Your Personal Tarot Year Card Reveals Your Life Lessons For The Year + 2024 Universal Card Spread (Podcast Ep. 51 blog)
This blog post goes along with Healing Thru Tarot Podcast Ep. 51: Your Personal Tarot Year Card Reveals Your Life Lessons For The Year + 2024 Universal Card Spread - In this blog, I’ll discuss how personal tarot year cards can give you a glimpse into the themes and life lessons for the year and how you can use that to your advantage. And I’ll share a spread for the 2024 Universal Tarot Year Card plus themes we will experience next year as an collective.
Personal tarot year cards hold the secrets to the themes, energies, challenges, and life lessons that will play out for you for any given year. And it’s so easy to calculate using your date of birth once you know the formula. I recommend using Mary K. Greer’s method, which she details in her workbook, Tarot for Yourself: A Workbook for Personal Transformation.
To do this, you add the month and day of your birth to the desired year. The number you’re left with will correspond with a major arcana card from the tarot. With this technique, you’ll always keep the highest number under 23. In this calculation, The Fool corresponds with 22 and The Magician is the number 1 because the Fool is actually the zero card.
For example, if you were born on January 10th, we take the number 1 that represents the month of January, add that to the 10 that represents the day, which gives us 11. Then add that to the year, in this case we'll use this year 2023. That total is 2034. When added together that gives us the number 9, which corresponds to card 9 in the tarot, The Hermit.
Example: 1 (Month) + 10 (Date of birth) + 2023 (Current year) = 2034 (adds up to 9)
The Hermit from the Rider Waite Smith Tarot
So, for this example, the Hermit would be the personal tarot year card in 2023 for someone born on January 10th. Now let's look at how that number tells us the themes and lessons for that tarot year card.
In a Hermit tarot year, you might find yourself withdrawing from society to reflect on larger issues in life. During this solitude and deep introspection, you may experience epiphanies leading to enlightenment. But you could also experience loneliness and depression due to the isolation. And given that Virgo is associated with The Hermit card, you may focus on improving your health during a Hermit year as well.
Your tarot card of the year can provide clues to the lessons, tests, experiences, and challenges you will encounter over the next year. Use this card in your meditations over the course of the year. Focusing your energy on this card helps you connect with this energy and contemplate the lessons the card has to offer.
Hermit from The Horror Tarot
Pull out this card often to display in your environment, so it is at the forefront of your mind. You can even pathwork with your favorite version of this card. Pathworking is where you step inside the card and take in the surroundings of the card. With this exercise, you can hold a conversation with the images and figures in the card, and you can ask what message this card has for you. To get even more out of your card, you can journal throughout the year on the themes this card represents for you. Then, assess your progress throughout the year with this card’s themes.
To get the most out of your tarot year card, set intentions and goals that align with the energy of the card you have for that year. I love to even pick a word to focus on for the year based on the themes of this card. That helps to connect you to that energy and the life lessons you will be working on that year. I like this method of embracing the energy of that card and finding ways to incorporate that card’s qualities and themes into daily life, personal goals, and decision-making. To settle on a word to choose I suggest looking into the symbolism and archetypes present in that card. And pick one that represents the essence of that card for you. I always try to find a word that inspires me in some way, so I’ll use it to progress on my healing journey. For this year, I’m in a Temperance year, so I chose the word alchemy to focus on in 2023. Other options would have been healing, balance, moderation, or patience.
Death from The Terror Tarot
For another way to dive deeply into the themes of the year, I'd suggest creating a tarot spread centered on the themes of your personal tarot year card. For example, my tarot card for 2022 was Death. I created a spread for myself to explore what life cycle was ending, what would be falling away, how to let it go, the new cycle that would begin, and what actions I could take that would help me with this transition since this year would represent death, rebirth, and transformation. I always draw 2-3 tarot cards at the end of the spread that represent the major lessons I need to learn for that particular year and a card for the outcome if the lessons are completed.
It's important to note that the tarot year card is not the same as your tarot birth card, which is calculated using your full birthdate including the birth year. Your tarot birth card never changes and represents lessons, challenges, and cycles that will repeat throughout your life. Make sure to check out Healing Thru Tarot Ep. 20 where I focus on how to calculate and work with your tarot birth card and life path number. Those are very important to understand for aligning to our life path and purpose.
So unlike tarot birth cards, personal tarot year cards change every year and help to show your progression on your life journey. Each year, you face tests and challenges, and if you learn those valuable lessons, then you’ll move forward to the next stage in your life. Working closely with your tarot year card will help to ensure that you meet these challenges and master those lessons to move forward on your journey year after year.
When your tarot year card lines up to be the same as your tarot birth card, that signifies a very impactful time period. During that year, you could experience major shake-ups in your career, relationships, or life path at that time. Pay attention to those years as the decisions you make during that time could help you align with your life purpose.
For a bird’s eye view of your progression on your life journey, calculate your tarot year card for each year going back to the year of your birth through the present time. This reveals patterns and cycles that repeat, usually every seven to ten years. This kind of chart can provide insight into specific cycles that continue to plague you. You can quickly identify cycles regarding illnesses, relationships, career shifts, geographic moves, travels, etc. And notice which cards never appear and which cards reoccur regularly.
When analyzing my own yearly patterns I’ve noticed that so far in my life, I’ve experienced the most years with The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, and The Wheel of Fortune. I’ve experienced each of these five times each and will continue to have many more cycles through these same cards for the decades to come when I mapped out the rest of my life through age 81. I’ve also noticed when examining that pattern that I’m usually hospitalized during a Hierophant year and my surgeries all seem to fall in a Hierophant or Lovers year. So I’ll be keeping a close eye on my health in 2024 because that will be another Lovers year for me.
See which patterns you can see in your chart. Note if your tarot birth card appears. If so, did anything impactful or significant occur during that year? Did the Tower appear in your chart, and did any tower moments occur at that time? I was actually surprised to find that I’ve never had a Tower year and won’t until I’m 65. Although it definitely feels like I’ve had my fair share of tower moments.
It can be quite enlightening to see your life mapped out in this way. I encourage everyone to calculate your personal tarot year card each year because it can offer insights into potential obstacles that may arise over the year. Each year we add on lessons to learn based on ones we’ve already mastered and ones we need to spend more time on. So, each year make sure to take the opportunity to embrace that evolution and personal growth and work on the themes of that particular year while universal energy supports this type of work.
There are two options regarding the dates of the beginning and ending cycle for your tarot year card. You can work with this energy from birthday to birthday, i.e., June 1, 2022 - June 1, 2023 or the calendar year (January 1st - December 31st). It’s up to you which you choose. If your birthday falls close to the beginning of the year like mine in January then using the calendar year would make the most sense. If your birthday lands several months after the new year, then going birthday to birthday fits better because it would align with your unique energy that marks your solar return year after year. When I calculate this card for others I always use birthday to birthday.
In any case, working with your personal tarot year card has many benefits and can help you focus your energy on the most important life lessons unfolding over the year. So now that you know how to calculate yours, explore your tarot year card for the next year. And work on embracing the themes and opportunities of the upcoming year. They offer us so much guidance and insight into these yearly patterns.
The Universal Tarot Year Card for 2024
Since these numbers (2024) add up to 8, the universal tarot year card is the Strength card.
Remember, this is the card that will affect us all globally. Collectively, this is a year where we’ll all be tested, and we’ll discover our true strengths. We’ll learn to embrace our personal power and inner strength. Be courageous, compassionate, and focused on staying true to your inner wisdom, integrity, and authentic self to find inner peace and success this year. No need to overpower those around you to get your way this year. Use gentle touches to get your way over aggressive force. This could be a year of trials and tribulations, but you will emerge stronger than the year before. Tremendous growth could occur over the next 12 months. Be willing to put in the work and you’ll reap the rewards by this time next year.
Reflect on these global themes as we usher in 2024 and use this along with your personal tarot year card for next year to make plans on how to navigate all the life lessons coming your way. Always consider both the global and personal energies unfolding when tackling each year.
2024 Universal Tarot Year Card
I created a spread to explore the Strength theme for our Universal 2024 Tarot Year Card.
I would love to see the photo of your spreads. Please tag me on Instagram @healingthrutarot and please use #healingthrutarotstrengthspread
A Spread eBook for the New Year
If you're looking for a spread book for next year, I wanted to remind you of my spread eBook called - A Spread For All Seasons which contains 17 custom tarot/oracle spreads designed to guide you through the seasons of any year. It covers holidays like Halloween, the New Year with a 9 card New Years Resolution Spread, and the 9 card Holiday Spread. I left it generic enough for all to enjoy no matter what you celebrate between November and January. I have seasonal spreads to help you usher in spring, summer, autumn, and winter. I include a full moon and new moon spread that you can use each month of the year. I particularly love the 7 card Mercury Retrograde Spread I created that can be used for each of the 3 mercury retrogrades we experience every year. I included an eclipse spread, year-end wrap up spread, and year ahead spread as well.
And there's a great 6 card Weekly Spread and a 9 card Monthly Spread that you can reuse and implement into your tarot routine to help give you a heads up each month on what to expect and how to navigate through the week and month ahead. I made these spreads so that you can use them again and again, year after year. And it's just $10, which is a bargain for 17 spreads that help you navigate a whole year at a time.
If you purchase it now, you can use the 9 card Close Of Year Spread to help you wrap up 2023 and to see what lessons you’ve learned this year and what you may need to carry over into the next year to complete.
Click here to purchase any of my spread ebooks
Time to order the 2024 Writual Tarot Planner
And it’s that time of year when we need to order another tarot journal. I use the Writual planner every year! If you want one before the new year, remember you can use my writual discount code at checkout. Use my Writual ambassador link here along with my discount code HEALING (all caps), which gets you 15% off your Writual purchases when you use that affiliate link and code.
Writual has tarot stamps and stickers, dated and undated tarot journals and planners, including one for kids, tarot decks and tarot-themed mugs, candles, and jewelry so check them out using my link and do some holiday shopping for your tarot loving friends!
Since the holidays are upon us, check out the Stocking Stuffers episode I released in November 2022. That’s Ep. 41: Stocking Stuffers and Holiday Gifts for Tarot Lovers. In that episode, I detailed all of my favorite picks for tarot gifts and goodies, including kids too.
And check out my 2023 Tarot Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Adults and Kids that is up on my blog here.
I’ll be taking a few months off to thoroughly enjoy the holiday season and work on my fictional divination book series, The Divining Sisters. I’m hoping to finish book 4 to release in summer 2024. I can’t believe book 3 is already out in the world. If you haven’t caught up on the series check that out at author.heatherhardison.com - now's the perfect time to read books 1-3 to catch up and be ready for the final book in the series.
And if you’ve read the books and loved them please leave a review on the platform where you bought the book and on goodreads. Every single review helps me reach new readers. I feel strongly that this empowering, healing story needs to be shared with the world and you can help me do that.
I plan on coming back with new podcast episodes and blogs in February 2024. During this break, I suggest listening to Ep. 14 on Year Ahead Spreads as well as Ep. 15 for Goal Setting which includes a New Years Resolution spread.
Have a wonderful holiday season whatever you celebrate. As we close out one year and usher in brand new energy for 2024, make sure to enjoy some down time and reflect on the life you’d like to create for yourself in the new year. I’ll talk to you next in 2024!
Link to Podcast Episode 51 click here
Related podcast episodes
Ep. 14: Year Ahead Spreads + Calculating Your Personal Tarot Year Card
Ep. 20: Calculating and Working with Tarot Birth Cards and Life Path Numbers
Ep. 41: Stocking Stuffers and Holiday Gifts for Tarot Lovers
Books and Decks shown in this blog or recommended: The Horror Tarot, The Light Seers Tarot, The Dark Mansion Tarot, The Nightmare Before Christmas Tarot, Rider Waite Smith Tarot, The Terror Tarot, Mary K Greers Tarot For Yourself Workbook
My Novels - The Divining Sisters Series
And if you are looking for a good witchy book, my book series, The Divining Sisters, is perfect for this time of year. Books 1-3 are out now. I'm writing book 4 now! Start with Book 1 in the series, The Call of the Cards.
You can find the ebook and paperback of The Call of the Cards, We Divine Three, and The Threads of Fate on Amazon. And the eBooks are also on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, Google Play, Kobo, Scribd, Smash words, and more. The Ebook is $4.99 and the paperback is $14.99.
Find out more details on my novels on my author website author.heatherhardison.com - that’s where I post updates on book releases, book blurbs and quotes, book covers, links to purchase, and fun things like my Spotify playlists for each book. I carefully curate those to express the energy of each book.
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see updates on the book releases there. I have 2 instagram accounts My tarot and podcast account - healingthrutarot My author account heatherhardisonauthor
Links for all the decks and books discussed in this episode are located at the end of this blog.
Healing Thru Tarot's Spread Ebook Line
A Spread for All Seasons - 17 custom spreads
Healing and Mental Health Spreads Vol. 1 - 15 custom spreads
Healing and Mental Health Spreads Vol. 2- 15 9-card spreads
Shadow Work Spreads and Workbook - 20 spreads
Healing Thru Tarot’s Life Path and Life Purpose spread ebook includes 15 custom spreads I’ve created to help you identify and align with your life path and sail to success. Spreads like the life path alignment spread, lightwork path guidance spread, conquering obstacles on my path spread, advice from my future self-spread and karmic healing path spread will help you position yourself to step into your full power and achieve the purpose you incarnated to fulfill. Plus many more spreads offering guidance and advice to get on path and stay on track. $12
Click here to purchase any of these spread ebooks
Magic Mind
Speaking of the new year that’s fast approaching, do you suffer from energy drain and fatigue during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season? If you do, you might want to try the coffee replacement that I use to stay energized and upbeat during the busiest time of year.
Magic Mind is a 2-ounce elixir that I’ve found is easier on my stomach than coffee. It gives me a good energy boost for about 6-7 hours and helps me stay focused whether I’m working or shopping for the holidays like I’m sure all of you are doing right now. I find I’m much more productive with Magic Mind thanks to the natural ingredients like the nootropics and adaptogens that don’t leave me with the jitters that coffee can at times.
If you’d like to try this elixir for yourself go to https://www.magicmind.com/thrutarot
You can use my code at checkout: HEALING20 (that’s all caps) for 20% off your one time purchase or up to 56% off your first subscription because it stacks with the subscription discount from their website. That’s HEALING20 for 56% off. And it also works if you’re already a subscriber, you save on your next subscription payment. I’d recommend the 30 pack because it’s the best deal.
Don’t let this time of year keep you drained, give magic mind a try.
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