By Sarah Taylor
According to numerology, 2013 is the year of The Lovers (2 + 0 + 1 + 3 = 6 — The Lovers is card VI in the tarot’s major arcana). If you hold to the principles of numerology, this means that the collective theme for life on the planet this year is governed by The Lovers archetype — one of coming together, of seeing ourselves in the mirror of another or others, and of exercising choice.
Another way of using numerology to determine a more personalised card for 2013 is to add the day and month of your birthday to the total of the digits in “2013”, and reducing any number greater than 22 (because there are 22 cards in the major arcana). For example, if your birthday is June 29, you would do the following calculation: 6 + 2 + 9 + 2 + 0 + 1 + 3 = 23 = 5 (that is, 2 + 3). Your theme for the year would then be that of The Hierophant.
However, given that tarot is based on the principle of synchronicity, I prefer to work with synchronicity alone to receive my card for the year. It is an act of surrender to the wisdom of tarot, and it can feel a little disquieting, because there is little tangible control that we can exercise under such circumstances. To which I say, “Bring it on!” Most control is illusory anyway; let’s consider the possibility that something far wiser than our attempts at control is able to direct our lives, and partner with that instead.
Therefore, to find your card for 2013, choose a tarot deck that you want to work with, separate out the 22 major arcana, and set the remaining 56 cards aside.
Centre yourself in the way you find most effective, shuffle the 22 cards, and ask that you be divinely guided to the card that will be of greatest assistance to you in 2013. When you have reached a point of stillness, draw a card.
Welcome to the archetype that you will be engaging with over the course of the year.
Before anything else, make a note of your intuitive response to your card. By this I don’t mean an emotion-based reaction, or an intellectual knee-jerk. No, your intuitive response will come faster than that, perhaps more quietly, but with a certain authority that is unequivocal. The feeling that accompanies it is expansive rather than limiting, governed by love rather than fear. This message from your intuition will be the base note to your experience of the card. Everything else will add tone and texture.