Using Tarot Cards as Akashic Windows to See into the Year Ahead

Using Tarot Cards as Akashic Windows to See into the Year ahead. 
 
While there are thousands of ways people have devised for seeing the future, there is no way to definitively predict the outcome of any event.  The future isn't set in stone because each and every living being has free will.  We each decide from moment to moment what we will do or not, intuit or not, accept or not and each of these moments radiates out from us into the universe affecting a great deal of everything else.
 
In times which don't include pandemics...sigh...some things which are large set pieces, already agreed upon by all the people involved, or required by physics can be foretold even many years into the future, like the sun continuing to burn for the next several thousand years, fossil fuel being the main way we create heat, light, and travel for the next hundred years or so, and reality TV continuing to be a staple of entertainment for the next couple of millennia.  I mean, it's been around since Rome and the Colosseum and it hasn't lost any of its popularity yet, so it's a pretty safe bet.
 
And of course, the nearer things are to the now, the clearer they become since the necessary decisions have either been made and implementation is in process or actions which would propel the decisions have occurred and it's a matter of the decision(s) getting made with all the materials and inputs which already exist.
 
Of course, pandemics are like a whisk which is converting eggs and sugar into meringue.  Lots of percussive whirling and incorporating of air where it wasn't before changes the entire composition of the components into something similar yet completely new.  And trying to see the future during this process is a bit like looking at the bottom of a waterfall and trying to keep track of each water droplet.  It's just not possible.
 
However, there are means of peeking into all this whirling and swirling so we can watch the patterns as they form and emerge, becoming our new "Now".  One of these is to use the Akashics via tarot.
 
Working in the Akashics is much like consciously interacting with your dreams.  It's a full body experience where entire novels can be encapsulated in one quick scene, a symbol can unlock years of memories from the storage in your body, and everything is a bit hyperrealistic while at the same time being trippy with a logic of its own.
 
Some very common components in Akashic work are totems, astrological signs and symbols from various systems, gods and goddesses, angels and archangels, beings or settings from myths/legends/fairy tales/movies/tv, and tarot.  Sometimes they appear because we are meant to be intrigued or concerned enough to seek out more information about them and how they apply to our lives or current situation.  In others we are already familiar and so they carry a full and contextual message or an invitation to delve further, possibly even create a relationship.
 
Tarot images are somewhat unique in that they have developed specifically to connect with, channel message from, and open a conduit to the Akashics.  In a Tarot reading the reader is connecting with the cards, the client, and the Akashics in their chosen way. This can be to answer the client's question, get message from their guides and other helper beings, or simply to see what the client's soul wants them to know.  To do this the tarot deck is designed to encapsulate the embodied human experience of the universe in its nuanced, interconnected richness.  From new beginnings to gentle dissolution, self-delusion to catastrophic awakening the tarot is able to bring Akashic information into sharp focus and detail.
 
Tarot is often used around New Years to get a picture of what the year ahead will look like or how it will unfold.  To do this, rather than using the more common "Pull 3 cards" method or laying out a Celtic Cross spread, the reader will shuffle the cards with the intent to see the year ahead, then lay out 12 cards in a circle.  The top of the circle is usually designated as January and the rest follow around the circle clockwise until the 12th card which is December. 
 
Laid out in this fashion, each card is an Akashic window into the year ahead as things stand right now.  The first three cards will be most accurate as things they depict are already, for the most part, in motion. Things will get more and more vague and suggestion-like as they get further out in time.
 
To start, it can help to decide what tarot deck you're going to work with.  Most people have only one or two decks and that's completely fine.  For those who have multiple decks or who haven't yet acquired one, what deck you use is going to matter for this practice.  While all tarot follow the Tarot system of having 78 cards, four suits, and both major and minor arcana, the arrangement of the major arcana, whether or not there are individual pictures on the suit cards, and what artwork is used highly influences how each deck reads and what its perspective is on the universe it's displaying. 
 
For example, an artist created a tarot deck based on the tv show Twin Peaks.  It's a delightful deck to work with, but due to the nature of the show, is focused primarily on matters of finances, work, career, and actions.  It's great when you want to know about a business plan or a job, but terrible when it comes to relationships.  On the other hand, the Haindl deck goes straight to the deep core of the soul for every aspect of the universe, making everything about the essential nature of the person, the card, and how this connects into the All that Is.  So not very good for checking whether or not you should buy a used car or try out a new exercise routine.  And the deck created from photos of Banksy art just challenges you with every image.  It's basically a deck which confronts you with "Are you sure this means what you think it means?  Are you sure You mean what you think you mean?"
 
For working this New Year style of general scrying with the tarot I recommend you either use a deck which you're already familiar with and enjoy or a version of the Rider - Smith - Waite tarot which is by its very nature as generic and fully balanced as a tarot deck gets.  There are all kinds of variations from the Universal Waite to the Herbal Tarot and so on.  (One caveat to this is the Thoth Tarot.  Do not use this deck for doing anything other than personal introspection. Aleister Crowley created it specifically to sow chaos and twist reality so it will not show you the clear truth on anything future related)
 
Once you've chosen your deck, set yourself up in a place where you can lay out the cards.  Then, to work with tarot in this Akashic fashion, let yourself go into a meditative state. Once you're there, looking closely at the picture or putting a hand on it will allow you to seemingly fall into it. The images will become like virtual reality which you are now a part of.  Things will morph into a live action rendition of what is coming in the near possible future.  This is like a video, so while you will feel what is going on, recognize people, seem you are "really there" no one will see you and you cannot interact with anyone or change the events. 
 
The experience can seem a bit like going through the looking glass for Alice in Wonderland.  Things might remain in symbolic forms and feel familiar but seem fantastical.  Or they might convert to looking like the real life they are representing which can be a bit "uncanny valley" as you see the results of actions and decisions which haven't yet occurred.  The experience can also be a bit like watching a tv show which has been on for two or three seasons and there are inside jokes you're meant to understand, but you don't because you haven't seen previous episodes.
 
You can stay as long as you wish with any particular card/world, but often the experience will pop you out and back to your body once it's given you all the information it has to offer. You can then move on to the next card and go through the process again.  Personally, I tend to start by doing a quick tour of them, like watching a preview or movie trailer. I go through each one and get the gist of them, then go back and spend time with them individually to intake the full experience.  Once that is done, I can go back and start connecting dots between various cards or pull additional cards if I need further information concerning any particular month or subject.
 
Once you've done this work, you'll find the cards, in this portal form, will now appear in your Akashic room as part of your world and lived experience.  For some people they appear as portraits on the wall, others find them as mobiles hung from the ceiling and still others find them displayed on the coffee table in front of their fireplace like magazines, to be read and interacted with at your leisure.  This makes it handy for you to keep track of how things change, new aspects of things which come into being as the year progresses, or see problems coming before they arrive in your lap.
 
The possibilities are endless, but in this time of Covid, rapid change, and continuing transformation, every little bit of insight we can gather helps, if only to let us breathe easier for a moment or two.