AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is the New-Year’s forecast spread I created in December of 2024, and it seems like a good one to repeat this year. My current state of ill health won’t let me go at it full-tilt, but I wanted to keep my streak of posts going.

In the 2025 “recap” column, the Queen of Swords in the high-potential area of “Stimulation” is indicative of the progress I’ve made in my intellectual pursuits over the last year. I’ve absorbed a number of challenging books and turned that exposure into fresh insights for my writing. The 6 of Cups (Pleasure) in the medium-potential area of “Stability” shows an emotionally-harmonious state of balance. The 7 of Wands (Valour) in the low-potential area of “Stagnation” suggests my struggles against inertia during the year, whenever inspiration faltered momentarily.

The “Cusp of Renewal” column reflects the “turn of the New Year,” and the cards here display the emerging opportunities that should accompany it. The Princess of Cups in the high-potential “Stimulation” zone offers a gratifying opportunity for emotional reinvention without carrying over the relentless intellectualism of the Queen of Swords. The 5 of Swords (Defeat) in the medium-potential “Stability” zone warns that failing to leverage the good-will of the 6 of Cups in the New Year could yield a bitter harvest. The Hanged Man reversed in the low-potential “Stagnation” zone implies “rising out of the ashes” of the 7 of Wands to find the redemption that might elude me with the 5 of Swords.

The “Thrust of Change” column shows the vector my advancement may take as the year develops. The Prince of Swords in the high-potential “Stimulation” outlook once again sheds “Mr. Nice Guy” and goes back to what I do best: sharpening my sword and whittling big ideas into more manageable ones, but hopefully it will be without the rancor of the Queen of Swords. The Emperor in the medium-potential “Stability” forecast advocates brandishing my authority, although I don’t have a good feel for where I should go with it since I don’t have anyone who needs a dose of “Father-knows-best” at the moment. The Magus reversed in the low-potential “Stagnation” could just mean “taking inventory” and “laying plans;” in other words, an off-year for significant mind-work.

The three cards of the “Year-End Status” column are the calculated “numerical essences” of the three cards preceding them in the rows. As always, I assign the values 11-through-14 to the court cards, and I subtract the value of any reversed cards in the population. The Hermit (13+11+12=36; 3+6=9) as the high-potential “Stimulation” roll-up suggests where the philosophical reductionism of the Prince of Swords will wind up; I don’t see any transcendent revelations coming out of it, just “Candide tending his garden.” The Devil (6+5+4=15) as the medium-potential “Stability” sum looks like a smug spider waiting for something to stray into his web; I think I’ll just “let sleeping dogs lie” here. The reversed Lovers (7+[-12]+[-13]=[-6] as the low-potential “Stagnation” total looks exactly like what the Devil is waiting for; the two cards are “numerological counterparts” (1+5=6) and the Devil is all too often the destination leading out of the “crossroads” of the Lovers. I see no advantage to following that path.

The three cards in the “State of Learning” row are the “numerical essence” of the three cards in the columns above them. Adjustment (13+6+7=26; 1+6=8) as “What Was Learned” in 2025 is the “big sister” of the Queen of Swords, indicating that the Queen’s efforts did not go unrecognized or unappreciated. The Emperor (11+5+[-12]=4) as “What Is Being Learned” as the New Year unfolds doubles-down on the “Thrust of Change” in the “Stability” forecast; “wielding my authority” gets a second nod during 2026. (I’ll have to think some more about that one.) The Devil (12+4+[-1]=15) as “What I Will Learn” by the end of 2026 is not about to let go of those Lovers, so I had better lay low and let it ride.

The “Keynote of Advancement” card is the “numerical essence” of the other six roll-up cards, and here it is once again the Hermit (9+15+[-6]+8+4+15=45; 4+5=9). It looks like a year to mind my own business and attend to my own affairs, while keeping a close eye on what that Emperor and Devil are up to. I don’t need to try forcing my hand or anyone else’s.