What is a good spread/method for an accurate 'year ahead' reading?

[Chariot]

For many years, I've tried to do a yearly spread (once a year) to see what the tarot has to say about what lies ahead.  However, I have NEVER found a satisfactory way to do this.  Just pulling 12 cards, one for each month, never works for me.  By never works, I mean it has NEVER given me anything useful at all—not even the first month.  Frustrating.  I am very open to suggestions here.  If you can see your year ahead successfully, what is your method?

Last year I tried something new.  I used three decks.  I pulled 12 cards from each deck, so each 'month' got three cards.  Nope.  Not even close.  Aaargh....

[Misterei]

@Chariot

I feel your pain. I normally consult astrology to get a feeling for my year ahead.

That being said, I've had better luck using Tarot to look at Seasons. so I might pull 3-5 cards as Summer, 3-5 cards as Autumn, and so on. Thus i read each season as a mini-spread. I suppose you could even go as high as 7 cards per season before it would start to be "card soup".

 

To totally avoid the card soup problem, potentially you could use 1 deck for each season. This way you might note repeater cards which show a theme that carries from Autumn to Winter [for example].

 

Just some ideas. I've had no luck with month-by-month yearlies but I did find the Seasonal approach worked for me.

Edited June 15, 2024 by Misterei

[Natural Mystic Guide]

54 minutes ago, Misterei said:

To totally avoid the card soup problem, potentially you could use 1 deck for each season. This way you might note repeater cards which show a theme that carries from Autumn to Winter

Yes, an excellent idea.  When I am doing 'exploring options' readings, I will usually use separate decks to allow for repeater cards.

[DanielJUK]

I think reading for yourself, for the future, is one of the hardest things to do. First off, it's more difficult to read for yourself and to be impartial and not biased, that's a skill in itself. Then the future, how do you apply the cards (with whatever method) as predictions or things coming up? I think predictive reading is a whole divination science / skill / art in itself, you improve with it, with experience. I have got it wrong and then wrong and then wrong and then over the years I can get it now. But it's about doing it over and over, noticing what works and does not and I think (well for me anyway) it's about listening to your intuition with it. I think experience helps you to trust going with the right prediction from what you see. It's just not an easy thing to do, so take it easy on yourself! It helped me to think of it as an experiment in reading, what was right, what was wrong, how can I improve with what I saw?

 

I used to do the 12 month reading at the beginning of every year, but one year it had a terrible prediction about my life that came true. I think like 2018 or 2019 and I decided I didn't want to know in the future. It's a debate about being forewarned is forearmed or just being in ignorant bliss. Although I wish I had done it in 2020, it would have been so fascinating to see if I had seen the pandemic lol, but I was really burnt out by predictive reading for myself at that point. I am back into it now! I did it for this year for the first time in years. It did get a lot right but I notice in the second half of the year that things have really changed since the beginning.

 

Personally I think the best form of this is to do a reading for each month as the year goes on. I do a few cards at the beginning of each month. These readings tend to be the most accurate for me due to the timeframe, the overview of the year is just like a taster or an amuse-bouche of the year. Things have changed in my life from January to July and will be different and there will be different major themes in December '24, compared to the beginning of the year.

[Misterei]

10 hours ago, DanielJUK said:

... I wish I had done it in 2020, it would have been so fascinating to see if I had seen the pandemic lol, but I was really burnt out by predictive reading for myself at that point. ...

On a slightly different note, I did astrological predictions before the pandemic [2019? 2020?] and predicted a GREAT year. So I looked like an idiot. Not to mention an astrologer with no toilet paper [USA had shortages which I failed to predict].

 

BUT the weird thing is that the Pandemic was GREAT FOR ME. Amidst all the misery, I never got sick. I used the lockdown alone time to write the textbook for my course. I had just launched a business that I could do via zoom. Bored, miserable people living through a frightening moment in history WANT tarot & astro readings, as it turns out.

 

My lesson from that year was to really account for *bleedthrough* vis a vis worldly events vs. personal life. It can be a tricky distinction when glimpsing into the future via cards or astro. At least for me. ymmv.

[akiva]

2 hours ago, Misterei said:

My lesson from that year was to really account for *bleedthrough* vis a vis worldly events vs. personal life. It can be a tricky distinction when glimpsing into the future via cards or astro. At least for me. ymmv.

Does vedic astrology not have mundane astrology like the west, dealing with wordly affairs? 

 

On 6/14/2024 at 9:57 PM, Chariot said:

Just pulling 12 cards, one for each month, never works for me.  By never works, I mean it has NEVER given me anything useful at all—not even the first month.  Frustrating.  I am very open to suggestions here.  If you can see your year ahead successfully, what is your method?

Have you tried basing the reading on astrological houses instead of months? Maybe 2 or 3 cards for each house then turn/combine the houses like you would in astrology/geomancy.

 

I guess the problem with doing a yearly reading is it's a whole year. It's such a broad aperture to try and see, without doing some insane GT with all the Tarot cards 🤣

 

One trick may be to truly randomise the cards that come out (if you don't already). For instance draw them from the middle of the deck, or from a fan face down. It could be that doing such a large spread requires a bit more randomness.

[Misterei]

22 minutes ago, akiva said:

Does vedic astrology not have mundane astrology like the west, dealing with wordly affairs?

It TOTALLY has this branch of worldly affairs predictions.

Some vedic astrologers specialize in this. They can make broad general predictions based-on transits alone.

Me? Not so much.

I need a chart to focus. I might do ok reading on an actual Country or world leader where I can use that chart as my focus.

But just trying to read general transits? No chart? My mind defaulted to using *my* natal chart as the basis ... thus I can say I *know* I have a problem with bleedthrough if I try this. So I steer clear.

 

Back to yearly predictions with Tarots--as you say, a full year is a broad aperture. SO much can change over the course of a year!

 

This is why I take a seasonal approach. I'm looking for flavors / themes for each season. A decision I make in Spring will affect how my Summer will go. The cards can't necessarily predict what I decide in Spring. They might show making a decision is a THEME for Spring--but it's a pretty tall order for the cards to say which option I would end-up deciding.

 

Of course there are exceptions. Like they show a serious illness [or whatnot] definitely happens in Spring--but this is more rare for me b/c now we're in the realm of fate or fixed karmas. Whereas life tends to have a bunch of smaller, mutable karmas.

Edited June 16, 2024 by Misterei

[Deian]

 I haven't tried. Would think the 3 cards a month could have worked, no idea why it didn't.

 

On the offtopic, its interesting to mention that, global stuff in my view is interesting if we just check previous events.

For example Pluto in Aquarius. Previous times - industrial revolution, french revolution , us constitution was signed , further back mostly related to the Church and religion, however, fitting nicely to Pluto even back then... While if one wants to understand what Pluto is, can just check events that happened after it was discovered with the idea that brings surge of that essence into the system. That would be WW2 stuff, mostly...

 

And overall massive, massive changes that led to everyday life becoming entirely different.

So then we look around, we see we just came out of Saturn in Aquarius, great leaps in technology, and turns out then the AI/Deep Learning algorithms reached usefulness that went beyond what most would expect exactly in that period.

 

Then one could expect in next few decades that AI changes to go very, very deep into how we do things.

Then one can go month by month, but the idea is individual charts doesn't play a role, we view humanity as one big organism.

There is much more to it. Previous Saturn in Aquarius did bring the Internet, then it goes around all the others and when it comes again its the next spiral as on top of that AI and Deep Learning is build... Can expect in 30 years from now the AIs to create something that will be the next spiral etc.

That way of reading it was from Gahl Sasson, its awesome for global events. He did other stuff as well, like translating someones houses to see how that will affect them, but I haven't tried much of that, just remember the theory.

 

Anyway, big offtopic, but I hope it can be helpful, I really enjoy that part of astrology. : )

[akiva]

18 hours ago, Misterei said:

It TOTALLY has this branch of worldly affairs predictions.

Some vedic astrologers specialize in this. They can make broad general predictions based-on transits alone.

Me? Not so much.

I need a chart to focus. I might do ok reading on an actual Country or world leader where I can use that chart as my focus.

But just trying to read general transits? No chart? My mind defaulted to using *my* natal chart as the basis ... thus I can say I *know* I have a problem with bleedthrough if I try this. So I steer clear.

That's so cool they dont use a chart for mundane readings, I don't know much about astrology, especially vedic practices. It's interesting that you get bleed through like that. I suppose it's not different from other divination styles in that regard!

 

18 hours ago, Misterei said:

Back to yearly predictions with Tarots--as you say, a full year is a broad aperture. SO much can change over the course of a year!

 

This is why I take a seasonal approach. I'm looking for flavors / themes for each season. A decision I make in Spring will affect how my Summer will go. The cards can't necessarily predict what I decide in Spring. They might show making a decision is a THEME for Spring--but it's a pretty tall order for the cards to say which option I would end-up deciding.

Seasonal is a good idea, even monthly. I guess the goal would be less precise predictions and more of a general 'what's the vibe for this season'.

 

I kind of think a monthly reading with a fair amount of cards might be better for a more precise reading. Something like the romany spread might suit it. It would be good practice and help it be less broad 🤔

[Misterei]

56 minutes ago, akiva said:

That's so cool they dont use a chart for mundane readings ...

I slightly mis-spoke. They *do* use transit charts. For example charts showing days certain planets conjunct, or trine, or whatnot. But the chart is for that day when the transit happens. And it begs the question--does the astrologer cast it for her hometown? Or what location? They are looking for things like Mars + Ketu =  wildfires [or whatever]. How they determine in which House / Sign the conjunction happens? IDK. Joni Patry on YT seems to like doing world predictions. But I've not paid attention to her methods. Mostly my clients want personal predictions, so that's my bread & butter.

56 minutes ago, akiva said:

... a general 'what's the vibe for this season'.

... I kind of think a monthly reading with a fair amount of cards might be better for a more precise reading. Something like the romany spread might suit it ...

Agreed. I might do a monthly for NEXT month. But a monthly for 9 months from now? I think too much could change in those 9 months.

 

The exception being pregnant ladies asking how their pregnancy and birth will go. That focus tightens the aperture to where i *can* read 6 or 9 months into the future. I'm not looking at her whole life--I'm tightly focused on her health. Or likewise, someone asking about long term projections for their job. This tighter focus enables me to look at the whole year for *that job*.

[akiva]

40 minutes ago, Misterei said:

Joni Patry on YT seems to like doing world predictions. But I've not paid attention to her methods. Mostly my clients want personal predictions, so that's my bread & butter.

I might give them a look, just to see how it's done 😁 astrology has been on my todo list for a while!

 

40 minutes ago, Misterei said:

The exception being pregnant ladies asking how their pregnancy and birth will go. That focus tightens the aperture to where i *can* read 6 or 9 months into the future. I'm not looking at her whole life--I'm tightly focused on her health. Or likewise, someone asking about long term projections for their job. This tighter focus enables me to look at the whole year for *that job*.

This makes sense, as it's less about stumbling blindly in the dark trying to make associations. There's a clear thread that can be followed through time.

[Chariot]

Gosh!  I just now saw all these excellent replies.

I do like the idea of astrology for this kind of thing, but unfortunately I don't have the expertise to do my own predictions—or the will to start learning a new skill like this, to the point where it would be accurate and useful.  Sigh.  Were I younger, I might be inclined to dive in.  I mainly use astrology to  understand personalities, etc.  I'm definitely a skimmer, when it comes to astrology, although I do believe it works ...why?  No idea. But it works.  

I am intrigued by the suggestions from @Misterei and @Natural Mystic Guide about using more than one deck (to allow for repeaters.) This approach is one I will try again, but maybe with more focus than I used before.  And maybe for a shorter time period ...like a season, rather than a year.

@DanielJUK 's response got me thinking.  Perhaps the tarot does NOT want to show me the future, in this kind of yearly sense.  It's odd, in that tarot certainly doesn't mind showing me a short-term future in many situations ...but an overall long-term view?  

 

Unlike @DanielJUK, I've never had a yearly prediction come true!  In fact, the predictions I've received have been so entirely off-base every time that I kinda get the notion that I'm being rebuffed, and discouraged from even trying this kind of thing.  Looking back on the last 8 months of my life, and comparing it with the detailed reading I got at the beginning of October last year, more or less  nothing happened as I thought it would.  (Both positive and negative.)  I think the cards do tell the truth ...so maybe this is something i should just take on board.   I'm not really supposed to see my 'year ahead' with any kind of clarity or accuracy at all!  That might be the sensible thing to do, actually.  Focus on the development of individual issues, and attempt to steer through them without damage?  And let the large mystery be?

Maybe my own energy is saying 'hey, tarot, don't show me bad stuff building because I can't take it!'  So the tarot shows me a path that proves almost comically false from Day One—knowing that I will just dump that whole 'year' and move on, unguided. Is this the tarot's way of protecting me from what I might not be able to handle?

Edited June 17, 2024 by Chariot

[DanielJUK]

I think we are going off-topic going off on a branch about astrology here when we are discussing good spreads / methods with tarot.

If we wanted to continue the astrology discussion, it would be fine in it's own section. It's quiet there and so this type of discussion would be welcome. Whilst it's okay to discuss using astrology for predicting and world events, we need to keep away from political discussions 🙂 

[dancing_moon]

I guess it depends on what exactly you'd like to know.

 

I've been pulling 1 to 3 Oracle cards as a general vibe/theme/lesson of the year, and it's been eerily fitting. For more event-based answers, I'd go with astrological houses as @akiva suggested, or just pick the spheres/topics you're interested in (e.g. career, finance, health, etc.) - which would, again, probably give you either the overall situation or, possibly, one most significant event. And if there are particular questions you have about the coming year, those would probably benefit from being asked directly (along the lines of "will I find a new job/meet a special person/need a surgery etc. next year?").

Edited June 28, 2024 by dancing_moon

[WhiteMoon]

In the past I've frequently done a year-ahead readings both for myself and for my clients. I sort out the majors and pull 13 cards from the majors only, one for each month and one as an "overview" of the year. I can start these in whatever month we are in, reading for the next 12 months.  Then I reshuffle and do a full spread from the full deck for more information, along with a few cards for specific questions (health, work, relationships, finances), if requested.

 

Between all of that, a fairly clear picture emerges, but I have to admit, this has been more accurate for clients than it has for myself, probably because of all the factors mentioned above (anxiety, do I really want to know, awful things I've predicted in the past that have come true). These days, I usually ask someone else to do a year-ahead or six-months ahead readings for me. 

[Wyrdkiss]

I like doing 4 cards -- one for each quarter. The card pulled represents something to integrate and celebrate, or overcome and process.

[SamiHirvikallio]

Different Kinds of Tarot Spreads for Yearly Reading

1. 12-Month Spread

• Description: Provides detailed insight for each month of the year.
• Layout: Lay out 12 cards in a circle or row, each representing January to December.

2. Wheel of the Year Spread

• Description: Reflects the cyclical nature of the year and key transitions.
• Layout: Lay out 8 cards in a circle for the Sabbats (Yule, Imbolc, etc.) and a 9th card in the center for the overall theme.

3. Four Seasons Spread

• Description: Focuses on the energies and themes of each season.
• Layout: Lay out 4 cards, each representing Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.

4. Zodiac Spread

• Description: Uses the 12 houses of the zodiac to cover different life aspects.
• Layout: Lay out 12 cards in a circle, each representing a zodiac house (Self, Finances, Communication, etc.).

5. Year Ahead Spread

• Description: Provides a deep dive into various aspects of the year.
• Layout:
  • Card 1: Overall theme
  • Card 2: Major challenge
  • Card 3: Major opportunity
  • Card 4: Personal growth
  • Cards 5-16: Each month from January to December

6. Month-by-Month Spread

• Description: Simple monthly forecast.
• Layout: Lay out 12 cards in a line, one for each month, plus a 13th card for the overall theme.

7. Seasonal Guidance Spread

• Description: Combines seasonal and monthly guidance.
• Layout:
  • Card 1: Overall theme
  • Cards 2-5: Seasonal energies (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter)
  • Cards 6-17: Each month from January to December

8. Quarterly Focus Spread

• Description: Focuses on each quarter with an overall theme.
• Layout:
  • Card 1: Overall theme
  • Cards 2-5: Each quarter (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4)
  • Cards 6-17: Each month from January to December

These spreads provide various approaches to gaining comprehensive yearly insights, allowing you to choose based on your specific needs and preferences.