Happy New Year 2022

Omicron is currently spreading around the world, which doesn’t feel like a very hopeful sign for the new year. But my favourite astrologer, Mystic Medusa, insists that the stars suggest life will get easier in 2022. So, fingers crossed for that!

It’s always fun on the cusp of a new year to work out your Tarot Card of the Year. This card represents the type of experiences you can expect to have over the next 12 months. A numerological formula gives you a number that correlates with one of the Life Lesson aka Major Arcana cards. Because of the way it works, each following year you shift into the subsequent Life Lesson card e.g. If your Tarot Year Card in 2021 was The Lovers, in 2022 it will be The Chariot. However, at the turn of each decade or century, you will be sent to a different part of the Major Arcana, and begin a new cycle.

The formula is this: You add up your birth day + your birth month + the current calendar year. Then you work out which Life Lesson card matches the number you got. If the number is greater than 21, you add the digits together.

The Life Lessons cards are numbered as follows:

1 The Magician

2 The High Priestess

3 The Empress

4 The Emperor

5 The Hierophant

6 The Lovers

7 The Chariot

8 Strength

9 The Hermit

10 The Wheel of Fortune

11 Justice

12 The Hanged Man

13 Death

14 Temperance

15 The Devil

16 The Tower

17 The Star

18 The Moon

19 The Sun

20 Judgement

21 The World

My birthday is the 22nd May. The formula for me this year is: 2+2+5+2+0+2+2 =15. This is the number of The Devil. Not my favourite card. In the past couple of decades it’s been the beginning of traumatic journeys for me. But this won’t always be the case. It’s about bringing hidden parts of yourself into the light. Ripping off masks you wear. It can also be about addictions and destructive behaviours, but I don’t really have any of those (that I’m aware of!)

It’s important to point out that you should use this formula with a grain of salt. I throw a lot of salt over my shoulder while using Tarot. You should never let the cards chain you to a particular outcome. Just because your card for 2021 is The Empress doesn’t mean you should lie around and eat chocolate for a whole year – although that does sound kind of appealing.

Have a go and let me know what you think. And if your Tarot Year Card is one I haven’t focused on yet and you’d like to know more about it let me know in the comments section below.

Cheers, tan

The Tarot of the Wuhan Lab Leak Theory

World leaders at the G7 summit in England this week added fuel to the flames of the most pressing conspiracy theory of our times: Did Covid-19 escape from a Chinese lab?

Let’s explore the Tarot of this a little, shall we?

The origins of the current world-wide coronavirus epidemic are currently unknown…

The Moon: Hidden depths

But from the start, various media commentators have speculated that the virus escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology…

Page of Swords: Developing A Theory

The most compelling evidence for this is probably…

Death: The fact that Wuhan was the epicentre for the first large-scale outbreak

Meanwhile, scientists around the world have continued to insist this virus spread from animals…

Eight of Pentacles Reversed: It’s not man-made

Although that doesn’t rule out the lab completely, as the Wuhan Institute stores samples of the closest-known relative to Covid-19…

Seven of Swords Reversed: Acting suspicious

These samples were collected in 2012 when some miners fell sick with a mysterious illness…

Temperance Reversed: Feeling unwell

The Chinese virologist whose work is at the centre of these allegations insisted in a recent interview that the claims are baseless…

Knight of Swords Reversed: Feeling slandered

However, China’s ongoing refusal to allow an independent investigation into the lab makes this hard to believe…

The Moon Reversed: Muddying the waters

The High Priestess Reversed: Feeling unsure

If certain leaders didn’t seem hell-bent on blaming the Chinese for this epidemic, they might be more willing to co-operate.

Judgement Reversed: Wanting to blame

The Devil Reversed: Making someone the bad guy

What are your thoughts about this?

The Tarot of Prince Phillip’s Passing

The death of Prince Phillip, consort to Queen Elizabeth, has made news around the world this week. Let’s dive into the Tarot of this a little bit, shall we?

With his passing, Britain has been plunged into this…

Five of Cups: Mourning

The British press has been united in lauding him…

Knight of Cups: The knight in shining armour

Even though they spent years doing this…

Five of Swords: Sticking in the knives

Prince Phillip was definitely…

The Emperor Reversed: A fallible man (aren’t we all?)

However, he was also…

King of Wands: A man of great achievements

I currently run a Duke of Edinburgh club at the school where I teach. Prince Phillip created this award scheme to encourage personal growth in young people. It has been incredibly successful in this endeavour for many decades, and I am proud to be a part of it.

But perhaps his greatest achievement was this…

It wasn’t easy for him to always walk two steps behind the queen, but he did.

Judgement: Serving a higher good

He had to give up this completely…

The Fool: Freedom to do what he wanted when he wanted

His experience must have felt a lot like this at times…

The Devil: Willing enslavement

Vale Prince Phillip!

May he rest now in peace!

The Tarot of Bridgerton

Like many others, I spent the Christmas-New Year period glued to Bridgerton on Netflix. An 8 part series produced by the wonderful Shonda Rhimes. Based on a series of Regency romances written by Julia Quinn in the noughties.

Let’s investigate the Tarot of Bridgerton, shall we?

Obviously, it falls under this category…

The Lovers: Romance

As is typical of this literary genre, the female protagonist Daphne is…

The Fool: A naive ingenue

And the male protagonist, the Duke of Hastings, is…

Knight of Wands + The Devil: Dashing and damaged

They both come from…

Ten of Wands: Wealthy families

The plot is centred around Daphne’s attempt to…

Four of Cups: Get married to another member of the ton – a word used to reflect a member of English high society during this period of history

In order to improve her chances of appearing desirable, and, so he can avoid appearing available, she and the Duke make a pact to…

The Lovers Reversed: Pretend to fall in love

And we all know what happens when characters pretend to be in love…

The Magician: They create that reality!

But before there is any chance of a happily ever after…

Seven of Wands: They must battle many obstacles…

Not least of which is…

The Moon: Their own personal faults

One of the things I love about this series is the rich array of supporting characters, whose own stories are explored in some depth.

There’s the eldest Bridgerton son, Anthony, head of Daphne’s family…

The Emperor Reversed: A dysfunctional autocrat

Daphne’s mother, who sometimes provides…

The High Priestess Reversed: Terrible counsel

My personal favourite is Eloise, Daphne’s slightly younger sister…

Seven of Wands + The Empress: A raging feminist

Also notable is Eloise’s best friend, Penelope Featherington…

Three of Cups Reversed: The wallflower at every ball

There’s also the mysterious Lady Whistledown, who provides biting commentary on the London season, without ever revealing her true identity…

Knight of Swords Reversed + Seven of Swords: A sneaky barbed wit

Bridgerton has been brilliantly created by Shonda’s protege, Chris Van Duesen, who is an absolute…

King of Wands: Master of his craft

The tone is…

Six of Cups: Hyper-reality

The books and the era have been…

Wheel of Fortune: Given a modern spin.

This allows the series to have interesting conversations about…

The Empress + The World: The role of women in society

There is even more to Bridgerton that that.

Watch it for yourself and see!!!

The Tarot of Christmas 2020

It’s been a hard year.

The hardest ever for many.

You may be feeling like this…

Five of Pentacles: Without hope

Or like this…

Ten of Wands: Overburdened with cares

Or like this…

Ten of Swords: Mentally drained

If you’re young, you may be feeling like this…

Seven of Swords: Cheated of a normal childhood/young adulthood

If you’re middle-aged, you might be feeling like this…

Two of Pentacles + Seven of Wands: Juggling never-ending battles

If you’re old or have serious health conditions, you might be feeling like this…

The Devil + Death: Terrified of dying

Wherever you’re at, Christmas is a time to stop and remember…

The Christmas Star: There is ALWAYS hope…

Life CAN get better. We could be just around the corner from a turning point in our fight against the virus currently plaguing our planet. You could be one interview away from a much-needed job. One phone call away from loving support.

As Tarot reminds us, nothing lasts forever…

Wheel of Fortune: Life goes up AND down (not just down)

Wishing you and your loved ones a healthy and happy Christmas together!

Ten of Cups: Happy families (in whatever form they come for you!)

As a Christmas gift, you can read the first chapter of my Tarot Teaclub series now published on Amazon for free on Christmas Day. Just click on the link below…

Commencement 2020

Thanks to the coronavirus, commencement speeches have been forced online this year.

Whilst it obviously isn’t the same as having a real-life graduation, it’s been wonderful to see so many prominent members of our community take time to remember the Class of 2020.

But what lessons would Tarot wish to convey to graduates?

I believe we find the answer in the last line of the Major Arcana. Or as I like to call it, the Life Lessons section of the Tarot deck. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Black Lives Matter

It goes without saying that all lives matter.

But right now, non-whites are incarcerated and killed by law enforcement at higher rates than whites. So that’s where the focus needs to be. Including in my own country of Australia.

Let’s look at the Tarot of this…

Throwback Thursday: The Holy Book Part 3

I’ve written before about how Tarot contains a holy book that charts the journey of a human soul through all the stages and experiences of life. I call these cards Life Lessons Tarot. But they’re better known as the Major Arcana.

These lessons are divided into three parts. We’ve already looked at the first two parts this year: Childhood & Adulthood. The third volume represents maturity.

This is the scary part. These cards will shake, rattle and roll your world. The last seven cards of Tarot’s Holy Book are the most intense to live through. But if you can manage these energies in a positive way you get to hit the jackpot. You get The World!

They can be described as follows…
Continue reading

The Tarot of Mental Illness

I’ve talked about mental illness before. But in my opinion, as someone who’s had extensive experience in this area, you can never talk about it enough. There are lots of peeps suffering out there with one form or another of this insidious disease.

Let’s dive deep into the Tarot of Mental Illness shall we… Continue reading

The Tarot of the Facebook Scandal

I heart this meme.

It’s been created in response to the current scandal surrounding Facebook which has seen many users ditch the social media platform. In the most damaging controversy to ever hit Facebook it has been accused of allowing another company to harvest personal data to influence the last U.S. election.

So which Tarot cards are involved? Continue reading