78 Magickal Tools: Bringing the Magick of Tarot to your Pagan Path

Tarot is more than a tool of divination; tarot is a book of spiritual wisdom and a set of magickal tools. Explore new ways to use tarot in ritual, magick, meditation, self-discovery and attunement.

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A Tarot Spread and Magickal Process for the New Year

Though not a holiday on any Pagan calendar with which I am familiar, the secular New Year feels like a magickal time to me for a couple of reasons.

 

First, it’s a time to review the year that has passed. This process of review can be extremely spiritual and powerful. The process of review allows us to hold gratitude, release sorrow and quantify the lessons we have learned. While these are not magickal tasks per se, they are tasks of growth and healing, and tasks that I associate with my magickal life.

 

Second, as we approach a New Year many of us divine to predict our future. This is certainly an act of magick.

 

Finally, as we look to the New Year, we can work to manifest the things we want in the coming year.

 

The scope of my writing on PaganSquare has been specific to the ways in which we can use tarot in magick. Since first beginning to write here a few years ago, my own practices in tarot divination and manifestation have grown and morphed.

 

It used to be that I would very often do specific tarot spells, and the rest of the time I would use the cards strictly for divination. As a professional reader, of course I divine with the cards every day. Yet, I feel a difference in my practice.

 

Now, I see every act of divination as a potential for magick. And, when I sit down specifically to do magick with the cards, I feel freer to use divination to help set my magickal goals and look at the specific outcomes of the work I am doing.

 

I’ve already shared some sporadic posts about this combination of magick and divination. Today I want to share a challenge.

 

I’ve created a Wheel of the Year tarot spread that works well for predicting the possibilities for a New Year. This spread can be done any time before Imbolc. It’s an interesting spread because it asks us to consider eight cards (one for each holiday time period) first as a simple timeline of the year to come. Then, we must go back and consider each card in answer to questions inspired by the holidays themselves.

 

I taught this spread at a winter solstice tarot class. Of course, whenever we make predictions, some unfavorable cards might appear. As we each shared our interpretations, I encouraged the students to look at the cards that they weren’t happy about, with a few questions in mind.

 

Is this an experience that will benefit me in any way?

 

Can I do something to mitigate or change this?

 

How does the card that precedes this unfortunate card on the timeline set me up for the energy that is making me uncomfortable?

 

Where on this timeline do I see an opportunity to make changes that could benefit me?

 

Looking at the cards in an empowered and proactive way is a magickal act in and of itself.

 

Then, I asked my students to make any adjustments they wanted to the cards. That could mean righting a reversal or reversing an upright card. It could mean adding a cognitively chosen card along the time line to offer support or energetic change.

In this way we used the energy of the cards chosen at random, as well as cards we chose for their magickal purpose, to gently adjust the available energies to better suit us.

 

This process acknowledges that magick can’t fix everything. Sometimes we have to endure things we would prefer not to endure. Yet, we can always make adjustments to make things better, sometimes by a little, and sometimes by a lot.

 

Below you will find the questions for each spoke of the Wheel. To do the spread yourself, simply pull one card for each spoke, starting with Yule at the top and moving clockwise in a circle.

 

View the Yule card as the energy where you are right now, in this time between Yule and Imbolc, and see each subsequent card as covering the six-week period beginning with its holiday.

 

Do this reading process in four steps, first by looking at the timeline, then by interpreting the cards in answer to their associated questions. Then, consider the cards and the ways in which they flow together, and the energies you would like to change. Finally, add cards and reversals to invite in the energies to help make those changes and create for yourself your best 2019 possible.

 

Yule: What will bring light into my life this year? What gifts will I use and develop this year?

 

Imbolc: How will I nurture creativity and healing this year? How will I keep my internal fire burning?

 

Ostara: What seeds will I plant this year? How will I rejuvenate myself?

 

Beltane: What will happen in my romantic life this year? How can I nurture my relationships?

 

Litha: What will I learn this year? How will I grow?

 

Lughnassadh: What will I harvest this year? How will I nurture my prosperity?

 

Mabon: What will I release or sacrifice this year? How will I care for myself?

 

Samhain: How will Spirit influence my life this year? How will I develop spiritually?

 

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Christiana Gaudet, an eclectic Pagan, has worked as a full-time tarot reader and teacher since the early 1990s.  From her home in South Florida she offers readings and private instruction by Skype and telephone, as well as tarot and spiritual webinars.  Christiana's first book, "Fortune Stellar: What Every Professional Tarot Reader Needs to Know" is designed to help each tarot professional build a unique and successful tarot business.  Her new book, "Tarot Tour Guide: Tarot, the Four Elements and Your Spiritual Journey" explores ways of using and understanding tarot by understanding the Four Elements. Christiana is a popular speaker at festivals and conferences, and has done a great deal of psychic work on broadcast radio and television.

Comments

  • Virginia Carper
    Virginia Carper Monday, 31 December 2018

    Roman Polytheists (of which I am one :) celebrate this day and the Ides of March as New Years. This is the month named for Janus, the God who opens and closes doors. This day is a liminal day where Janus receives offerings for doing both.

    I can adopt this spread for the Roman calendar.

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