“You can get excited about the future. The past won’t mind.”
— Hillary DePiano, playwright and author
In just a few short days, 2023 will come to a close. We can bid the year farewell as we embrace the new beginnings of 2024 - a year that will be positive for all of us! In just a moment, we will reflect on the collective reading for 2023. For now, I want to take a second and appreciate that this is the fifth collective reading I’ve had the pleasure of doing for our coven, and every year it never fails to amaze me at just how accurate they are for myself and everyone else. Doing this reading for the collective is one way I serve my community, opening myself up to the whims of the year ahead and receiving messages of wisdom from the Universe. It fills my heart with joy and happiness that I can do this for you, and I hope you get just as much from the reading as I do!
If you are not familiar with how this reading works, let me break it down for you. This is a spread that I created to give you a general outlook of a full twelve-month period. It contains 15 different cards and they are as follows: one for each month of the year, a theme card, a goals card, and an obstacles card. If you would like to check out the spread and read the cards for yourself, you can click here to grab a copy of the free workbook I created.
As I said before, this is a collective reading. Some people do not feel like collective readings are accurate or worth doing. I, however, find them useful in the right circumstances. As a collective reading, the cards will give us value in seeing the bigger picture. In this case, the card for one month may not apply to you at all and that’s okay. For example, if the Death card shows up as a theme for June, it does not mean that every single person will experience a loss and be open to new opportunities. It could mean that in a particular country or region, they experience a time where the old is dying out to make way for the new. This could be political, this could be figuratively, and this could even be ecological disasters. It all varies, so keep that in mind as you read on.
Let’s Review 2023
With the old year behind us and a new year ahead, let’s take a moment to look at the 2023 reading. Rather than revisiting every single card, I want to focus on the goal, obstacle, and theme for 2023. Here is a refresher, just in case you need it.
Just as a reminder…
The Card of the Year: The Seven of Rods
- conflict, protecting what you’ve worked for, passionate disagreements
Goals of 2023: Justice Reversed
- lack of balance, unfair treatment, honesty with others
Obstacles of 2023: The Sun
- keeping the peace, complacency, people pleasing, avoiding confrontation
Personally, I have seen how these themes have played out in my life. The biggest thing is the honesty needed from Justice Reversed and the concept of keeping the peace from The Sun. A lot has happened in 2023, everything sort of culminating in my recent move to Maine and splitting from my parents. There has been growth, yet there has also been conflict and the need to protect what I’ve worked so hard to build. I am looking forward to leaving the conflict behind and moving into 2024 with new cards and new hope for the future!
What about you? How did these cards play a role in your personal life this past year?
Looking to the Future - 2024
Once again, I have chosen to use my Hanson-Roberts tarot. This deck has been with me since I was 19 - the first tarot deck I ever received. It was gifted to me by my mother-in-law and I have done the last couple of collective readings with her. She likes to speak with you all, anyway!
So, without further ado, let’s see what the cards have in store for 2024 - yup, it never fails I make one rhyme for each of these readings! I like that one - anyway, let’s go!
Please note: The links to each individual collective reading check-in are housed in A Sacred Space – please make sure you are logged in to your account to read them.
The Card of the Year: Ace of Rods Reversed
Well, this card can go a few different ways. First, the Ace of Rods Reversed can suggest a lack of direction or distractions. It can also correlate with new ideas and emerging thoughts, things that come from our passions and our hearts. Since it is the Card of the Year, I am leaning more toward a combination of both – our passions may try to guide us, but we are not sure where to go or how to get there. Ideas may be coming from all sides and rather than having the focus to put those ideas into action, we may find ourselves scattered and lacking direction.
Goals of 2024: The Tower
You should have seen my face when I flipped over this card…but to have it be the goal of 2024 gives me hope. I love The Tower itself. It is a herald of change that will rock us to our core, but change is necessary to rebuild a better life for ourselves. The goal this year is not to avoid the change or dramatic events in our lives. Rather, we need to embrace the disorder that comes from the crumbling foundations we may find ourselves on. I think this will be easier said than done for most people, but as a goal, it is something we should place a large focus on.
Obstacles of 2024: Two of Cups Reversed
Getting in the way of our crumbling foundations (and to our detriment, don’t forget) is the Two of Cups Reversed. With the main message behind the Two of Cups Reversed being one of distrust, we may find ourselves struggling to trust ourselves or others this year. As an obstacle, this lack of trust in ourselves can get in the way of trusting the fall of our Tower. We may also find the lack of trust in others to be detrimental to our growth.
January 2024: The Hierophant Reversed
What a wonderful way to start the year! The Hierophant Reversed calls on us to challenge what others say we should do. We will find ourselves knee-deep in our own beliefs, finding what works for us and leaving behind what doesn’t. Many of us may realize that we are free to choose the path we want to take. Challenging the idea of destiny versus free will may be a concept at play for us, and we will need to remember that we always have the freedom to choose.
February 2024: The High Priestess
Following our path to freedom is our path to intuition. In February, just in time for Imbolg (or Lammas/Lughnasadh), The High Priestess calls us to lean into our divinity and subconscious mind. We may find ourselves more connected to our Gods and Guides - this is a good thing! Having this close connection to our intuition and our Spirits so early in the year sets us up for a good year. Listen to your gut closely this month and take note of any messages you may be getting. This will be important later in the year.
March 2024: Ace of Swords Reversed
Things may not be going the way we want them to this month, but we will have the clarity of mind to see those things for what they are. However, just because we can see what we’re missing doesn’t mean we will have the judgment to make a decision. Rather than making decisions and following our judgments this month, we will want to lean into the knowledge we have and reserve movement for a later date. Don’t get caught up in plans that are stagnating - this is normal with the Ace of Swords Reversed. This stagnation is stuck energy that will clear itself when it is ready to move.
April 2024: Two of Rods Reversed
In April, our clear thinking will allow us to focus more on our goals. The Two of Rods Reversed calls us to check our values this month. We have goals to work toward, but if they are not in alignment with our values and inner workings then we may consider abandoning those goals for something more attuned with ourselves. There may be some fear holding you back, fear of the unknown, and fear of unplanned events. This fear is normal, but you must let go (or at least push through) to focus on the goals you need to achieve.
May 2024: Three of Pentacles Reversed
May sees us bringing the misalignment from April with us into the month. However, this misalignment will be focused more on our physical world than our passions and inner world. The Three of Pentacles reversed shows us that it may be more beneficial to ditch everyone else and go it alone this month. Obviously, we can’t just up and leave everyone, but it may be helpful for those moments where being alone is better than working with a team. Focus on yourself this month and do not start or continue any projects that require working with others. Now is not the time for that.
June 2024: Death Reversed & Page of Pentacles
For June, I pulled two cards. Did I do it on purpose? No, no I did not. I pulled two cards without realizing it before I even flipped the cards over. Even though it was accidental, I felt it was important. June sees us with both Death and the Page of Pentacles. Death signals an ending, something leaving to make way for something new. The Page of Pentacles is a card of manifestation and making our dreams come true. Since these cards are pulled together, I get the sense that Death is reminding us that sometimes we have to let go of things to make room for what we want. If we are holding on to old beliefs and values, we may not have space for different things we want to bring into our lives. For example, if you believe that you are not worthy or deserving of wealth and abundance, you may be unknowingly holding yourself back and keeping that abundance at the edge of your door.
This month is a good time to evaluate what you believe and what you can let go of to manifest your dream life. Let Death take care of the dying concepts you need to discard so the Page can usher in an abundance.
July 2024: Eight of Swords Reversed
In July, we will still have some releasing to do, it seems! The Eight of Swords Reversed sees us surrounded by swords and blinded by a blindfold. These swords are in our mind - these are our limiting beliefs, potentially things we held on to from the month before that we didn’t let Death release. These negative things we may be holding on to are easy to let go of, but we have to take the blindfold off and realize exactly what they are. They are serving no purpose. Focus on releasing these thoughts so you can easily move forward.
August 2024: The Star Reversed
Not the greatest card to pull, but I see our Tower starting to rear its head with these last few months. With everything we have had to let go of so far, we may find ourselves with a lack of trust in our judgment and personal power. This can lead to despair and self-doubt, our light from the star disappearing the further we go into the year. Our Tower is coming, and I think this is the beginning moment of the crumble.
September 2024: Knight of Rods
After the crumble of the Tower and our lack of trust in our abilities to let things go, we are now guided by the Knight of Rods. He leads us with inspired action driven by a passion for change and our energy to get things done. With this inspiration and energetic action at our disposal, we may find a tendency to be impulsive. This is the downside to the Knight of Rods - don’t let your desire to change be driven blind through the woods, so to speak. Create a plan and let your energetic drive propel you.
October 2024: The Sun Reversed
It seems that we were able to push forward in September and now we can focus on our optimism. The light from the Sun is usually directed outward, but when the card is reversed, this light is directed inward. Our inner child needs some healing and attention, so this is where our focus needs to be for the month of October. Let the inner child play, let yourself heal, and let yourself feel joy!
November 2024: Four of Cups Reversed
After a year full of releasing, purging, and healing, we are heading into the end of the year with contemplation and inner retreat. This introspection with the cups is a checking-in of intuition and emotion. We may be in for a period of retreat, but it is time to check in with ourselves. Use the time this month to see where you are with your beliefs, your practices, and your intuition. Ensure you are still on the path you want to be on, and if you are not, it may be time to adjust your compass to follow your true north.
December 2024: Page of Rods
For the last month of 2024, we have the Page of Rods. This card is a mirror to The Hierophant, in my opinion. The Page of Rods is a free spirit who follows their heart wherever it leads them. This free-spiritedness leads to new ideas, inspiration, and unlimited potential! I think this is an amazing way to end the year. We are back to embracing our freedom, something that was called on at the beginning of the year with The Hierophant. It appears that we have survived our Tower Moment and are getting back in touch with ourselves!
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Well, I have to admit that when I pulled The Tower as a goal for 2024, I was apprehensive. However, after seeing how things may play out this year, I am hopeful! The Tower always leaves me with conflicted emotions because on one hand yes, it can be scary to have everything come down around us. On the other hand, if everything is coming down around us that means our foundation was not good to begin with. There will be a lot of things that we will need to release this year - and it appears we spend several months trying to figure that out!
However, we end the year on a high note with The Sun Reversed and healing our inner child. As long as we can stay on track with introspection rather than retreat, I am very hopeful that things will turn out in our favor!
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Again, I am really happy to do these collective readings for the coven. I look forward to visiting each month with a check-in post and reading, too. This collective reading lines up with my personal reading, too. I am excited for what 2024 is bringing to all of us - may it be positive, hopeful, and joyful for us all!