The Year Card Tarot Spread

The painting above is of Father Time, aka Saturn, who is a visually represented as a blend of the Tarot Hermit and the Angel of Death in classic art. In Victorian times, Father Time, was often shown together with a young child representing the New Year, such as in the New Year’s greeting card below:

The year is drawing to an end, so I thought I’d share a Year Card Tarot spread to help you make the of the archetype that provides an overall theme for the year ahead. Those of you new to the concept of a Tarot Year Card, may wish to check this post out first.

Before you begin your reading, make sure you will not be disturbed and have your journal at hand so that you can take notes. Shuffle the deck well and then look for your year card, face up. Your year card goes in position one and the cards on either side in positions two and three. Then gather the cards back up, shuffle and cut once more before you deal the cards in position four through seven.

The Year Card Tarot Spread

1. Your Year Card
2. Father Time’s Scythe – What must die away now to make room for the new lessons this card will bring
3. The Young Child – What mental attitude you will most benefit from when integrating the lessons of your Year Card
4. The Hour Glass – What circumstances along the time/space continuum will bring the energy of your Year Card to the fore
5. Challenge – The main challenge accompanying those circumstances
6. Action Advice – How to overcome this challenge in practical ways (read with card 3/mental attitude)
7. Father Time’s Gift – The outcome and the harvest you can expect at the end of next year

Frideborg Tarot Year Card Sample Reading

1. Your Year Card – Temperance (Sagittarius/Archangel Sachiel). This year card is an invitation to engage actively in soul alchemy, to find balance within and refine my vision. It sits between Death and The Devil, in the middle of total deprivation and boundless greed. I’m looking forward to the innate challenge of finding middle ground that this card presents me with. It fits well with the Jupiter-Saturn opposition in my birth chart which has me swinging wildly between going without and overindulging in various ways. Oh yes, there is work to be done!
2. Father Time‘s Scythe – What must die away is the energy found in the 9 of Pentacles. This card is one of self-sufficiency… and even there can I go overboard, isolating myself and thinking I don’t need anyone to succeed in the world. That’s a lie, of course. People need other people – I’m no exception. The other red flag is greed with my resources. The more I share of my abundance and good fortune, the better!
3. The Young Child – Ace of Cups. The mental attitude I need to develop is simply to allow my mind drop down into the heart. My intellect won’t get me nearly as far as my heart will in the year ahead. This is the heart of devotion, not the heart of personal gain. Soul alchemy is always done to refine the dross of the ego to the gold of Higher Will.
4. The Hour Glass – Judgement. Fated circumstances will force some life-changing decisions… or maybe just one big one… Time will tell!
5. Challenge – The main challenge when faced with these circumstances is to do what is necessary and to be a good steward with the resources I have, for the Higher Good.
6. Action Advice – The World here is about carefully closing doors on the past and limiting myself to being fully present in the present moment. This Saturn energy card helps me stay realistic and grounded through big personal shifts.
7. Father Time’s Gift – The harvest I can count on is twofold: to be a vessel for tears and to always receive enough grace to manage… if I remember to raise my eyes and lift my heart up in prayer. Increased psychic ability is another possibility with this Moon in Cancer energy card.

I hope you will find this Tarot spread useful. Feel free to share in the comments below, along with your interpretation, and any questions you may have.