New article, new record shrine update log

1st January 2026

I’ve been half-committed to reading tarot since I bought my deck on my 2024 birthday. I always drop the habit for one reason or another – maybe the readings weren’t accurate, maybe it was hard to concentrate. Once I moved out though, I wanted to be more in touch with my spiritual side, and tarot was the most obvious and easy place to start.

I myself am still skeptical over how “accurate” it is. I’m still convinced that this whole thing is your bias framed as your “unconsciousness”. Everyone’s going to have a slightly different interpretation of a reading depending on how you relate your experiences to the cards. I do admittedly get envious when I see tarot readers online effortless weave a story through a card spread. It’s been one and a half years and I still need to look up the definitions on learntarot.com!

Anyway, now that I’ve made a recommitment, I’m not only doing a daily reading, but I will also mark at the end of the day if the reading was accurate or not. That way I can judge for myself if this is any good, lol.

In addition, it’s a new year and a new me. I decided to do a tarot spread to see how my year will pan out. I used a spread called the “Wheel of the Year”: pull out 12 cards in a circle, with the card representing January in the 12 o’clock position, and an extra card in the middle which represents the theme of the year. While I’ve recently started to incorporate reversed (upside down) cards into my readings, I decided to avoid it for this one, just to make it easier to interpret. Here’s what I pulled:

January: Justice
February: 4 of Swords
March: 9 of Swords
April: 7 of Swords
May: 3 of Pentacles
June: The Moon
July: The Star
August: 5 of Pentacles
September: 5 of Cups
October: 2 of Cups
November: King of Pentacles
December: The Hanged Man
Overall: 3 of Cups

Now that I’ve written this all down, I’ve realised that I pulled NOTHING from the Wands suit. This represents creativity, action and movement. Soooo my creative and physical hobbies will probably stray wayward. I have an almost even split between the rest of the suits though – three Swords (intellect, thought and reason), three Pentacles (practicality, security, materialism), four Major Arcana (universal human experiences), and three Cups (emotions and spiritual experiences).

The first thing that attracted me when I finished drawing the cards was the overall card, 3 of Cups. This stands for community, friendship, and exuberance. One of my new year’s resolutions is to get along with my coworkers, so this card is a really good sign. It may also indicate me gaining more friendships, perhaps within or outside of work. Maybe I’ll end up coming out of my introverted shell a little more.

Let’s go around the wheel then. January has Justice, which is fairly self-explanatory. I’ll be in a situation that I might feel is unfair, balance may need to be restored, stuff like that. It will be an interesting month for sure. (I’ll likely do an end-of-month reflection offline to determine if these end up being accurate). February has the 4 of Swords – rest, relaxation, quiet preparation. I have to remind myself to take it easy, or I need to start making moves in silence. In March, I’ll be wracked with worry, guilt and anguish over something. Seeing as I’ve bought tickets to something for that month, I’m a little worried now. In April, I’ll be running away, going “lone wolf” style, or doing stuff that contains “hidden dishonours”. Considering that I’m going back to my parents’ house that month for a few days... yeah I understand this card completely.

The May card I’ve drawn quite often in my daily readings already. Teamwork, planning, and competence. The season for my work’s industry will be winding down at that point, so I’ll probably be busy that month and coordinating with my coworkers. I’ve drawn the June card a fair bit as well – fear, imagination, bewilderment. Confusing and frightening times lie ahead. July – my birthday month! - stands for hope, inspiration, generosity, and serenity. I’ve never pulled this card before IIRC, so I’m interested to see how that pans out. Unfortunately, the cards for the next two months do quell that hope a bit. August is filled with hard times, ill health and rejection, and September is filled with loss, bereavement and grief. However, both those cards have a “light at the end of the tunnel” element, so all is not lost. It’s also important to note that I’ve drawn the 5 of Cups multiple times, and the day didn’t pan out negatively at all.

October is one of the cards most associated with love. It’s two people exchanging cups with each other. It also stands for other relationships and truces. Soooo maybe a boyfriend on the cards? Or a friend in general? Who knows! November stands for the Midas Touch – I’ll be confident, motivated, and proactive in everything I do, and damn if I don’t do it well. We round off the year with the most mysterious card in the deck. The Hanged Man is a reminder that the best way to take control of things is by letting things go, letting things play out without intervention. Acceptance of fate, if you will. I’m taking this to mean that something big will happen in the month, and I’ll have to accept that I can’t do anything about it.

The year will be filled with ups and downs... but that’s just life right? The good always comes with some bad. Regardless, I’m reminded of the theme for the year according to this reading, and things look bright. Here’s to 2026!