2020 / 2021 Doorway Tarot Spread

Every New Year we shut the door on the past and welcome the future, all the while standing on the threshold between the two. Everyone is eager to be done with 2020 of course and move on to 2021. But in my experience the New Year unfolds gradually, beginning with Hallows and moving on until the earth is reborn at Spring Equinox. Still, there is a potent energy during this liminal “time-out-of-time”* between Solstice and New Year’s, or Christmas and 12th Night, that has us seers reaching for our divination tools.

I created a new spread this year, with the transition from 2020 to 2021 in mind.

1. What do I want to leave behind in 2020?  (Go through your tarot deck face up, and pull out 3 cards that express the things you want to leave behind. Write down some notes on what the images on those cards mean to you.)
2. What do I want to keep from 2020 and take with me into 2021?  (Do the same. Go through your deck face up, and pull out 3 cards that express the things you want to keep. Write down some notes on what the images on those cards mean to you.)
3. How can I best take care of myself in 2021? (Shuffle your deck and pull one card at random.)
4. How can I serve my community in 2021? (Shuffle your deck and pull one card at random.)
5. What ancestor, guide, or Holy Helper will be my companion in 2021? (Shuffle your deck and pull a card at random, but keep turning cards over until you turn up a Major Arcana card or a Court / People card. Alternately, you could choose to use your Tarot Year Card as your Companion card for 2021.)

Here’s my own reading. I used the  Future Ancestor Tarot  by Alexa Villanueva. I bought this deck for myself for Solstice on the recommendation of Jennifer Lucero-Earle (Chief Tarot Deck Enabler!) and I am loving its simplicity and its depth.

1. What do I want to leave behind in 2020?
   8 of Needles – physical isolation
   Hermit – too much solitude
   9 of Needles – fear and despair
2. What do I want to keep from 2020 and take with me into 2021?
   2 of Seeds – slow pace
   Alchemist (Magician) – sparkling creative work
   Listener of Cups – (virtual) circles of depth and heart
3. How can I best take care of myself in 2021?
   6 of Needles – “Time to move forward and leave your past baggage behind.” So true on so many levels!
4. How can I serve my community in 2021?
   The Star –  Shine a guiding light for others. Offer authentic hope and inspiration.
5. What ancestor, guide, or Holy Helper will be my companion in 2021?
   I chose the Death card to be my companion, which is my 2021 Year Card. I contemplated death & dying quite a bit in 2020 as the pandemic raged and I considered my own aging process. As tarotists know, the Death card always means death-and-renewal, or the cycle of life/death/life. It is more likely to indicate a metaphorical death than a physical death. Yet with 1.7+ million people dead (at this writing) of Covid-19 this past year, there is no denying it can also mean physical death. The Wise Ones know that walking with Death as your companion means appreciating the sweetness of life all the more. It means aligning your priorities in a whole new way.

I recommend creating a simple ritual to say goodbye to the old year and welcome in the new. Burning bundles of herbs in a hearth fire or scraps of paper in a little cauldron is an excellent way to be symbolically rid of all you want to leave behind. Creating a little altar with the cards that symbolize what you want to bring with you into 2021 is a grand idea. I recommend doing some in-depth journaling on the cards that turned up for taking care of yourself and serving your community. Finally, I’d make a little altar for the Companion card that you can keep up all year. You can rotate the same card from different decks to hear different voices and nuances. Light a candle and bring offerings to keep it alive. Ask for guidance and direction from your companion card as 2021 unfolds.

May 2021 be a year of kindness, of recovery, of revolution. Blessed be.

*Thank you to Waverly Fitzgerald, now a beloved ancestor, for teaching me about this sacred, liminal time so many years ago.

(Beautiful reading cloth by Sara Galactica.)