Since 2004, I have used The Sacred Journey Daily Journal for planning and reflecting. There are 3 basic elements to the journal: 1.) Mission and goal setting for the year along with identifying annual and monthly symbolism to guide you. 2.) Monthly and weekly calendars including spots for outlining objects, setting focus, noting tasks, and (for me) writing down weekly Tarot spreads. 3.) Reflection pages at the beginning and ends of months, seasonal events, and the whole year.
During this year, I’ve paid much more attention to and evolved my practice of observing, and working to align with, the seasons as well as weekly planning, intention setting, and reflection. Days seem to go by too fast for seeing patterns, and if I wait until a whole month has gone by I can’t remember enough detail. Season reflection allows me to see time from nature’s perspective, which is so different from our clock-obsessed society!
I love the inter-holiday period and early January as kind of time out of time when I get to curl up with my old journal to reflect on the year and then get out the new journal to envision the year ahead. Each year I try out new techniques and tools for doing this work and this year my Tarot friend Joanna Powell Colbert had two great reviews of planning techniques (the first one is here and her follow up is here) to prime my process development.
Also through my work at the Spiritual Life Center, I’ve been working to understand consolation and desolation as parts of decision making. I define consolation as those activities or ways of being that align you with your highest purpose and serving the greater Whole. Often consolations are joyous or gratifying, but they can also be difficult. Living your highest purpose isn’t always easy. Desolation moves you away from that highest purpose and does not feel good. Oh some things like mindless TV watching (one of my desolations!) can be pleasant for a while, but it’s like eating too much candy and ending up with a belly ache. Ultimately, desolations drain you.
With all this input I came up with guiding questions for my review of the year:
- What felt like consolation / living your highest purpose?
- What were moments of joy and fun?
- What were moments of desolation / moving away from your highest purpose?
- What challenges and struggles did you experience this year?
- What surprised you in this year?
I went through the whole year and noted things in response to each question. Then I journal, doodled, and reflected on them. I (of course!) concluded this reflection with some Tarot work to crystallize my views of the overall patterns.
A Consolation / Joy Elemental Layout
- First / Center Card – What is the essence of this year’s consolations / joys?
- Above the Center / Fire – What fire and sparks of consolation / joy to nurture from this year into the next?
- Below the Center / Water – What flows beneath this year’s consolations / joys?
- Left of Center / Air – Don’t forget to pay attention to …
- Right of Center / Earth – What have you made real in this year?
I used Rachel Pollack’s Shinning Tribe deck and was thrilled to turn over the Shinning Woman as the Essence card. Her basic meaning is living your true purpose! The card is such beauty, great to meditate on, and it affirms that, yes, this work from the year supports me to live my highest purpose:
Using Tarot as a tool to support people in their lives.
- A writing project called Earth Hours that is based on Swimme and Berry’s The Universe Story.
- Being out in nature. I feel the energy of the trees, earth, air, water flow through me!
- Taking time for retreats. This year I did a mini-retreat 1 day a week for 6 weeks.
- Support for and work around my issues with my parents. This one showed how consolation is not always easy.
- Writing and sharing my poetry, particularly as it deals with nature.
- Playtimes with my partner John.
- Starting to work as part of the Pathways team at the Spiritual Life Center. Actually all things having to deal with the SLC have been a blessing, but the Pathways work was a big and pleasant surprise of the year.
- Getting laid off over the summer and then returning to reduced hours at my job. It actually created space for new things to open up in my life such as the Tarot and Pathways.
- Group facilitation. At work, I facilitated planning sessions and events that were gratifying and where it felt like I was using my best skills.
I also did a reading for desolations and challenges:
- Card 1: What do I leave behind of these desolations and challenges? Card 2: How do I do that?
- Card 3: What wisdom from these desolations and challenges do I take with me? Card 4: How do I do that?
- Card 5: What is something I haven’t yet though about in regard to these desolations and challenges? Card 6: How can I pay more attention to this?
The messages I got from these cards are:
- You can lay down some of your burdens in regard to you parents. It was a relief to think that I didn’t have to take them with me!
- I’d been feeling some sadness / regret around not having enough seasonal / communal ritual that felt meaningful to me, and the 3 of Rivers pulled in Card 3 spoke to me of paying attention to that and making shifts in the coming year.
- You are learning how to hold both your deepest grief and your greatest joys. They exist together.
I also did work around reviewing specific goals, but this post is getting long so I’ll include that info in Part II of Visioning and Planning.


“The Hebrew letter for this card, Gimel, means “Camel,” the animal we see crouched at the the woman’s legs (in the Handel High Priestess card). A symbol for timelessness and patience, the camel, which carries its own liquid as it crosses the dessert, links the elements Water and Earth. But the camel (on the card) is filled with light, radiating upward, reminding us of truth found in animal instincts. The camel looks away into the past. The images and myths implied in this card belong to humanity’s most ancient memories” (p. 31).
“Cellular memory powers all of life, for nothing is more important to a living being than memory of the past. … For four billon years the prokaryotic organisms have been remembering the composition at the beginning. Most impressive of all their feats of memory is to remember how they were created. They display this memory every time they create another version of themselves. These cells have the power to revivify that sequence of events that brought them to life” (p. 87).
The Page of Wands is in awe of, and gives attention to, the power of fire. This child invites you to embrace your creativity, enthusiasm, and self-growth. Drawing on the masculine energy of fire, this Page wants to see action and has the courage to try something new, shouting, “Go ahead and do something today to make your dreams real!”
The Page of Cups is in awe of, and gives attention to the power of water. This child invites you to embrace your emotions, bask in your imagination, and connect yourself deeply to others. This child invites you to go with the flow of your emotions and inner messages (perhaps intuitive or psychic) as well as to move toward where there is love in your life. Drawing on the feminine energy of water, this Page wants you to be receptive to what is and accept the responses that come from the heart and the unconscious.
The Page of Swords is in awe of, and gives attention to the power of air. This child invites you to embrace ideas, to explore them with your mind, and to fearlessly communicate your findings. This child invites you to learn, looking at all perspectives, and then synthesizing your findings to share with others. Drawing on the masculine energy of air, this Page wants to share discoveries with others and seeks to contribute to greater understanding and justice in the world.
The Page of Pentacles is in awe of, and gives attention to the power of earth. This child invites you to embrace the world around you and focus on what is in front of you. This child invites you to be in the present moment and trust that you will be provided for. Drawing on the feminine energy of earth, this Page is open to receive what is being offered and grateful for the small gifts of everyday life.
The Star really is a representative of the whole celestial realm. She is a multitude rather than singular and always there to support us in our healing. We just need to open our eyes to see what is available to us and tap into these resources. Humans once had a stronger connection to the Star and we just need to open ourselves back up to this light. The Star demands no effort of us, just openness.
I am looking at The Fool in a new way as a warrior of the heart. In some places, it is seen as foolish to lead with your heart, but The Fool is fierce with a playful appearance in pursuit of the demands of the heart.
The High Priestess is offering her wisdom to us, always and without condition. There is a tear in her backdrop and this wound or imperfection is a way to enter into and accept her invitation.
Bridges says that the neutral zone is both a dangerous and an opportune place where the old is released and new habits begin to take hold. He cautions that change makers who try to escape prematurely from the neutral zone will fail or fall short in creating the new. This concept calls to mind the Tarot’s Hanged Man who appears almost in a state of suspended animation. He is looking at the world from a new perspective, surrendering to his highest purpose, figuring out what truly supports him, and making a transition to death (the next card to come) and transformation. (The image to the left is from the World Spirit Tarot. One of my favorites to use with people and avaialbe from
I am intrigued with this use of unseen cards because it reflects how change unfolds in our lives. We can’t always know what change will bring. Even with careful planning, we can’t know everything that will unfold. A layout on a question of change where some of the cards remain unseen is a symbolic reminder of that reality.
At last week’s Tarot Playgroup we explored the Moon card (#18) through looking at the meanings ascribed to the card over time, taking a meditative journey into the card, and, as always, reading for each other.
Someone brought the Anna K Tarot deck to the Playgroup and it was fabulous to see! The World card actually contains a beautiful picture representing the moon cycles and it is here for your enjoyment. Be sure to visit