In January 2022, I spent some time in deep meditation with my tarot cards and pulled the wheel of the year tarot spread to give me advice and insight into the year ahead.
Clients often ask me just how well the tarot cards can predict the future. “I’m scared,” is the common response, “I don’t want to know!” The truth is, they are wildly accurate, but you never know just how the themes of the cards are going to play out in reality.
So here is a personal rendition of my wheel of the year spread: how I interpreted the cards during the reading versus how they actually turned out in real life.
January: Four of Pentacles reversed
Original interpretation:
- Overspending
- Greed, self protection
- Re-evaluating what’s important
- Desire for security
- Cleaning your space can help reduce inner chaos
Reality:
- We had covid in the house and had to quarantine
- Put a big deposit down on the trip to Ireland
- Then the dryer broke quite unexpectedly and had to be replaced
February: Four of Wands reversed
Original Interpretation:
- Personal celebration
- Inner harmony
- Transition/Conflict
- Honor mini milestones
- Breakdowns in communication
- Multiple changes – unsettling but important transition
Reality:
- Side hustles were busy but the timing was not serving me
- Uneven energy exchange
- Searching for better balance
- Big learning opportunities at work
March: Queen of Pentacles
Original Interpretation:
- Providing financially
- Nurturing, practical
- Healthy work/home balance
- Prioritize me time
- Prosperity, security
- Keep a down to earth attitude
- Calm and balance yourself
Reality:
- Work returned to office for the first time since covid (1x/week)
- Practiced saying no to too many commitments
- Tuned into my intuition and wound up finding dream house
- Lots of emotion and house paperwork
- Cleaning for the open house for current home
April: The Hermit
Original Interpretation:
- Isolation, loneliness
- Withdrawal
- Too much/little personal reflection
- Rediscovering your purpose
- Don’t shut people out
- Explore reconnections
Reality:
- Stress, excitement
- Negotiations
- Started packing and moving
- Completely wrapped up in the move, very little social time
- Lots of planning and dreaming about the future
- Too much reflection on the things that had to be done and not enough personal reflection
May: The Chariot
Original Interpretation:
- Control, willpower
- Success, action
- Determination
- Taking actions on decisions
- Stick to the course
- Keep focus and confidence
- Be bold in your desires
- Lay down boundaries
Reality:
- Woke up on May 1 as the first morning in the new home!
- Messy, disorganized, so much to do
- Incredibly grateful and happy
- Celebrating
- Reveling in our own powers of manifestation
June: The Devil
Original Interpretation:
- Attachment, shadow self
- Sexuality
- Addiction, restriction
- Holding yourself back from the best version of yourself
- Free yourself from negative influences
- Healthy attachment vs codependency
Reality:
- Attachment to things, unpacking
- Making love in the new house
- Feeling overwhelmed and ecstatic at the same time
- Perhaps a little too much celebrating starting to catch up
- Experiencing a new level of attachment in our relationship
July: Ten of Pentacles
Original Interpretation:
- Wealth, financial security
- Family
- Long term success
- Proud of everything coming together
- Long term goals
- Ancestry, heritage
- Being part of something bigger
- “The blood of the ancestors flows through your veins”
Reality:
- Went to Ireland on an ancestral pilgrimage
- The tour I booked was partially canceled but I knew I could afford last minute accommodations
- The part of the trip I planned (post tour) came together beautifully
- I met a relative in Ireland who validated my intuitive abilities and showed me all of our ancestral sites
August: Queen of Cups reversed
Original Interpretation:
- Inner feelings
- Self care
- Taking care of your emotional well being
- Wrapped up in other people’s emotional responses
- Intuition on over drive
- Heart rules and emotions overwhelm
- Understanding what makes you tick
Reality:
- I had all the feels when I returned from this trip
- The tour guide was reaching out after the trip, and I was processing anger and resentment around her responses
- I felt like I had to follow my calling to help people tap into their own intuitive abilities now more than ever
- And I finally have the space to do so
- We started renovations on Arrow Tarot Studio
September: The Star
Original Interpretation:
- Hope, faith, purpose
- Renewal, spirituality
- Stripped bare from self limiting beliefs
- New appreciation
- Magic is flowing
- Choosing the highest version of yourself
- Fresh perspective
- Generous spirit
Reality:
- Still wrapped up in house projects but getting back out with friends
- Envisioning the finished studio
- Returning to dance lessons with a schedule that’s working better
- Treated myself to a deep conditioning treatment and blowout at the salon
- Had a magical outdoor tarot gig under an old willow tree
October: Three of Swords
Original Interpretation:
- Emotional turmoil, pain
- Sorrow, grief
- Rule of 3
- Deeply disappointed
- Accept and move forward
- This will pass
- Do not accept another’s projection as truth
Reality:
- Lots of frustration with a water filter installation project this month
- A friend asked me to sit with her family while their dog was euthanized at their home
- Then in November my parents lost their dogs, and in December by partner and I lost one of our dogs
- Turned out to be 3 dogs in 3 months
November: Seven of Cups
Original Interpretation:
- Opportunities, choices
- Illusion
- Wishful thinking
- Projecting into the future vs taking action
- Ideas not grounded in reality
- Choose the option that best aligns with your highest good
Reality:
- First holiday season with sober relatives
- Quiet month for the side hustles
- Final touches on the studio are coming together
- This card was tricky
December: Three of Pentacles reversed
Original Interpretation:
- Disharmony, misaligned
- Working alone
- Not on the same page
- Bring more systematic energy to the problem
- Mundane role
- Unappreciated, under valued
- Renegotiation timelines, resources, energy
Reality:
- Had our senior dog euthanized at home
- Wishing my life was full time Arrow Tarot
- Completed the studio renovations
- Finally unpacked the last boxes from the move
- Hosted two Christmas gatherings
- Filled with joy and gratitude
2022 Tarot overall theme: The Empress reversed
Original Interpretation:
- Make self love and self care a priority this year
- Crave a stronger connection to nature
- Creative blocks, trouble birthing a new idea
- Issues around body image
- Codependency in relationships
- Fill your cup
- Don’t pay attention to what other people think
- Self-reliance
Reality:
- Wow what a crazy year
- The biggest shit I have ever manifested
- Craved a stronger connection to Ireland and got it
- Wished I had created more content
- Studio reno was the creative outlet of the year
- Reached a healthier level of attachment to my partner – codependency is not always negative
- Learned big lessons on receiving – from my ancestors, from the land, from others