Your Year Card

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 28 Mar 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

joya250	28 Mar 2003
reading the latest post on the Death card made me think (again) about how this card is my "year card." I'm sure many of you are familiar with the concept and the calculations of your year card, soul card, etc. Ever since I learned about them (only last year) I've kept whatever card it was in the back of my mind and felt connected to it throughout the year... also reflected on how previous years seemed to fit their appropriate card, when I looked back to see the correspondence. Last year it was Hanged Man -- an intense period of letting go. This year it is Death -- and has already proven to be a time of enormous change, pain, and now looks to be the year that I experience the physical death of a loved one. How much more "Death" can you get then that?! Much to think about with this card. (Makes me tremble to face the run of the Devil and the Tower. yikes!) I thought it would be interesting to see how other people have felt about their year cards -- how they have or have not had an influence on your life, what correspondences you could find, whether you're having (or have had) a "Sun" year (yay!) or a "Moon" year (where am I?), or whatever... share away! I'd love to hear other's experiences. btw, if you don't know how to calculate your year card, it's like this: birth month + birth day + current year for example: 05 + 3 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 3 = 13 (Death) (if you get a number greated than 21, then you add it again, like 25 = 2 + 5 = 7 (Chariot))

jlbvt	28 Mar 2003
WELL! I never knew about this bafore, but I added mine up and got 16. :TTOW No wonder everything I try to do comes crashing down around me!!! Seriously- everything I try to do gets so screwed up, it's not even funny. Will this last till December? The good news is next year is the star... :TSTAR

HudsonGray	28 Mar 2003
I thought that was how you found your soul card? Is there a difference? Or wait, you wouldn't take the current year, you'd take your birth year, is that it?

Moongold	28 Mar 2003
Yes, HudsonGrey. that is right!. There is a book by Mary Greer called Tarot Constellations in which all of this is explained. The system was developed by a woman called Angeles Arrien, a tarot scholar and therapist in San Francisco, I think. The book also tells you how to find out your personality and soul cards, hidden factor and teacher cards. It makes sense of all of this by putting the cards in a framework called tarot constellations. It's worth getting this book if you can. It gives you a rich framework for understanding your life. Moongold

firemaiden	28 Mar 2003
That method of calculating it puts me in a magician year :)

Celtic_Dragon	28 Mar 2003
Birth year is for your soul card. I read your post this morning and I've had some time to think about it and I'm extreemly suprised at how much my year card has affected my life. My card is Judgement, which relates mostly to your past, facing your past and dealing with it. Last week a friend of mine came to visit from California and the whole time she was here we talked about things we used to do and people we used to hang with and everything that's happened since. The other night I had a mental brake down because I wasn't where I wanted to be and I wasn't the person I used to be. And my fiance' just took me by the hand and told me to stop worrying about the past. I can't change it, I can only change the future. And in a couple of months I'll be the one going out of state to visit some old friends. I guess what really amazes me is that I only relized today what my year card was, but these events were in the making years before. (my friend whom I'm visiting is getting married and she was engagued in 2001) And it's a good eye opener because if I can learn from my mistakes and correct my actions for the future(one of the lessons in this card), then next year should live up to it's promise (world). :D Can't wait for this New Year's!!

Ravenswing	28 Mar 2003
well-- this year is a hierophant year... and i must say it certainly is. one of the best ways to learn tarot is to design a deck. and my adventures with laurel have been one of the steepest learning curve i've encountered. add to it my own gematric tarot i'm slotting in... and a neo-kabalah i'm 'designing'. so, next is my lovers year-- starting on the summer solstice. the lovers is my soul card... sounds like quite a follow up }) . then is the chariot-- and i'm a cancer. also, according to a great numerological book i've gone through (i forget the title and i can't get to it now), my lovers year is also a transitional year. i think i'll throw one great big party fly well raven

Mimers	28 Mar 2003
I am not sure if I am doing this correctly. 7+1+5+2+0+0+3=18 or the moon. Is this my year card starting on my birthday in July, or is it for the entire year of 2003? Just curious. Moon year. I have been doing a lot of spiritual reflection. You know what next year is for me :D Sun! Mimi

joya250	28 Mar 2003
hey Mimi, yup, that sounds right.... and I believe it "starts" on the new year (Jan.1), not your birthday... although I bet that certain years your actual birthday day would have a greater impact, depending what your year card was. For example, since next year is your Sun year (lucky dog!), and your birthday determines your Sun sign... well, that's gotta mean something! haha. Like maybe it enhances the overall "Sun" vibration for the card, or that date is the apex for the entire year, etc. You could prob. figure out something similar for other cards, for example, if you are a Cancer, and your year card was the Chariot (Ravenswing, you listening? :P )... perhaps your birthday that year would hold greater meaning... or whatever. Just thinking outloud. hmmm... once you hit the Sun, it's all downhill (as in getting easier, as in "whew, no more Tower!") from there... kicking back through Judgement, then the World, then you get the Fool all over again... and it's "easy-breezy" until you hit The Wheel... haha. Wish I could fast forward! With only a brief reprieve between Death and the Devil and the Tower... I can only imagine what the upcoming years will bring. Not to mention, Temperance has not usually been the easiest card for me (it's always shown a "test" situation -- groan ... another test?) So, I guess that reprieve isn't much of a rest before the "BIG ONES" come into town. anyway, this would be me rambling agin. joya (edited to fix spelling mistake. so, hey, sometimes I'm anal.)

Moongold	28 Mar 2003
Quote: Originally posted by joya250 .........yup, that sounds right.... and I believe it "starts" on the new year (Jan.1), not your birthday... although I bet that certain years your actual birthday day would have a greater impact, depending what your year card was. Greer says that both are right - 1st January AND your birthday. There are two different cycles. 1 January signifies the beginning f a period in whuch things happen to you.You then begin to learn the lesson of the year through experiences that require you to face the issues represented. Greer calls this the outer or event oriented cycle. By your birthday you will have integrated the lessons to an extent that you will begin acting out that energy. In this way you have a birthday to birthday inner experience cycle. This didn't quite fit for me as my birthday is near the end of the year, so I just integrate the outer and inner events! I'm in the year of the Hermit and the inner reflection thing is important for me now just in ternsof events in my life recently, my deepening involvement with Tarot and a recent astrological analysis. Moongold

Mimers	28 Mar 2003
Thanks Moongold and Joy! So far this year has seemed hecktic for me.A lot going on. Little time for quite time, so to speak. This being my moon year is interesting to me because I am Cancer and ruled by the moon. I am also a very inward person. I am always thinking about things in a itrospective way. The moon being my card this year to me just kind of describes who I am naturally. I am do for some sunshine though! Mimers

DeLani	28 Mar 2003
This year is the Wheel of Fortune for me...lots of changes! Already I have moved into a new house, gotten a roommate, and I'm on the way to getting a new job, and possibly getting custody back of my son. All just since my birthday (which is Jan. 4, so I only have 3 days of "overlap.")

Major Tom	29 Mar 2003
I'm confused. :confused: I haven't read the books. What confuses me is this: When using a numerological approach, shouldn't you reduce the digits to a single numeral instead of stopping when the number is below 22? For example, my birthday is 22 August. So I reduce thusly: 8+2+2+2+0+0+2=16 then 1+6=7. I consider the Chariot to be my year card and the Tower to be the shadow of my year. Either I take control of my circumstances or they will take control of me. :laugh: Just seems to make more sense to me this way. Doesn't the cycle go from 1 to 9 and back to 1 again? Naturally, you'd want to pay attention to the other cards in the constellation, but the basic message of the year comes from the card with a single digit. Doesn't it?

Ravenswing	29 Mar 2003
Morning Major-- Any of the Majors can be a year card. So you want to use the numbers from 1- 21. That's why you only reduce if the number's 22 or greater. Does that make sense? fly well raven

lunalafey	29 Mar 2003
<Laughing neuroticly> By the calculations given here...I'm in an ~11~ year. In Mary's book I'm in a ~12~ year...and when it is put into the graph...It's in the 36th year...but I'm 35...what's the major malfunction? I'm born on the very last day of the year. It will take me a few years to figure out which way I'm going...LOL... (this year feels like both a 12 and 11)... <more neurolaughter>

Amythist	29 Mar 2003
I calculated as told and i got 15 the devil XV unyeliding power, tranny, lust and greed. Thats certainly happened already. Am inmoving obsicle that cannot br overcome ( my ex) may yet be wotked around (I have to work around him) discontentand derpresson caused by an overwheling force (my post the other day can possative take over anger) It means unbreakable bounds so strangely it is goo for omen of marrage. great

Major Tom	29 Mar 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Ravenswing Any of the Majors can be a year card. Does that make sense? Thanks for this Ravenswing. :) Presumably any Major except the Fool? And no - it does not make sense to me. In my own case, I do not see how the energy of the Tower does not also include the energy of the Chariot - particularly if I arrived at the Tower via numerology. I mean, why stop when the number is less than 22? I see the cycle of numbers going from 1 to 9 and back to 1 again. We see this cycle throughout the tarot and numerology. Why should year cards be figured any differently from soul cards? I suppose I should read Mary K. Greer. Perhaps I'll write my own book. })

lunalafey	29 Mar 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Major Tom ....And no - it does not make sense to me. ...Perhaps I'll write my own book. }) PLEASE....because the system just does not work for my day of birth...my delemas; added to your insperation...?

HudsonGray	29 Mar 2003
Then imagine being born on leap year....one birthday every 4 years, you'd age really slow (no wait, you'd just be a day off on celebrating...no wait...). How come nobody mentioned the current style calendar we have vs the Oriental one that functions differently, or the Aztec one that was more accurate than ours, or, um... I need chocolate.

WolfSpirit	30 Mar 2003
I used the same method as Major Tom (reduce to one digit), that gave me last year the hierophant (when I learnt a lot about the spiritual path I want to follow) and this year the Lovers - though things are not really working out as I want (lots of obstacles) I am still looking what do I want to do, so I saw this as making choices (though not every option may be open to me now) But ahum. Seems I should not have reduced to 6, but have stopped at 15 and that would give me the Devil. Well looking back the year certainly started as a devil when everything went wrong ;) but I haven't really taught of this year as a devil year and I don't really see it either. But then, the year is only 3 months old so perhaps it is still to come...

Moongold	30 Mar 2003
Chocolate is a great solution for most problems AND a celebration for most joys too............... With regard to the leap year birth, it shouldn't make any difference to the Personality, Soul Card, Hidden Factor cards. I reckon you could even accommodate the Year card issue as well but I don't have time to check this right now. Will have a look in about 12 hours dear friends....enjoy the chocolate! Moongold

Melvis	30 Mar 2003
So this is what happens when I actually finish a book...the teacher calls on me in class! LOL On the whole calendar issue, Mary Greer argues that our calendar system is something we've lived with for generations and generations. From the moment we're born we're taught the context of that calendar and it plays an important part in our daily lives. So if people around the world use a different calendar system, then that's the system they should use to figure their Lifetime cards, because that's their context. Uh, Leap Year? That's a tough one. I don't remember reading anything about it in MG's books. Maybe the Year Card you get in a Leap Year would last for four years instead of just one! :) So we figure out 2004 for Leap Year babies --> 2 + 29 + 2004 = 2035 = 10. So I guess that would make 2004-2007 all Wheel of Fortune years? Hmmm... Aha! Better yet! You could use the above method for your Birthday-to-Birthday Year Card (your inner-oriented cycle) and come up with new calendar-year cards each year for your outer-oriented Jan. 1 - Dec. 31 cycle. Or maybe we could just 'pretend' and figure out Feb. 29th Year cards the same as everyone else. My brain hurts. I need some chocolate... Peace, Melvis :TSTRE

Moongold	31 Mar 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Melvis So this is what happens when I actually finish a book...the teacher calls on me in class! LOL Uh, Leap Year? That's a tough one. I don't remember reading anything about it in MG's books. Or maybe we could just 'pretend' and figure out Feb. 29th Year cards the same as everyone else. My brain hurts. I need some chocolate... Melvis :TSTRE Hi all :laugh: Melvis you deserve a box of the best! Thanks. The calendar is simply a device for measuring time. There are different explanations for Leap years. One of the explanations I read was that it actually takes 365.2422 days for the earth to circle the Sun, not the 365 stated in the calender, and the adjustment of an extra day is made every four years to bring the cycle back into kilter. I thought about this issue during the day, played with it a bit and thought that one could go ahead and simply use the 29th for Soul, Personality and Teacher cards without difficulty or one could revert to 28 February. Understanding the reason for the Leap day makes this concept easier. Many people with birthdays on 29 Februrary celebrate their special day on the 28 February most years. There is not much written about this but other Tarot sites list both 28 and 29 February together as being significant cyclical dates in the Tarot. I would simply use the 28 February as the significant date if I was in this situation but would play with both dates to see what feels right. If others know a better explanation, please let us know. Moongold

VerseJunkie	04 Apr 2003
maybe this seems obvious, but in finding out do I do it this way: 1 + 1 + 1 + 3 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 3 or 11 + 13 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 3? if I did it correctly (that is the second way) my year card is strength and my soul card is the hermit.

Moongold	04 Apr 2003
Greetings VerseJunkie, The answer may be in this thread which copies the formular directly from Greer's book: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12713 Moongold

Celtic_Dragon	05 Apr 2003
I was wondering, since this is the first time I've applied my year card to my life, what has happened in my previous years that appropreatly match their year cards? And if anyone else has written in their journals and kept track of their year cards, (those who knew about them)? If anyone could share an entry I'd appreciate it, it would really help me in writting mine out.....

Moongold	05 Apr 2003
Greetings Celtic Dragon. I am a Tarot student of only 9 months so do not have a journal article to share. Can I share what Mary Greer suggests? There is a chart in the constellations bookwhich lists all thepossible year cards form 1880 to 2095. Greer suggests that we look back over our lives, draw the year cards for the last five years and ask ourselves how each of these cards represents lessons we needed to learn in that year. She acknowledges that it some times takes a while to gain perspective on the real learning but it heps to identify trends. She suggests just a sentence. If you like, I can scan the chart and send it to you. Moongold

Burnt Kisses	06 Apr 2003
im the tower this year I guess. Know all I have to do is figure out what that means to me…

reds97	06 Apr 2003
this is very interesting to me. My soul card seems to be the hermit. and I see that very clearly. He is a card that seems to speak to me when i pull him and that i feel a connection with. My year card is the Star. And i think i will have to read more on that card because i haven;t really come across it in a reading and i want to know more about it. And if it is my year card that means that everything is going to be better from here on out for a few years anyways. The past five year have been difficult and i am struggling to let them go. It is easy to cling onto pain and rejection. Is it posible for so many different things and resources say all the same thing? Everything i read from astrology to tarot/year cards to earth angels all say to me that this is what i am.. i am such a complex person but they are all pointing to my personallity and my character "quirks"... sometimes it is over whelming. sandra

Nao	29 Apr 2003
I speed read through this thread...and I came to realize that almost everyone was calculating their year card the way I used to do it but was then recently corrected. =P No one seems to have made a comment about it here..so I thought I'd say something so that people can be aware of it. The results come out different...and in fact, I'm still trying to come to terms with the new results as I felt the old one yields a more accurate card...even though the calculation method I did was not right. (????) For example: Joy250 said her year card is the Death card: 5+3+2+0+0+0+3=13 but I was told that THIS is the right way to calculate it: __05 __03 2003 ------- 2011 = 2+0+1+1=4 so actually, under this method of calculation, Joy250's card this year isn't the Death card...but instead the Emperor. -_-;; Changes the whole meaning doesn't it?? I'm still trying to find out how this year is the Empress for me and isn't the Hanged Man as I previously thought (which was more fitting too) Argh! Same thing with Mimers' results. She said her year card was the Moon..done by 7+1+5+2+0+0+3=18. But if you do it like 07+15+2003=2025=2+0+2+5=9 then Mimers' year card isn't the Moon but instead the Hermit. =P I'm seeing so many threads about soul, personality, shadow cards all over...but I also keep seeing people calculating them differently. I wonder if it's possible to sticky THE RIGHT METHOD up on the top so that there aren't different methods floating all over. I second-guess a method everytime I see one because I'm beginning to get confused which is the right way to calculate it. =\

Inana	29 Apr 2003
Nao, Im also confused about what is the right way to calculate it. Im using the one that goes: __16 __11 2003 ------- 2030=> 2+0+3+0= 5 I dont know if is the good one, but is the one that makes sense to me. I can't see any sense in to split the numbers of the birth day and month. Just can't be the same november (11) than february (2). But i dont really know, so please someone who knows about this or about numerology...

Gerbear	29 Apr 2003
In trying to expand my participation on Aeclectic, I chose this thread. Lo and behold I'm lost! My year is 13 (death) one way, and 4 (emperor) the other. My soul card is eight (strength) and that really fits, but I'll have to think about my year card. This is a new concept for me. Does any one know what the consensus is on Aeclectic about this?

Moongold	30 Apr 2003
Hi Guys, This is how you calculate your year card, directly quoted from the book Tarot Constellations by Mary Greer. The month of your birth:...19 The day of your birth:.......12 The CURRENT year:.......2003 Equals:..........................2034 = 9 Hermit In determine the Year Card, always keep the highest number under 23 and don't reduce it. Let me quote again: The first question is "When does my Year Card begin, on January 1 or on my birthday?" The answer is both! There are two different cycles that overlap to am extent, depending on how late your birthday is in the year. Your year begins on 1 January in terms of things happening to you. You then begin tolearn the lesson of the year through experiences that require you to face the issues represented. This is the outer, event oriented cycle. By your birthday, you have integrated the lessons to the extent that you begin acting out that energy. In this way you have a birthday to birthday inner experience. People with birthdays at the beginning through middle of the year will have little trouble using the january to january cycle for most purposes. It is often easier to recognise and identify the outer events that happen to you (January to January) rather than your inner motivations and modes of expression (birthday to birthday). Those with birthdays in the last two months of the year might find most of their associations with a card falling in the following calendar year. ....... For instance at the beginning of a Hermit year all your friends seem suddenly unavailable. At parties you can't seem to connect etc. Thus you are forced into spending more time alone. By your birthday you've realised how much you can accomplish as you enjoy the time to complete things and to do some reflecting. Then, as you move into a Wheel of Fortune Year in January (outer cycle), you are thrown into the whirl of social events and sudden opportunities. You react at first with the prudence and circumspection that you came to trust in your Hermit Year, while wishing that those peaceful momentsof solitude would return. The above passages are quoted directly from Tarot Constellations by Mary Greer pp 136 to 137. Unfortunately the book is out of print but second hand copies can sometimes be purchased through Amazon.com It does take a while to get the hang of it all but it's interesting and worth it, so hang in there. If you can't identify with your Year Card, that's good. It means you may have something to learn, so explore the card a little..... It might be handy to print this out and put it in your journals. Moongold

Inana	30 Apr 2003
Thanks Moongold for the explanation and for repeating to us the year cicle meaning. You have lots of patience. (Printing the post now...)

Ivy Rhiannon	05 Jul 2004
This a useful and informative spread. Ty joya250 for starting it! Um... I got 7 either method I used. --09 --19 2004 ----- 2032 2+0+3+2=7 or 9+1+9+2+0+0+4=25 2+5=7 so I’m stuck with the chariot! It seems to me guys if you want to end up with the higher number, method two works, or the lower number use method one. It is also how you find your soul age, and the supposed "best year of your life. In the Gong Hee Fot Choy, (a chinese fortune telling oracle) you calculate your birth date using method one to find out how many lives you've lived on earth. You reduce it to the lowest possible number and stay within the 1-9 range. --09 --19 1983 ----- 2011 This number is the best year of your life. Then add it together 2+0+1+1=4 So I've been here four times. I don’t know if the cycle repeats itself every nine years ex: like you live for a cat for 9 years (nine lives, lol), then a human, etc. Margarete Ward has a great book "Gong Hee Fot Choy" about it if you want to check it out. (edited to fix author's name)

TaranRavenfrost	05 Jul 2004
My year card is the Star, and my Soul card is Adjustment (or Justice for those using the Rider-Waite deck instead of the Thoth).

Brandaluna	05 Jul 2004
Like Ivy Rhiannon, I'm in a chariot year no matter which way I add up the numbers. I see the need for the lesson of direction and movement in my life now, but I'm still having trouble with actually doing it. I still have something to learn from my card. Edited to add that I actually don't get a chariot with the first method because I should have stopped at 16 rather than reducing to 7. I'll stick with my chariot year. :)

linabeet	06 Jul 2004
Hermit for me this year. It's a good way to prepare for the Wheel of Fortune coming up. It's very accurate, this is a big year of solitary study and withdrawal. Soul Card is Lovers for me. I need to work a lot on this one. I can't see it yet, how I relate to it. Maybe I'm just being indecisive!

WolfSpirit	07 Jul 2004
My year card is the Chariot... Haven't seen that much progress *yet*, but I see that there is a lot of potential for moving places. I think the Chariot warns me as well to keep the reins firmly, keep control of things and not get carried away.

Sillanza	08 Jul 2004
Thanks Moongold and joya250 for sorting all this out. I have Mary Greer's Tarot for Your Self, and the formula for calculating the year card contained in it is the same as that posted by Moongold. My year card is the Chariot. This is definitely the year when I have to control the direction of things and keep the whole shebang from going off the rails! :)

generation	08 Jul 2004
I'm new to this, and I'm still confused. Moongold's book quote said that you shouldn't reduce numbers under 23. My soul card equals 22. So what card would that be? Would it be the World (which is numbered 21, but is the 22nd card if you count the Fool), or would 22 be the Fool, or would it get reduced to 4 for the Emperor? Please help! Thanks!

littlehermit	08 Jul 2004
Interesting! So by this reckoning my Soul card is the Lovers (yay!) with a HF of the Devil (boo!), and this is a Chariot year for me. Well, things are definitely moving... pretty much completely rethunk my career as I realized I'm just not meant to do grad school in performance (singing), and so now I'm headed in new directions... oh, and I've taken up running. By the time my birthday rolls around I might be ready to run a 10K race. :) Previous years were: 2003: The Lovers 2002: The Hierophant 2001: The Emperor 2000: The Hanged Man 1999: Justice hmm. think I'll have to stare at these cards a while before I see how they all apply, but that'll give my mind something to chew on during dead times at work. :)

Melvis	09 Jul 2004
Hi, generation! Your Personality Card would be the Fool card, as it is the 22nd card of the Major Arcana. Your Soul Card would be the Emperor (22 reduced to it's lowest number), and Death would be your "Hidden Factor" Card, according to Mary Greer's calculating method. (Death, as card #13, is the other number in the 'Constellation' of the Emperor, which are all the cards in the Majors that reduce to 4). I hope this helps! :D Peace, Melvis :TSTRE

generation	09 Jul 2004
Thank you Melvis! I still have so much to learn. You guys are great!

Lurea	16 Dec 2004
I looked at the two methods of calculating your year card. 9+2+0+2+0+0+4=17 (The Star) vs. 9+20+2004=2033=2+0+3+3=8 (Strength OR Justice, depending on which system you follow--sigh--this is complicated) I started out with the second method, and looked at the last couple of yeras, but was dissatisfied with the results. Some of the cards felt inexplicable, contrary to what I knew had actually happened. When I did the numbers all over again using the first method, I immediately had an AHA! moment. They just seemed to 'fit' perfectly. So I went back and calculated both numbers both way for the last 20+ years of my life, and listed significant life events for each year: moved, graduated, married, child born, etc). :D The numbers were the same until the year 1997, then they diverged. And the first method held up, yielding the greatest accuracy for me. I also calculated the numbers both ways for some of the significant people in my life for the last 5 years, and again the first method resulted in cards that fit our shared experiences better. Now, there is some overlap: one year was the Devil one way, and the Lovers the other. :eek::) Another was the Moon one way, and the Hermit the other. But, overall the first method seems more appropriate for me. :) This is FYI, not an attempt to argue. This might be useful for others to try.

Clau	16 Dec 2004
you know Laura_aure, this is funny, I tried both methods you mentioned: first one: 8+2+5+2+0+0+4=21 (The world) The second one 8+25+2004=2037=2+0+3+7=12 (Justice) funny I got 21 and 12! anyway, this year has been rough on me, lots of new things (Had a baby, bought a house, broke a leg) and lots of questioning and adjusting instead of having the time of my life, feeling wholeness, perfection,satisfaction and happiness as Thirteen thoughtfully describes. Unless....life takes a wild turn in this last two weeks until december 31st.... So, I guess for me the second method describes best the year card for me! I wonder....does this work this way? I mean can you choose what fits better?

huredriel	16 Dec 2004
I'm completely new to this, but have just worked out: My year card is THE LOVERS My soul card is THE LOVERS My personality card is THE LOVERS Can anyone tell me what this means? Is it all about choices I'm making this year?

tatsi	16 Dec 2004
This is a great thread. Mary K. Greer's books are indeed great books to expand your Tarot application and knowledge. I can see that there is a lot of confusion in how to calculate the numbers. I think that if one calculation gives you more accurate results on a consistent basis, then you should stick to that. This is similar in how many read Tarot. If our personal meaning for a particular card is different than the "norm" and that interpretation comes to fruition on a consistent basis, then for *you* this is the interpretation you should stick with or at least weigh against the "norm" interpretation for the card. Based on this, I think MKG would likely agree. Just my two little pennies. tatsi

Lillie	16 Dec 2004
Hmm I'm not sure if I am doing this right, but it appears that my personality card is 10, Fortune, however I add it up. Therefore I suppose my soul card is the Magician. And my year card is either the lovers or the devil, depending on how I add it up. So, what's this supposed to mean? The wheel of fortune is a bit vague as a personality thing. Not like some of the others.

souljourney	16 Dec 2004
Ok...now I'm confused. Bday: June 10, 1968 so... 6+1+0+1+9+6+8=3+1=4 soul and personality card 4 (Emperor) but...6+10+1968=1+9+8+4=22...personality 0 (the fool), soul 4 (Emperor) Then I did the year both ways... one way it's 13 (the Devil) and the other is 4 (the Emperor) So....how do you know? I think the way that Tarot for Your Self shows it's the first numbers. Thoughts? Opinions? Help?

gargoyle_guarded	16 Dec 2004
there seem to be so many different opinions on doing these calcultions. can anyone clarify exactly how the year card, soul card and personality cards are calculated? ok, I'm so confused please explain it to me like I'm a five year old.

gargoyle_guarded	16 Dec 2004
I just found a website that explains this yet again a different way.... http://intraspec.ca/tarot0.php

Lurea	17 Dec 2004
That's a good site, g_g. Thanks for sharing it. As for the calculations, I think most people pick one of the two ways I outlined in my post and stick with it. So far, adding up each individual digit seems to work better for me, but I've more often seen the method where you add up day, month, and year separately (for Oct 10, 1956: 10+10+1956= ). My soul and personality cards are 7 the Chariot, no matter which way I do it. Soul and personality cards are calculated with your birthdate, and the year card is done with your birth month and day, and the current year. Actually, last time I was in the bookstore, I looked at Tarot for Yourself, and it recommended adding up the numbers like this: 10+10+19+56= ?! Anyway, your year card is just a general theme. You can look at it for the last couple of years, and just see which method seems to work better for you. :)

maria42airam	18 Dec 2004
huredriel wrote: I'm completely new to this, but have just worked out: My year card is THE LOVERS My soul card is THE LOVERS My personality card is THE LOVERS Can anyone tell me what this means? Is it all about choices I'm making this year? Mine also came out this way, with all 6s for year, soul and personality. I can't help but think that a year with the same number as a person's soul/personality has to be significant. 10 years ago (when my year was also 6) was very significant in my life, but I didn't see it at the time. Looking back, I made quite a few major choices in my life that year. I went back to work after having a baby. I decided to interview for a job that would be a promotion and a totally new learning experience. This led to changing cubicles, bringing me into contact with people that have made a difference in how I view my work life and my personal life. For example, because of my job change I met the person that would become my best friend. Meeting her and seeing her relationship with her husband made me realize that the concept we call "love" really did exist (sad that I was 35 before I saw any evidence of love in this world). This eventually prompted me to ask for a divorce a few years later. The key is that at the time I didn't see those things as choices. Of course I'm going back to work. Of course I'm going to interview for this new position if it's a promotion. The new cubicle didn't even seem important. So what if I move to the other side of the room? How can that affect anything? So am I missing what is happening in my life right now? Am I making "knee-jerk" choices because things seem to be happening by themselves? There's a reading circle in the Reading Exchange forum that is looking at "Key cards" (soul, personality, shadow, etc.) here: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=34768

horoskope88	19 Dec 2004
I may be thinking a little too much into this, but...so far all I've seen (I think) is people using the Gregorian calendar, i.e., this year is 2004. But what if you were to use the Buddhist year, which right now is 2547? Those numbers are greatly different. If I used 2004, my year card is the Sun, but with the Buddhist-Era, it's the Emperor!

Red Emma	19 Dec 2004
Okay, guys, math was never my strongest subject. Is this right: June 28 = 28+6=34 34 + 2005 = 34+7= 41 Then, 4 + 1 = 5 Year card -- 5.

other	19 Dec 2004
I learned to calculate the Year Card differently: June 28: 6 + 28 = 34 34 + 2004 = 2038 2 + 0 + 3 + 8 = 13 Death Year No??? Am I doing it wrong?

huredriel	19 Dec 2004
maria42airam wrote: Mine also came out this way, with all 6s for year, soul and personality. I can't help but think that a year with the same number as a person's soul/personality has to be significant. Thanks maria42airam, I do think this is a significant year. After all, I've just joined here and started on my journey with Tarot!!! LOL. I have also had to make a few hard choices, namely with my karate and how that related to one of my exes, and also dealing with my last ex (sigh). Not an easy year. I'm hoping next year will be better as a Chariot year. I'm also hoping to gain control of my life ha ha. But I'm sure that in a few years time, I will look back and see a lot more that I can't see right now. Thanks x Huredriel

other	19 Dec 2004
[quote=Moongold]Greer says that both are right - 1st January AND your birthday. There are two different cycles. 1 January signifies the beginning f a period in whuch things happen to you.You then begin to learn the lesson of the year through experiences that require you to face the issues represented. Greer calls this the outer or event oriented cycle. By your birthday you will have integrated the lessons to an extent that you will begin acting out that energy. In this way you have a birthday to birthday inner experience cycle. I love this info!!!! With it, a lot things for me personally make more sense. I can notice a marked deliniation between the birthday-to-birthday years far more than I can from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. (It also makes me feel as though I've gotten a jump start on my Death year!!!)

Red Emma	19 Dec 2004
other wrote: I learned to calculate the Year Card differently: June 28: 6 + 28 = 34 34 + 2004 = 2038 2 + 0 + 3 + 8 = 13 Death Year No??? Am I doing it wrong? Death year!!! Yikes!!! I'm 78, I don't want to hear nothing about no death year!!! From another kind person I got: 6 + 28 = 34 + 7 (2005, 2+5) = 41 = 5. Heirophant! I dislike the heirophant almost as much as the devil. I'll have to write about it in the morning. Dinner's just ready.

Moongold	19 Dec 2004
Dear Red Emma ~ You had me roling on the floor laughing, especially about the Hierophant :D. Why not leave it to the Tarot and simply draw a card? The other systems are simply based on somewhat arbitary bases anyway. If you are 78, you've earned the right to choose your own card or, at the very least, your own method of choosing your card. All the best ~ Moongold

other	20 Dec 2004
DITTO!!! 78 and still open to new ways of looking at the world. How awesome.

Red Emma	28 Dec 2004
Red Emma wrote: Death year!!! Yikes!!! I'm 78, I don't want to hear nothing about no death year!!! From another kind person I got: 6 + 28 = 34 + 7 (2005, 2+5) = 41 = 5. Heirophant! I dislike the heirophant almost as much as the devil. I'll have to write about it in the morning. Dinner's just ready. Okay, two things: 1) In spite of my railings about the death year, that's what last year was. None-the-less. Thanks to a lot of post traumatic stress therapy, the year saw the end of a depression-based chronic fatigue which I'd had since the late 1950's. Transformation in a big, big way. 2) I'm writing the following about my distaste for hierophants in hope that someone here has something kind to say about them. This is a hierophant year, for really true. My abhorance of the profession is so extreme that did I write how I really felt about the "profession," I would insult a lot of my ATF friends. I'll only say that the hierophants tend to enforce social customs long after society has changed and moved on. In my childhood in a NE Washington farming community during the early 1930's, Victorian rules for living were front and center. Of course the world had moved into, even beyond, the flappers. But anyone in our community who lived by a different drummer was disliked and shunned. Then there are contemporary churches who are busily enforcing 'laws' laid down at the birth of Christianity. Although, thanks to readings suggested by LePendu and Umbrae, as well as some I found on my own, we now know that such laws were formulated by the factions who won the bloody competition between various Christian groups of the time. I know these are two anecdotes out of a world-full of examples. I am feeling kind of disoriented here. There must be something positive that hierophants bring to society. I'd welcome suggestions by anyone.

Alice23	28 Dec 2004
Without doing the calculations I've gotta say that my year card has got to be The Tower for this year! Will have to try the calculation method and see how that goes, think it's a really interesting idea to have a year card that sums up everything thats happened.... Alice x

FantasyWorld	28 Dec 2004
Mine is jan 4 2005 so 01+04+2+0+0+5=12 Hanged Man Basic Tarot Meaning With Neptune (or Water) as its planet, the Hanged Man is perhaps the most fascinating card in the deck. It reflects the story of Odin who offered himself as a sacrifice in order to gain knowledge. Hanging from the world tree, wounded by a spear, given no bread or mead, he hung for nine days. On the last day, he saw on the ground runes that had fallen from the tree, understood their meaning, and, coming down, scooped them up for his own. All knowledge is to be found in these runes. The Hanged Man, in similar fashion, is a card about suspension, not life or death. This is a time of trial or meditation, selflessness, sacrifice, prophecy. The Querent stops resisting; instead he makes himself vulnerable, sacrifices his position or opposition, and in doing so, gains illumination. Answers that eluded him come clear, solutions to problems are found. He sees the world differently, has almost mystical insights. This card can also imply a time when everything just stands still, a time of rest and reflection before moving on. Things will continue on in a moment, but for now, they float, timeless. Thirteen's Observations Neptune is spirituality, dreams, psychic abilities, and the Hanged Man is afloat in these. He is also 12, the opposite of the World card, 21. With the World card you go infinitely out. With the Hanged Man, you go infinitely in. This card signifies a time of insight so deep that, for a moment, nothing but that insight exists. All Tarot readers have such moments when we see, with absolute clarity, the whole picture, the entire message offered by a spread. The Hanged Man symbolizes such moments of suspension between physical and mystical worlds. Such moments don't last, and they usually require some kind of sacrifice. Sacrifice of a belief or perspective, a wish, dream, hope, money, time or even selfhood. In order to gain, you must give. Sometimes you need to sacrifice cherished positions, open yourself to other truths, other perspectives in order to find solutions, in order to bring about change. One thing is certain, whether the insight is great or small, spiritual or mundane, once you have been the Hanged Man you never see things quite the same.

ciliegia	29 Dec 2004
December 22 2004? 12+22+2+0+0+4=40 so 4 Emperor? eh.so 2005's card is Hierophant..

Moongold	29 Dec 2004
Red Emma wrote: I know these are two anecdotes out of a world-full of examples. I am feeling kind of disoriented here. There must be something positive that hierophants bring to society. I'd welcome suggestions by anyone. Greetings Red Emma ~ V Heirophant is very much related to the II High Priestess. Where she knows all in the spiritual plane Hierophant is actually the practical bridge between the outer world and the inner world. HP simply waits in the realms of the mystical knowingness whereas Hierophant actively invites us to walk across the bridge. I am looking at the Universal Waite here.. He need not be seen as a representative of any particular church. In one hand he holds a wand with five branches, symbol of the Pentagram, also the symbol of magic. In his other hand, the three enfolded fingers symbolize the deity, whatever that might mean for you. V is also the number for the astrological sign, Taurus, the most earthed and sensual of signs.. It simply invites to enjoy the beauty of the earthly world whilst acknowledging its transitional nature. Red Emma, when you’re 78 it’s natural to think of the next life, purely by virtue of age. I don’t think you are going to get away from that, no matter what year you are. Jung believed that the Soul commences its preparation for transition in the 40’s. You may well live to 100, who knows? I’m heading for my first Saturn return in a couple of years and I am already thinking about transitional issues. You sound pretty fit. Hierophant could also simply mean transition to the next phase of your life The Hierophant year for you might also simply mean integrating the external and internal spiritual worlds. You may well discover or develop different new ways of doing this. You seem to be the most energetic of people so I am sure you will.

goddesscarlie	30 Dec 2004
2005 for me will be a Star year. I hope this means it will be a good year for me :)

Imagemaker	30 Dec 2004
Red Emma, I feel the same way about the "stereotypical" Hierophant as you do--decrees from religious/institutional authority that make me want to flatten them all--but if I work to see the figure as respected wisdom, I can bear the card :) Perhaps having come through the depression and chronic fatigue (a HUGE form of graduation!) you can be the Hierophant for others in sharing the wisdom you've gained in both years and experiences. In any spread we're always trying to discern if the figure is Other or Us. Perhaps next year is your chance to be the kind of Hierophant who helps, not hurts.

BlueLotus	30 Dec 2004
The year (2005) will be my Tower year, and with all honesty, I am not looking foward to the events if you ask me. I do not have very positive vibes as can be guessed. Has anyone experienced this year recently? Are the changes that take place drastic or just maybe mental? Anything that could have been averted, or do events, maybe disasters just happen unannounced? I am just curious

Red Emma	30 Dec 2004
Moongold wrote: Greetings Red Emma ~ Red Emma, when you’re 78 it’s natural to think of the next life, purely by virtue of age. 'Tain't true! Not never!

other	30 Dec 2004
Feebie wrote: The year (2005) will be my Tower year, and with all honesty, I am not looking foward to the events if you ask me. I do not have very positive vibes as can be guessed. Has anyone experienced this year recently? Are the changes that take place drastic or just maybe mental? Anything that could have been averted, or do events, maybe disasters just happen unannounced? I am just curious All I will say -- as someone coming out of her Hanged Man year -- is that I'm willing to bet awareness goes a long way. I'm relatively new to Tarot, so I had no idea what I was going through and why all year long. No, I'm not completely unaware of myself, but the awareness and faith in cycles would have helped me realize that nothing is permanent and staying open to and allowing events to transpire is a lot less painful than fighting them or getting angry about them (not that I think you're doing that...I just know that, at times, I was). As I approach my Death year, I am going to try to stay aware of my year card throughout so that I can accept what comes my way as an opportunity for rebirth and regeneration. So, I don't know that anything is inevitable, but I think that -- with awareness -- what could become a long, laborious catastrophe for some, might be a '24-hour bug' for those with perspective, such as yourself. ;) --other--

Moongold	31 Dec 2004
Red Emma wrote: 'Tain't true! Not never! Someone like you lives every minute with curiosity and zest, so what do I know ? :)

Red Emma	31 Dec 2004
To Moongold and all, no matter what card supervises their lives for the coming 365 days: The Happiest of New Year's for 2005! Goddess Bless, R.E.

The Your Year Card thread was originally posted on 28 Mar 2003 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.