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Congratulations. You’ve found yourself in the middle of a Mid-Fall BlogHop. The Tarot BlogHop is a great way to get acquainted with a dozen or so tarot blogs and to immerse yourself in the online tarot community. By the way, if you’re a tarot blogger, please join our next round! Become a member of the TarotBlogHop Facebook group.

Jay, the noble wrangler for this Bloghop has asked us to think about the cycle of death, birth, and rebirth. This is about ruminating on where we are at the end of this Year of Saturn, and Year of the Yin Fire Rooster. We’ll be using the tarot to express those ruminations.

So, okay. I think for this exercise, we were supposed to do, like, actual tarot readings and then talk about our tarot readings. I’ve decided to do something not that. Instead, I’m going to select a card, so I’m intentionally choosing these cards. It’s not a tarot reading. And instead, you start off by interpreting the card I’ve chosen to see if you can anticipate why I chose that card. Then, well, if you want, read on to see my answer. =)

Where have you been? Where has the 2017 cycle led me?

The Six of Wands

2017 was supposed to be my Ben Ming Nian, or Natal Year, which traditionally the Chinese believe to be kind of Saturn-Return-ish, so not always given a good rep. People tend to freak out when it’s their Natal Year. However, this time around, my Ben Ming Nian was great. I had a grand old time and I have to confess, it was good luck after good luck, after more good luck.

To recap 2017, I want to rewind back to 2015 for some context and then proceed from there. I acknowledge that as it is perceived by most people, the publication of my books seem to come out of nowhere. A lot of people felt like my public platform as a tarot reader and Holistic Tarot coming out in 2015 was produced overnight. First of all, not true, not even close, more along the lines of gee I wish it happened overnight. I just tend to not be very public about what I do and over the decades, got really good at keeping things to myself.

After Holistic Tarot came out, both as part of the promotional campaign for the book and also my own genuine intentions, I started to be more public with my tarot work and made my voice louder when it came to talking about tarot.

Around this time, this season, in 2016, my second book came out, The Tao of Craft, and I know, that, too, seemed to many to come out of nowhere. “Wait, what… what are you into??” In pockets of Taoist magical communities, there was a general sentiment of, “Who the hell is she again and where did she come from???” (A little bit like what happened with the tarot book, actually…) And again, compelled in part by the publication of Book #2 but also compelled in part by “it’s finally time,” I started to talk more openly about my craft.

So, the cycle of 2017 was this really interesting personal golden dawn of sorts. I believe or at least I would like to think this was the year I started to demonstrate that I was more multi-faceted than people may have presumed. Something about how everything came together in my life in 2017 means it was a peak. Is it the highest point? I don’t know. I hope not. But it was undoubtedly a personal peak.

I can’t pinpoint exactly when, but some time not too long ago, I resolved that I didn’t want to be known for just one thing. I wanted to be known by every angle that is me, so I didn’t want to brand myself or narrow my point of view or appeal to a single niche. I didn’t want Marketing and Branding 101 to dictate how I would present myself or live my life.

2017 was about me aspiring to carry out that resolution. It was also about me realizing I was beginning to develop a voice in the community that could have impact and what that meant. You’ll see that as a direct result of my resolution, I started to explore YouTube and making videos that expressed my point of view, that heck, finally revealed my point of view.

Where are you going? Where are you headed in 2018?

The Five of Cups

If I’m being honest and airing out my fears, I feel some trepidation around 2018, despite it being a Year of Jupiter. I’ve been sensing for some time now that tough stuff is up ahead. It makes sense, right. My life has arguably been too easy for too long. Beyond just my own life, some of the astrological transits at play for 2018 worry me as well. 2018 looks tough not just for me, but for lots of people. Eeps.

On a lighter note, so that I’m not that guy in the RWS Five of Cups who can’t see the good despite the bad, I’ve got very Water-element-related plans for 2018. The Five of Cups bears a subtext of needing a different perspective, that a change of perspective is part of the solution. So that’s what’s up with my 2018. Trying to get some perspective on my perspective.

What do you feel has changed for you at the end of this cycle along your journey of life?

The Wheel of Fortune

Actually, I would say a lot. This cycle has been about me arriving at the belief or perception that I have a lot to offer to this world, to my community, and so instead of being passive and enjoying the safety of privacy, I changed my own perspective (or am changing…present tense and foreseeable future tense…working on it, still…).

2017 was crazy productive for me, like supernaturally productive. So it was a creative year for me. I anticipate 2018 will also be creative, but in a different direction. And the reason I want to take a different creative direction in 2018 is because of the shifts and changes that took place this past Year of Saturn cycle. This past cycle was a turning point for me. Decisive changes have taken place and now it’s a matter of seeing how the effects of those decisive changes will unfold in 2018.

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