Of the decks I collect, I particularly love artist decks, so I was immediately drawn to the Starman Tarot as soon as I saw it in a catalog. The deck is by Davide de Angelis, inspired by artwork he created for David Bowie. The result is stunning, psychedelic collages filled with symbolism and meaning. I could stare at these cards for hours picking out new details.

At the beginning of each year, I try and do a 12 month reading with one card symbolizing each month. I had not yet opened up my Starman Tarot before today, but this seemed like a good day to break it out.

Onward to the reading!

January: Six of Wands. A card of success, a celebration of a well chosen goal or ambition. Celebrate that which you have achieved. This card suggests a well earned position of leadership, and recognition of your hard work. You deserve this success, so embrace it!

February: Ten of Wands. Tens represent the completion of cycles, and the ten of wands has you at the reward and burden of the completion of an epic task. You have made it through to the end (though it may take one last, difficult push), and it is time to lighten your load and admire what is around you. Success has its consequences and there is still hard work ahead.

March: Four of Pentacles*. Life is constantly in flux, no matter how much we want it to remain stable. This is a time to reinvent yourself and let go of false identities. You have a huge confidence that you can leverage what you want out of life, but beware becoming complacent in success. Hard won successes and working for a noble cause helps us grow.

April: The Sacred Clown**. Called “The Fool” in most tarot decks, instead of the naivete of most designs this one depicts a trickster. No belief is fixed, so it’s time to take a leap of faith. Take a risk, a big one. Embrace your potential and your freedom.

May: Justice. Now is a time to face consequences and seek inner balance. Take an honest inventory and acknowledge your successes and defeats. Don’t blame others, but look to yourself and the balance between heart and mind. Reclaim your own power.

June: Queen of Swords. Court cards are interesting and challenging in any reading, because they can mean certain ideals or people in your life to exemplify them. This card encourages you to use the power of nature around you and approach things with intelligence. Or it could mean someone with a brilliant mind, strong and principled.

July: Queen of Wands. Step into your creative power. Be resolute and confident as you break out of the mold. Trust yourself.  Or a bold, courageous, fiery individual.

August: Princess of Cups. Don’t let the hurts and challenges of life sour you, but instead let them drive your creativity and growth. Look at negative things from a different angle and let them transform you. Or, a creative and sensitive individual, a dreamer with a unique perspective.

September: The Hanged Man.  No matter how much you try to push ahead, sometimes things are out of your control. Now is a time to surrender. Take some time to look at your life from a different perspective. Even if you lose things in the process, take this moment to turn inward and reflect on yourself. Power can arise through sacrifice.

October: The Hierophant. Take the time to teach others what you know and through that gain a greater understanding. Pay attention to details. Could also depict a strong religious male, a guru and giver of greater spiritual or religious knowledge. An authoritative and structured card.

November: Two of Wands. Twos are cards of choices and decisions to be made. This is a time to make the effort to gain a greater perspective. You are caught up in your creativity, and if you don’t pause to look around you might fly right off the precipice. Take a moment and look ahead before you begin something new. See how the moment fits into the bigger picture.

December: Ace of Cups. This is my favorite tarot card, and the one I take extra time to look at in decks when evaluating them. This one does not disappoint. This card shows such an abundance of growth that the cup overflows. Offer up your bounty, your creative brilliance and love. What has been barren can now bear fruit. Open yourself up to it and end the year replenished and reinvigorated.

Some additional notes on my reading…

*Experienced tarot card readers may notice that I often ignore reversals. The truth is, I’ve learned to trust in my intuition for when the apply and when they don’t. As this was a reading for the year, the upright cards tended to speak more to situations and the reversed to internal problems. For that reason, I felt the upright meanings in this reading would be more viable. But we can always go back and look a year from now and see if I was right or not!

**The appearance of the Major Arcana in a reading are always places of greater importance. Interestingly, in this reading they came in two clumps, almost six months apart. I particularly found the juxtaposition of The Sacred Clown and The Hanged Man to be interesting – both are cards of surrender, but one is one of action and one of inaction. One to take a leap of faith, and one to pause and reconsider. I look forward to looking back (hah! Appropriate, since that’s almost exactly what these do…) on this in a year.

Happy New Year everyone, and good luck on 2019!