2014 Begins

My 2014 New Year’s collage took a little bit longer than I’d anticipated, for several reasons. First, I have two small kids, both of whom wanted to see what I was doing, touch what I was doing, and ask questions about what I was doing. I couldn’t do the entire collage on New Year’s Eve, after the kids went to sleep, because I was in bed before 10 pm. It’s how I roll. Finding quiet times throughout the days to focus, cut, and paste without little fingers near was quite the challenge. Eventually they’ll be able to make their own collages, but not yet.

Secondly, I decided to do another tarot reading for my year ahead and use that as guidance for the collage. One portion of it spooked me a great deal and I had to take some time to re-orient my thinking. I used the tarot of the Wild Unknown and a spread of my own devising.

But finally, it’s done! Here it is: 2014.

I almost always seem to start my year in the upper left hand corner and end the year in the bottom right corner. But how I get there changes every year. This year is more or less in vertical columns, moving from left to right.

In past years the collages have been slightly more aspirational, in the sense that I looked for images that corresponded to more of what I wanted in my year to come. This year there are only two sections that are directly aspirational. I drew two pentacles cards, Daughter of Pentacles, occurring in the spring, and the 4 of Pentacles, occurring in the early fall. Since my family is still looking to purchase a house, I decided to put a section of images relating to Home. You know you’re a parent when a new washer-dryer set is a really sexy image! The leather couch and chair are, like last year’s king-sized bed, this year’s purchase of choice (after the house). We have some corduroy couches that are basically allergy traps and it’s time to move onto something that I can just wipe down when the kids spill something (which, thankfully, is rare).

The second aspirational piece is the woman running. It’s not running I want; that’s a form of exercise I don’t enjoy. However, I look forward to being fit and healthy, post-birth. I was surprised at how hard it was to find an image of a female body that I wanted to emulate! There are plenty of healthy movie stars and models, but I am not tall and willowy, so those figures are extra unrealistic for me. The one pictured is much more my speed.

What came to me loud and clear is that this year is not about Kicking Ass or Being Awesome. Most years I have words or images that represent ambition, being bold or powerful. This year is very strongly a year to hunker down, lick my wounds, find balance, attend to details.

I start with Temperance. I find it interesting that I’ve chosen lots of water images, but none of the fire that goes with this card. Perhaps I have plenty of my own. While I love water as a physical element, I struggle with it as a psychological and archetypal element. Next I move to the Daughter of Pentacles, which centers on my homelife. In late spring I will give birth, for which I drew the Hierophant. In this deck, the card has a crow, facing left, sitting on a key, with a bolt of colored lightning shooting down from the top right. I have the number 5 representing the number my family will become, and a small image of three kids sitting around a fire – the words say “We are starlight.” PREPARE is self-explanatory.

Summer is filled with grief. I drew the 5 of Cups, followed by the 10 of Wands. Could this be post-partum depression? The summer of 2013 was a doozy and these two cards basically sent me running. After sitting with my strong reaction, I saw more clearly that these cards can mean many things: dealing with other relational grief (a theme in recent years), as well as the burn out that is likely to come from being an ambitious person with three kids, one of whom will only be a few months old. For those who haven’t had children, those first three months are especially difficult and tiring – even though most of the time is spent sitting in a chair nursing! We shall see what the summer holds, but I’ve been warned. You will notice the bottles of bourbon pictured. Mama might need a little something to get through…

After this period passes, the 4 of Pentacles, usually equated with stagnation, is a surprisingly welcome card. This card can also mean stasis and security, which after several months of sadness, will be a positive experience! While not clinging to trappings of success or false forms of security, focusing on work, home, and health will likely be just what the doctor ordered.

After Samhain, when the year really begins to shift for me, I have the Magician to look forward to. The lower right hand corner has more white space than the rest of the collage. I just couldn’t seem to find images that spoke to me for the Magician. In the end, I like the extra white space, as it reminds me to be open to what may come. Create some space for something new. It’s an exciting lead-in to 2015.

Much of this reading, as a whole, looks like a continuation of what was started at the tail end of 2013 – themes of rest and introversion. Hopefully, I can find ways to embrace the best of each card drawn. I’d like to get out into nature and explore this amazing place more closely. I’d like to find a house that my family can make a home. I want a healthy home-birth. I want to face my griefs and burnout, whatever they may be, with grace. I want to regain my equilibrium and health. I want to prepare for all that is come, most especially for the strange magic waiting for me at the end of the year.

May your year be auspicious and full of every good thing!