If you follow a lot of witchy folks like myself, you’ve probably heard people saying that The Emperor is the card of the year for 2020. We use numerology to arrive at this card (I will show you later in this post how to do it).
My interpretation is that the Emperor is kind of like the theme for the year As a collective we will be focused on how to build new structures to stand the test of time. We will be looking at our daily work and routines and restructuring to make space for new things. This might mean letting go of some of the activities that were integral parts of your daily life for years.
Whether that means letting go of friendships or just seeing certain friend groups less frequently, stepping into a new role in your life (like mother/father, husband/wife, or boss) change, even change that we are looking forward to, comes with growing pains.
You might be holding on to your old ways of doing things or trying to force new areas of your life into old systems. When you find yourself being met with resistance, pause and pay attention. Notice that resistance and ask yourself if what you are doing is necessary or if it is even helpful. Sometimes we hold on so tightly without really asking ourselves why.
So how can we find some assistance in handling this change to our structural systems? We can use the medicine of our own Card of the Year.
In order to calculate your own personal Card of the Year, you just need to add together your birth month, birth day, and the current year.
So for example: My Birthday is August 20. So I would calculate 8+2+0+2+0+2+0 = 14
So my personal card for the year is Temperance. If you know me and follow my tarot journey, you know that is hilarious for me, because while Temperance is a lovely card, I struggle with finding moderation in my life.
If you get a number higher than 22, just add your numbers together again. So 23 would be 2+3=5. (Also important to note that 22 is the Fool card). Once you have your number you can find the corresponding major arcana card:
1 Magician
2 High Priestess
3 Empress
4 Emperor
5 Hierophant
6 Lovers
7 Chariot
8 Strength
9 Hermit
10 Wheel of Fortune
11 Justice
12 The Hanged One
13 Death
14 Temperance
15 The Devil
16 The Tower
17 The Star
18 The Moon
19 The Sun
20 Judgement
21 The World
22 The Fool
*a note on The Fool Card : The Fool is technically numbered 0 or 22
So why bother to do all of this?
Your personal card can help give you more perspective for your focus for the year. So for myself, I might look at the Emperor card and see how I’m setting up structures and systems to make my business a success. I’m in the midst of the hard work of getting established and growing, which is wonderful, albeit, not always exciting work. But it is necessary work.
So when I look at Temperance as my personal card, I can bring that energy into these systems I’m trying to build. For me, the Temperance card is always about giving myself some grace and learning to be patient. I have a tendency to throw myself into things 150% with little regard for sleep, normal hours, or moderation.
The combo of these two cards is offering me guidance. I need to find a slower pace than I will want to while building my business. In order to establish something sustainable, I will need to move more like the tortoise than the hare. I am slowly setting up systems for myself while being wary of my tendency towards burnout. I will need to make self-care not just a priority, but one of the weekly, if not daily, scheduled items on my list.
This is something I have known for a while but seeing it in the cards reinforces for me how important it is for me to have structure. When I don’t have structure and a schedule I will simply work until I drop.
It takes a certain kind of person to see this and think “Dammit, now I have to take care of myself!” but that’s just how I am. That’s also how the tarot is. It will bring you to what you need, exactly when you need it.
I know I am not the only entrepreneur who struggles with this proclivity to over-work.
But enough about me and my own experience. What about you?
Now that you have your cards how can you figure out what that means for you? Here are a few journaling prompts to get your on the right track.
How can the energies of these two cards work together?
What is your general attitude towards building structure in your everyday life?
How does your Card of the Year apply to self-care and prioritizing yourself, before you get too busy to do so?
How can your Card of the Year help you achieve your biggest goal(s) of 2020?
I would love to hear about your experiences. Please feel free to share in the comments or via email. I enjoy hearing your insights.
© Sheila Masterson 2020 All Rights Reserved