Happy New Year, my dear!
I hope this first full week of 2026 has been gentle and kind to you!
To be honest, there’ve been a few bumps and some general anxiety (which tends to be my norm during this time of year…transitions that are fully out of my control 🤪), but for the most part I’m ready…ready to get back to work with you and for you!
And that special treat I mentioned recently…
Here it is!
A 12-month map, or story, in the cards for you to work with, make your own, help find your creative inspiration, hone-in on your goals for the year!
Of course, this practice is general and not specific to any one person, idea, inquiry, or goal. For a personalized 12-month practice, click here to learn more and purchase!
That said…let’s begin!
Self-Guided Workshop:
2026 Looking Session
Welcome! Come, settle in for your first “Looking Session” of the year!
This year you are invited to explore life with your senses…either beginning a practice right here, now, where you are…or deepening a practice that already exists.
Tradition. Ritual. Reverence. Reflection.
Seeing. Hearing. Smelling. Tasting. Touching
Here, you are asked to see, to LOOK. Working not only with your eyes and mind (or brain), but working with what’s alive for you much deeper…
Working at a Soul level. Delving into your unconscious to uncover personal and ancestral myth.
Seeking story, symbol…meaning and purpose.
Yes, the cards hold all of this. The world holds all of this. The Universe holds all of this. For you.
All you need to do is pause, allow yourself to settle into an environment that supports exploration. Cultivate an open and allowing state that offers you an opportunity to consider what is before you and within you. To consider what it is you want from this year. What you will choose to do with your year, your months, your days.
Preparation
Find yourself in a comfortable, cozy position…in a safe, quiet, and still environment for this 45-minute practice.
Have something to write with and on so you can make notes as you watch, look, listen.
Step ONE
Allow yourself the silence and stillness needed to fully focus on the centering practice at the beginning and the “Looking Session” that takes you through 13 cards for the New Year.
(Not sure what I mean by Looking Session? You’ll find links below that tell you about my process of working with the cards and your senses and the silence and stillness that will support your work this year.)
Step TWO
Perhaps you already have a word for the year, or maybe there is a question or inquiry you have about how you will move inside the container that is 2026. If so, perfect! Write it all down in your notebook, journal, or on the piece of paper you’re bringing to this practice.
No word or inquiry, no worries! You can either consider a word you’d like to focus on this year or an inquiry you have about this year now. Or you may like to begin the video first and then develop your word/phrase/inquiry as you listen.
Step THREE
Press play on the video to go through the practice! Press pause whenever you need!
Review the content below for some thoughts, ideas, and prompts for each card!
You may watch and read, or you may choose to only watch or only read!
No matter your choice…
be open to the wisdom that comes from within
allow yourself to place aside preconceptions of the cards and their meanings…the true meanings all come from you, from what’s alive for you in the moment you “look” and work with your senses and word/inquiry
ignore my ideas, thoughts, words about the cards if they are not a good fit for you (this is your practice after all!)…watch the video on mute and press pause to deeply look at each card and inquire/write from there
remember…this is a fun, inspirational, motivational practice
In these cards and their interpretations we are…
Keeping it simple
and
Finding the good!
Welcome to 2026!
2026 Theme Card ~
X of Pentacles
Pictured in the center of the image above.
Related to Earth, Sensation, Yin/Passive Energy
Reflecting on the journey and the end, at the beginning of the year. A culmination of physical, material, earthly abundance, success, delight. Work, efforts, partnerships, being in and of service brings goodness to all.
What are my primary goals for this year?
Where will I find meaning this year?
What is my purpose and how do I begin?
What do I feel when I look at this image? When have I felt this way before?
How will I know I’ve created an abundant, successful, joyful year for myself and my loved ones?
Remember…Keep it simple. Find the good.
Quarter ONE
January ~ II of Wands
Pictured in the 1 o'clock position in the image above.
Related to Fire, Intuition, Yang/Active Energy
Setting sights on the horizon before you. Asking…
Where do I want to go?
What do I want to see?
The kingdom is at hand and is yours for the building.
What shall I build today?
February ~ Ace of Cups
Pictured in the 2 o’clock position in the image above.
Related to Water, Feeling, Yin/Passive Energy
Your cup overflows. You are cleansed and clear. You are fed and full. The waters around you teem with life, ideas. You are a vessel of creation. You are safe, held, delighted with the world at your hand, your command.
What brings me clarity?
How do I want to feel each day this month?
March ~ Temperance (XIV)
Pictured in the 3 o’clock position in the image above.
Related to Fire, Intuition, Yang/Active Energy
With feet, body, mind graciously placed along the shore of possibility, the vessels allow a free flow of creative power. From right to left to right…with care and focus and patience, you control all that is and all that will be. Gazing beyond the path is the rising and setting sun. Mountains cannot contain the great deeds you shall do.
What is within my power and desire to create?
When I look at this image or meditate on the word “temperance,” what do I feel?
Quarter TWO
April ~ X of Swords
Pictured in the 4 o’clock position in the image above.
Related to Air, Thinking, Yang/Active Energy
Time for reevaluation, rest, reflection. Find the sunny side, the promise of tomorrow. Revisit the sun from Temperance in March. Perhaps this is that same sun here, showing what is possible now, tomorrow…once the negativity held in the mind is cleared. The water is still. The mountains still stand.
With a rest and mental or attitude adjustment, what improves? What is working?
What is holding me back from being, doing, bravely acting?
How can I shift the mental patterns and habits that no longer work so I may flourish this month?
May ~ The Emperor (IV)
Pictured in the 5 o’clock position in the image above.
Related to Fire, Intuition, Yang/Active Energy
Having mastered the mind and shifted into productive mental patterns and habits, it is time to rule your domain, your kingdom. Approaching summer, perhaps you will plant your feet at the throne of all that rests within your control, all within your capacity to change and become. You are ready to rule each day with an outcome of success, freedom, and sovereignty.
Where in my life do I need to take charge this month?
What is my plan moving forward?
June ~ Knight of Cups
Pictured in the 6 o’clock position in the image above.
Related to Water, Feeling, Yin/Passive Energy
Steady. Sturdy. With intent and intention. Riding upon purity, grace. Carrying the vessel of emotional truth, an offering of peace and a pure heart.
A messenger of what? Love? Chalice of fulfilled need, desire?
The field, the flowing water, the mountains are here, they are true, they uphold the stability of where and how you are going – with emotion as your driver. Your desired task is nearing completion. You place yourself in a position to ride home, meeting emotional balance, success, vitality, grace at the door.
What else needs to be done, tended before summer’s end?
Quarter THREE
July ~ The Moon (XVIII)
Pictured in the 7 o’clock position in the image above.
Related to Water, Feeling, Yin/Passive Energy
Underwater currents, they have surprises, prizes, illuminated creations to deliver. Howling, surrendering to the soft, quiet power of the Mother, the Moon…she captures the light of the sun and magnifies the truth buried deep inside.
How am I speaking to myself? How am I supporting myself?
The path continues before you.
What are the next steps I need to take, with my trusty confidants, to help me on my way?
What flames are brought to the surface, once my heart is transfixed by the interior light, cast for me to see clearly, fully, in the dark?
August ~ King of Cups
Pictured in the 8 o’clock position in the image above.
Related to Water, Feeling, Yin/Passive Energy
Seated on the throne of emotional stability, in the rough, chaotic currents of life. Pondering the greatness before you…Behold, the chalice of chaotic serenity is solidly grasped in your right hand. Healing. Healed. Healer of Hearts.
What can I do to stabilize myself, my emotions as I move out of the warmth of summer and coast into the harvest, the earthy season of September, fall?
September ~ The Sun (XIX)
Pictured in the 9 o’clock position in the image above.
Related to Fire, Intuition, Yang/Active Energy
Cheerful. Glowing. The equinox is near. Harvest your sunshine, your warmth, your delight. Holding (not grasping) the joys of summer, childhood, innocence. Breathe fully, as the breath of life creates the fiery passion within. Like the sun, you are glowing, bold, vital, and free.
Where can I shine my light, inside and out, so I can bring home the harvest of my good work, my good deeds?
Where am I on my annual path? Have I taken a detour and am now lost or struggling? If so, how can I work with the light to find my way back on the path to success, hope, peace, joy?
Quarter FOUR
October ~ IV of Cups
Pictured in the 10 o’clock position in the image above.
Related to Water, Feeling, Yin/Passive Energy
Contemplation. Gathering of offerings, giving, receiving. Emotional stability can come with assistance from the earth. Rooting body, mind, spirit, emotion, sensation next to the tree offers wisdom from Mother Earth to guide you to what comes next. The end of the year is near. The veil is thinning.
What choices need to be made now to bring my emotions, goals, desires into balance?
November ~ III of Swords
Pictured in the 11 o’clock position in the image above.
Related to Air, Thinking, Yang/Active Energy
Heart pierced, punctured. An invitation to pause, revisit habits, thoughts that keep you stuck. Dreams unattended, ignored. Rest needed on a rainy day. A transition time, moving beyond the losses, hurts, grief that occurred in the past…to the wisdom gained during those trials. A broken heart can bring true wisdom. Through each storm you grow stronger.
What are the habits, patterns, thoughts that have kept you broken, wallowing in old wounds? They are calling for release so you may move forward.
December ~ X of Wands
Pictured in the 12 o’clock position in the image above.
Related to Fire, Intuition, Yang/Active Energy
This month, you’re hard at work or continuing to carry burdens that no longer serve your purpose…only you hold the knowledge to know the difference. Perhaps you’re diligently completing the final tasks you set for yourself earlier this year. Maybe you’re pushing into goals or ideals that no longer fit with where you’re headed at the end of the year. No matter the rhyme or reason, task or season…it’s time to complete what can be completed and let go of that which no longer serves your creativity, intention, meaning, or purpose.
What absolutely needs completed before the end of the year?
What no longer serves my purpose, no longer lights the fire within me? These things I can surrender. If they return, I may choose to pick them back up or gently place them aside for good.
Seeing, Linking Patterns
Revisit the cards in the video and/or in the image above. What patterns, symbols, signs, sensations do you notice repeating from card to card, idea to idea, thought to thought, sensation to sensation?
Write it all down and work with those patterns throughout the year!
Circles, Spheres ~ Pentacles/Disks, Moon, Sun
Yellow ~ Sun, Sky
Sovereignty ~ Emperor, Knight, King, Sun
Mountains
Bodies of Water
Chalices of water, life, gifts
What eles?
Final thoughts…
This year gift yourself the awareness and presence to know when you need to keep it simple and find the good!
To learn more about my “Looking Sessions” you may like to review these articles:
Meditation: A Practice in “Looking”
Looking at Your Patterns and Habits
How to Find Meaning in “Looking”
To buy this deck…
The cards we are working with here are from the 1909 Rider-Waite-Smith deck. You can do a search and find several places to purchase this deck.
Here’s one link to buy from Amazon: click here
Continuing this work…
For all paying subscribers, we will work with these cards each month this year!
If you’d like to dig deeper and get specific cards based on your direction and calling for this year…Book your 1:1 session…click here.
Until next week, lovely…xoxo Michelle
