I have a love-hate relationship with year ahead tarot spreads. While I love sinking into some dream time with planners and tarot cards, I find that the traditional 12-card tarot spread – one card that represents a theme for each month of the year – just isn’t very useful for me.
For a while, I used Joanna Powell’s year-ahead spread. While I did like that one a lot, it felt too spare for a year-ahead reading. I wanted something gloriously big and expansive, yet practical and actionable/usable.
So I pulled out my decks and came up with a gloriously big, messy, juicy year ahead tarot spread. This one combines oracle and tarot cards, and can be easily tailored to your tastes and your own unique oracle card collection.
How to choose your tarot and oracle decks for a year ahead tarot reading
When you choose your oracle decks for this reading, you’re looking to tap into ‘big themes’. Pull out your goddess decks, animal oracles, archetype cards, or crystal, plant, or healing decks. The decks you’re looking for will give you an overarching theme for the year: so you may choose to pull a goddess of the year; or a plant ally of the year; or an animal to work with…you get the drift.
You can choose one or multiple decks, the choice is yours. How many of these energies/archetypes do you want to work with during the year?
You can pull one card for the entire year, or one per quarter for a total of four cards – it’s up to you.
If you have more than one tarot deck, choose the one you connect with the most. That will make it easier for you to interpret your spread.
Year ahead tarot + oracle spread
Here’s the tarot spread. This one is very customisable, so read the instructions/suggestions below.
1. Goddess of the year: This can be any themed oracle card, not necessarily a goddess. Maybe you’ll choose an animal or crystal or something else for the year.
2. Key theme: The theme card is also one on which you can base your word of the year. It represents the main lesson along your path.
3. Key challenge: This your transformation/ healing potential. Through the year, focus on the message of this card to see what needs to be shifted so you can continue to grow
4. Deep wisdom: When you come up against challenges, obstacles, this card will give you some much needed wisdom/perspective on your way forward (Tip: Choose from the middle of the deck)
5. What’s arising: This is what you’re opening up to this year, what you’re learning, the direction in which you’re growing
6-9. The quarter points of the year: Instead of choosing a card for each month, I choose a card for each quarter. You can pull from a tarot deck, or choose an animal/crystal/themed oracle deck to pull a focus point for each quarter of the year.
10-11. Manifest will: Choose two main goals/areas of focus for the year. Choose one card for each to see what energies you need to tap into to make those goals manifest
12. Archetype/soul card: Pull from an oracle deck. A nice, big, expansive theme you can grow into this year.
13. Message from spirit: One final pull – oracle or tarot, your choice – as an overall positive, affirming message from spirit.
Positions 12 and 13 are totally optional. I wanted to work with 13 cards (echoes the 13 moons and the divine feminine), but you don’t have to.
I’ve designed positions 1, 12, and 13 to be used with oracle decks of your choice. If you want to stick to tarot cards, I suggest you use 2 tarot decks. Pull out the major arcana cards from one deck and pull from those for these 3 positions.
Most of all, have fun with this spread. Make a lot of notes and refer back to them frequently.
Tip: with the quarter cards, depending on what comes up for you, think of a practice you can focus on to ground yourself in those energies.
I hope you enjoy this year ahead tarot spread, and that the insights you glean from it will serve you well through the year!
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