The Wheel of the Year Tarot Spread
30 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Life, the Universe and Everything
A premature Happy New Year to you all! May 2012 be interesting, exciting, and rewarding. To help you see in the new year, here’s a little offering…
I created this Tarot spread in 2003 as a way of exploring the themes, energies, opportunities and challenges that would come the followin year. It subsequently became the Tarot Passages Tarot spread of the month, April 2004, and was featured in the Tarot Lovers Calendar 2005. Since then I’ve used it for myself, friends and clients either around birthdays or for the New Year. Unlike most other year-per-view readings, this doesn’t tell you what is going to happen each month, but rather uses the eight Pagan festivals as themes and how they appear in the querent’s life throughout the year. They could happen anytime during the year. This approach is much more freeform, allowing the reader to draw links more effectively between cards and groups of cards, or trace a line of influence between themes, challenges, obstacles and opportunities.
The spread starts with a trio of cards in the “Yule/Winter Solstice” position, and moves around the Wheel of the Year clockwise. It concludes with a trio of extra cards that act as guidance or blessings for the querent’s year. I also found it useful to calculate the querent’s Year card to see if it turns up in the spread – the position it appears in may be extra important for them, or offer a particularly special challenge or opportunity. It is also worth taking a general view of the reading before getting into any detail to assess which suit is dominant, or which number. This can suggest the area that will be most prominent in the querent’s life in the coming year, or the stage of a process they will be at. For instance, many Twos might suggest they will be in limbo or at a liminal stage in their life for much of the year, or many Fives might indicate a year of conflict and imbalance.
…………………………Litha 1, 2, 3………………………….
……….Beltane 1, 2, 3……………Lughnassad 1, 2, 3……..
Ostara 1, 2, 3…………………………………Mabon, 1, 2, 3………….
……….Imbolc 1, 2, 3……………..Samhain 1, 2, 3…………….
………………………….Yule 1, 2, 3……………………………
Blessings, 1, 2, 3.
Yule/Winter Solstice: Yule is the time of the rebirth of the Sun from the depths and darkness of Winter, and so these three cards indicate what will be born into the querent’s life during this year, the new beginnings and projects, or the sudden birth of ideas, feelings, and aspects of the self.
Imbolc: Imbolc is the time of the first stirring of the earth from beneath the Winter snows, and the rekindling of the flame of life. These three cards indicate what will begin to grow in the querent’s life in the coming year, but will not bear fruit fully for quite some time; what will bud but not flower, what is in the very first stages of creation, and what will ‘simmer under the surface’ in the querent’s life.
Ostara/Spring Equinox: This is the equinox, so it is a time of balance. These three cards indicate that which will bring the querent’s life into some sort of balance during the coming year, and keep the querent in balance and moving towards their goal.
Beltane: Beltane is May day, a time for sexuality and passion. As such, these three cards indicate the passions that will come into play in the querent’s life this year, and how the querent’s life will grow as a result. These cards also indicate that which they will love most this year and give most attention to, and that which will ‘fertilize’ his or her life and make him or her grow (physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually) during the coming year.
Litha/Summer Solstice: Litha, or the Summer Solstice, is the time when the Sun is at its peak and is highest in the sky. As such, these three cards indicate the querent at his or her peak in the coming year, and the projects/events/ideas that will reach their peak for the querent. It can also indicate the best part of the year, the achievements of the year, and the full fruition of plans in the querent’s life. This is the querent and his or her life, at its best.
Lughnassad: Otherwise known as First Fruits or Lammas, Lughnassadh is the beginning of the harvest. These three cards indicate that which will come to bear fruit this year in the querent’s life, but will not quite be ready for a full harvest for a while. (Notice this is the opposite festival of Imbolc, where the flowering is delayed.- the opposite in some way to harvest being delayed.) These cards indicate the projects or aspects of the querent’s life that he/she is beginning to see the fruits of his/her labors in. The rewards are starting to show themselves, but they are not quite ready to be grabbed fully yet!
Mabon/Autumn Equinox: Mabon, the opposite of Ostara, is the middle of the harvest, as well as another time of balance. It represents bounty and joy, and that which will be bounteous in the querent’s life in the coming year, and that which will bring joy and cause for celebration. These cards can also indicate the full harvest the querent will reap from their past ventures and hard work.
Samhain: Traditionally, Samhain is the end of the harvest, when the ancients culled their herds. As such, these three cards indicate what will die in the querent’s life this year, what will come to an end, and what he or she will cull from his/her life. It will also include what the querent will get rid of because it is no longer necessary.
Blessings: A nice way to end the reading is to make three blessings from three cards. These cards can represent advice for the querent, or it can indicate what is ‘on the querent’s side’ during the year, helping and keeping him or her going.
