Each year has its own tarot card with themes that affect the collective both on a grand and personal scale. This is based on numerology and the year 2023 (2+0+2+3) breaks down to 7: The Chariot. (To see what your personal year card and message is, click here!)
On a personal level, 2023 will be a year of grabbing the reins and taking control of your own life. You’ll slowly start to understand the bigger picture for where your life is currently taking you, and instead of just going with the flow you’ll be able to instigate actions and change of your own accord. This will be a good year for growth, commitment, and movement. Have you been wanting to move, change careers, travel more? The energy will be ripe for you to take actions into your own hands and make these changes.
On a grander scale, institutions, business, and governments who are able to embrace this energy will see progress through change. Those who are stubborn in their stagnation will start to see the effects of crumbling and isolation from not being able to embrace momentum and change. Messages of movement, self-control, and independent will circulate. We may all start to see messaging highlighting the idiom life is about the journey, not the destination.
The last time we were in a year of The Chariot was 2014. What themes and transitions were present during that time? Where did you find success? Where did you see failure, and what would you have done differently in those situations?
Define your goals this year, whether this is with your career, love, or any life changes. Spend time thinking of the minute details of what it is you’re reaching for. If anything seems out of your control, in what ways can you shift your goals or thought process to bring more control into your goal?
In terms of career, this will be an excellent year to make that career change, go after that promotion, or find ways to bring more control and agency into your day-to-day. Consider where you feel a lack of control in your career. What do you wish would happen instead? What conversations can you begin to start to create these changes? If you’re looking for a promotion, what action and conversations can you start to get the ball moving? What questions can you ask to start bringing different responsibilities into your life? And if you’re looking for a position or career change, get specific in what your end goal is, and what action steps you can take without needing to rely on anyone else.
Whether you’re single or in a relationship, prioritize self-love this year. Take yourself on dates, whether or not you’re in a committed relationship, and plan days dedicated to the care and pampering of you. Go on long walks alone, bring a book to a restaurant you’ve always wanted to try and sit alone. Travel alone. Be safe, but face any fears of doing things on your own, and find the joy and comfort in your own presence.
The horses pulling the chariot represent our conscious and subconscious, and the conflict that they sometimes create within us. This year, when you start to feel conflicted or lose sight of your destination, ground yourself, refine your goal, and be careful of what distractions you give your energy to.
Whenever you reach a roadblock or conflict this year, bring The Chariot to mind. Channel the energy of the poised figure, take the reins, and look for all of the ways that you can bring your own control into these situations to move forward with grace and success.
To help connect with The Chariot, throughout the year ask yourself:
What are you craving right now? What can you do to honor this?
What does independence mean to you? In what ways does it invoke fear or joy?
What changes can you make this year on your own?
What have you been waiting around for? What can you do to bring some control and action into this situation?
Are there places I want to move or travel to? What can I do to start planning?
Carry around tiger’s eye to help ground yourself, moonstone to enhance inner strength, yellow jasper to give you a boost when you’re feeling alone, and labradorite to aid with transformation. Meditate with one palm on your stomach, the other on your heart. Envision a bright light flowing from each breath you exhale, picture the light expanding out to the universe and to the collective as we all navigate The Chariot energy this year. Trust that within this independence you are being asked to embody, you are not alone.
Mantra to help connect to this card: “I am in control. I trust myself, my goals, and my intentions. I am grounded, and I am free.”