As a special approach, the ten cards for the New Year tarot reading will be selected from ten of the decks reviewed in 2021 and 2022.
The Reading Approach
The reading is done by drawing ten cards based on ten questions.
The overall question for the reading is, “what do you need to know about the upcoming year, 2023?”
Question 1: What is the Immediate Concern for 2023?
The Black Tarot
The Eight of Spheres appears in a reading when we need to “use our skills and experience to improve our financial status and security.” As we go into the new year, we need to address what it takes to be successful by learning a skill or trade at an expert level. In this card, “A powerful figure expertly juggles eight spheres, showing his mastery of the process.” Being the best at what you do will be essential to having a successful 2023.
Question 2: What is the Challenge this Year?
The Magical Forest Tarot
When the Page of Swords appears in a reading, the card lets you know you will have “lots of ideas, but no focus. There is great energy for generating new thoughts, but eventually choices must be made.” Thus, the challenge this year is to find a way to focus the mind and not be distracted by too much noise in the world around you. Here we see, “A young cat, who wants to be a warrior, but he needs training and a purpose.”
Question 3: What is Obvious, but We Need a Reminder?
The Dark Wood Tarot
The Knight of Cups card appears to remind us that we need to find our passion, especially in relationship. It is obvious that we need to experience intense emotions, live life fully, and sweep someone off their feet. Or, conversely, we need to be swept off our feet. In this new year, we should quest for love, imagination, and affection.
Question 4: What is Hidden, That Needs to be Revealed?
The Kawaii Tarot
The Six of Wands shows up to tell you, “Victory and success are yours; be sure you act with dignity.” You can succeed this year so long as you appreciate and activate the three cards preceding this one: be the expert (8 of Spheres), bring your best ideas into focus and get the training you need (Page of Swords), and be sure you are pursuing your passion (Knight of Cups). If you honor and fulfill each of these cards, then victory and recognition will be yours this year!
Question 5: What is Something from 2022 that will Help Us in 2023?
The African Tarot
The Knight of Wands comes to you when you need to “go on an adventurous quest; break out of your routine and explore.” (68). When, last year, did you go out and explore? You need to remember those times and bring that energy into the new year, 2023. How did you try new things; where did you go that you had never been before? Here we see, “A seasoned warrior riding atop a lion in search of adventure and a new quest. He knows how to use his instinct in a controlled and fierce way.”
Question 6: What do We Need to Know for Guidance Going Through 2023?
The Tarot of the Nile
The Four of Wands shows up in a reading when we need to “gather friends and family around us and celebrate together.” As you go forward this year, make a point of celebrating your success with others, as well as celebrating the success of others. Here we see, “two figures dancing behind the four staffs to honor an important day or major accomplishment.”
Question 7: What do We Need to Know about Our Life Purpose this Month?
The Happy Tarot
When the High Priestess appears in a reading, the card tells you that “everything you need to know is inside you already, like the jeweled seeds of a pomegranate. Trust your intuition.” In order to understand your purpose this year, you “can find happiness in exploring feminine wisdom.” We certainly get enough of the “male view” in the wider world, through politics, business, and the news. If you have found this reading, then consider that success this year will come from the feminine divine energy more than the masculine divine energy.
Question 8: What do We Need to Know to Fulfill the Purpose?
The Crysalis Tarot
When Ariadne appears in the reading, the card “suggests that you assist a friend or loved one in finding his or her way of a dark corner.” She is “the goddess of the gates of time, offering you a spool of yarn to unwind as you proceed so you can safely trace you way out of the labyrinth.” This will be another important year of significant transformation, which we will have to navigate by engaging in death and rebirth at a soul and spiritual level.
Question 9: What are Our Hopes and Fears?
Tarot of the Divine
When the Two of Swords appears in a reading, we need to address situations and relationships with clarity and logic, not emotion and compassion. We hope to see clearly and make decisions wisely and we fear seeing clearly and knowing that the necessary decisions will be difficult, maybe even emotionally painful. The woman’s eyes are close so she will not be swayed by the appearance of things.
Question 10: What is an Action for Each of Us to Consider Taking?
The Zombie Tarot
The Empress shows up when we need to embrace the feminine divine and the solutions this energy offers. In this particular deck the Empress is “a feminine force to be reckoned with since she embodies the cycles of birth, death, and reanimation. She knows there’s no problem that she can’t solve with patience, love, and a shovel to the back of the head!” We need to act with compassion and authority moving through this new year.
The overall message of the reading asks us to recognize that the major break in the long-standing patterns of the world in 2022 are now settling into the new reality that will persist going forward. Our best way through will be to tap in to the divine energy of compassion, perseverance, and strong individual effort to succeed at the highest possible levels, suitable to our own authentic journey.
