need to put pressure on that magic to produce money. I will fill this place of work with nurture, caring, and support for myself and any who enter here.

I think it's interesting that The Empress in my career and work sector is the only Major Arcana card I got in this reading and it is in reverse at that. It is almost like a little gift from the Universe saying to me that 2017 won't be a heavy, life-changing year. The major themes and lessons of the year will have more to do with the day-to-day act of living, developing my character, and figuring out how to relax more. The greatest emphasis on the career section is telling me not to use my creativity to make money. My love, abundance, creativity, fertility, natural state is not to work, but to be one with nature, to create, and to spread light. It is time to look within to find the beauty of life and the natural abundance that has nothing to do with bills, paychecks, or finances.

Themes for 2017 The lesson of the VI of Pentacles reversed illuminates how the balance of the Universe shows up in our day-to-day existence. Everything we experience we understand by knowing it's opposite. We understand giving because of receiving. We understanding having by knowing what it is to have not. We know generosity when we are met with mostly selfishness. This world of duality is presented to us everyday and we have to figure out how to achieve balance here. So my lesson for 2017 is somehow to work through these power dynamics. I can see this coming up, of course, when I talk about doing versus being. The Pentacles cards are about practicalities and getting things done on on the material plane. Here I have a Pentacle in reversed, leading me away from the material plan, perhaps to the more ethereal, astral plane. It is on this metaphysical plane that I just am. I am not what I do, I simply am.

This could point to a lesson about spirituality and about imbalance. I may find that I'm giving a lot and not receiving much. Does that mean I should stop giving? No, it means I should be more open to receiving. Everything is in balance, I just have to accept what I am offered in return for my giving. But what if I am being too generous? I should be careful this year not to overextend myself, especially in my material resources. I like to be generous with what I have, but having so little, one can get into trouble if they give away money or other resources that they don't actually have to give. One of my goals for this year is to get out of credit card debt, and the easiest way to do that is to pay off debts instead of incurring new ones :)

I've been repeatedly saying in this reading that I want to do less in 2017, strive less, do less, and be more. I want to spend more time in meditation, practicing yoga, enjoying what I have, etc. The Queen of Cups challenges me to meet that promise to myself. She is calm. She is intuitive. She listens to her inner center before taking action. I love this Queen of Cups. I relate to her so much as a Cancer Sun sign. Yet I also struggle with her. I worry that I am too introverted and too introspective. I hesitate and I procrastinate. But is that really what I am doing when I take time for myself? The difference I want to create this year is that instead of feeling like I'm procrastinating I want to simply not to have anything to do. I want less deadlines, less projects, fewer goals, and more contentment with what I already have. The Queen of Cups is my role model, she is my ideal. She is inside of me and I must recognize and honor her and her spiritual calm.

The Queen of Cups is a healer. She is a mirror reflecting the depth of the soul. What I find inside of myself is a pure light that I want to reflect out into the world to help us all heal and be whole. I want to be nurturing, supportive, and caring. I want to shine out love and compassion. I want to inspire other people to shine out their own inner light. The world is full of shadows, many of them walking fully formed and threatening to stamp out the light that we shine. We are all made of darkness and light, that is fine. Yet the light has a responsibility to shine on those shadow places, to bring the subconscious to light and to work towards healing. I want to be a safe harbor, a place where the creative souls can be inspired, rest, heal, and figure out how to go forth with whole, shining hearts.

The year 2017 is numerologically represented by The Magician ( 2+0+1+7= 10, 1+0 = 1, one is the number of The Magician). The Magician is a magical manifestor who stands for new beginnings, creative endeavors, and personal power. When I apply the Magician energy to my year I came up with the IX of Pentacles, a lovely card of gratitude, culmination, proper use of skill, and personal satisfaction. I think I am going to like this Magician energy. I'm going to use it's manifesting powers to actually create a year of luxury and abundance. The IX of Pentacles is self-confident, self-sufficient, and has access to the good life. I can access that good life myself if I simply decide to accept the abundance which already exists within my world. I also know that I am capable of completing the tasks before me. I have the skills and the resources I need to get things done. I am upleveling here with The Magician and his mundane Muse, the IX of Pentacles.

The overall theme of my 2017 is represented by the King of Swords. This is the only Swords card I got in this reading and I love this placement. The Swords have a masculine energy of logic and cool reason. I've been really emphasizing a lot of feminine energy in my reading with the Queens, Pentacles, and Cups cards. This King brings some needed balance and an action plan to my reading. First of all, the King of Swords stands for truth, honesty, fortitude, and the intellect. He will help me relate to the world around me which is still running on the same old patriarchy crap it's been doing for thousands of years. I still need to operate in this society on many levels so it is good to have this King and his cool, calm, and wise energy to help me deal with the world around me on a practical level.

A King is also an authority on making plans come into reality. It is all well and good for me to say that I want to have more time for being, but on a practical level I also have to schedule that time into my day and find ways to integrate self-care into my life. For example, the King of Swords can see that yoga will fit nicely into my day after morning pages and schedule that in. Or he knows that I need to make chiropractor appointments, not just dream about structural alignment. Notice that the King of Swords is sitting and facing forward in this image from the Rider Waite Smith deck. I like this doing energy because it is focused on the present. This King isn't looking to the past for answers or living ahead of himself in the future. He is dealing with the present moment, fully present and concentrating on the task at hand. I like that kind of masculine energy. Then I can float back to nonlinear time :)

One of my favorite things about this reading is that I got three IX cards: the IX of Wands, IX of Cups, and IX of Pentacles. The number 9 is symbolic of endings, culmination, and success. I like having three of them in this reading because it makes me think that 2017 can be a year where I fully experience my accomplishments. Instead of working towards something, I can be at somewhere. Nine is the number of Universal love, of faith, inner-wisdom, spiritual enlightenment, strength, and life purpose. I go into 2017 with a lot of optimism. I mentioned upleveling before, and it is a difficult and often painful process, but taking my life to the next level is an amazing goal. There are whole levels of happiness, achievement, physical health, and intelligence that I haven't even dreamed of yet!

This reading has helped me focus in on what I actually want out of the year, what my intentions and goals are for 2017, and how I can work effectively towards those goals. I know it is may seem kind of silly to have my major goal for the year be: Do Less. But it's hard to do less!, especially when doing more is supposed to earn you more money and make you feel more accomplished. More, more, more is pretty much the mantra I hear shouted at me whenever I interact with my American culture. Whatever! I don't want to accomplish anything major this year and I'm not going to feel guilty about it. I intend to feel gratitude for my loved ones, enjoy what I have, be present and peaceful, and do whatever needs to get done with my full concentration and devotion.

Happy 2017!!!