For a year that I hoped would bring ease, all I and so many others experienced was grief layered with more grief. The grief that surrounds us all as I write this feels unending. It’s because of this grief that asking what’s in store for 2024 felt difficult, yet I persisted. It’s my hope that you do, too, in community and with an abundance of love and support.
The word for 2023 was discernment, and with the help of Tiger’s Eye, I hope you learned or are learning to trust your intuition just a little bit more. Hopefully, you learned how to spot disingenuous people and projects and how to look at what’s happening around the world with clarity. Unsurprisingly, the tarot cards pulled for 2024 build on what comes after discernment.
The first card I pulled depicts a person sitting inside four sand castle towers holding an orb of light with the word power written in all caps across the top. This card, the Four of Pentacles, is one I would typically read as solely a message of protection, a warning to heed those who wish only to take from you. However, I recently finished re-reading “Grieving While Black: An Antiracist Take on Oppression and Sorrow” by Breeshia Wade, and I couldn’t help but recall her thoughts on power. Wade reminds us that power is not something we can possess but a force that works through us. So what is the Four of Pentacles asking us to safeguard if we cannot possess power? I was met with a rich response when I inquired further. The Four of Pentacles was followed by the Three of Wands - which depicts a person juggling three torches ablaze near the edge of a cliff, and the Six of Swords, which features a person sitting atop a cloud reading a book with six swords pointed at the cover. We are being asked to protect our playful and inquisitive nature (Three of Wands), to protect ourselves from those who do not support our need and desire to ask questions (Six of Swords), and to learn. More pointedly I saw this reading as a reminder to protect ourselves from propaganda, never to think we are too educated to be affected by a constant onslaught of biased media. The Six of Swords is a card of learning, and often, lessons are easier to grasp when done collectively. Yet, when discussing protection, the focus is typically on barriers and shrinking our circles. The Three of Wands placement between both these cards is a reminder for balance. You cannot make it in this world alone.
For 2024, I offer up the mineral Bloodstone, also known as heliotrope, as an offering. May it assist you as you work to strike a balance between protecting your hope and educating yourself on the atrocities taking place worldwide.
To a liberated future for all!
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Resources:
Caring for yourself to Care for Others
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