Divination has long been a powerful tool for introspection, offering insights into life’s patterns and helping us chart a meaningful course. Divination can guide you toward clarity and purpose, whether working with tarot cards, runes, or another method.
The New Year is the perfect time for divination, reflection, and setting meaningful goals that align with your personal and spiritual growth. Here, I’ll share how I used the tarot to create a roadmap for 2025.
New Year's Resolutions and SMART Goals
New Year’s resolutions are a familiar tradition. While they aim to inspire positive change, research shows they often fail, with many people abandoning their resolutions by February. The rigidity of resolutions and the pressure to achieve them can make them unsustainable.
SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) offer a structured alternative. They’re designed to break large ambitions into manageable steps, improving the chances of success. However, this approach isn’t for everyone, including me.
I don’t set resolutions or SMART goals. While I respect that they work for some people, I find them too rigid. I also avoid adding “the usuals” to my list of annual goals—things like eating better, meditating daily, or getting more sleep. For me, these are part of ongoing self-care, not yearly objectives.
Tarot Card of the Year
The first thing I do every year is revisit Archetypal Tarot: What Your Birth Card Reveals About Your Personality, Your Path, and Your Potential by Mary K. Greer, one of my favourite tarot books. I highly recommend it to any tarot enthusiast because Greer shows you how to use the tarot to learn more about yourself and connect with the cards in a profoundly personal way.
I calculate my Tarot Card of the Year at the start of each year. This process involves adding your birth month, birth date, and the current year. For example, my birthday is 29 November, so for 2025:
11 + 29 + 2025 = 2065.
Then, I reduce the result: 2 + 0 + 6 + 5 = 13.
The 13th Major Arcana card is Death, symbolising transformation, endings, and regeneration. This card sets a powerful tone for my year.
2025 Tarot Reading
There are many New Year’s tarot spreads to choose from. A month-by-month reading is popular and valuable, but my favourite is Biddy Tarot’s New Year Tarot spread:
“My twelve-card New Year Tarot spread is perfect for acknowledging the energies that are passing out of your life and the energies that are coming into your life. It looks at what you can expect and prepare for in the key areas of your life (love, career, health and spirituality or personal development) and provides you a point of focus for the year ahead.”
I’ve been thinking about my 2025 goals for a few weeks. While I hadn’t clearly articulated them, I knew that returning to the foundations of my Craft was going to be central. These relate to my animist perspective, so I chose the beautiful Herbcrafter’s Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert and Latisha Guthrie. You can use any tarot deck that resonates with you.
As I examined the cards, patterns emerged. The Death card set the tone, urging me to release what no longer served me and embrace new growth. Other cards, such as the Four of Air and Eight of Water, highlighted the importance of rest, focus, and letting go of overcommitments. The Curandera of Air (King of Swords) spoke to reconnecting with clarity and simplicity, and Justice and The Hierophant encouraged alignment with my values and deeper exploration of spiritual truths.
Distilling themes
From the reading, I identified three overarching themes to guide my year:
Transformation and renewal: Embrace change, shed outdated habits or practices, and create space for authentic growth.
Focus and simplification: Streamline my efforts, prioritise what truly matters, and avoid overextending myself.
Deep exploration and empowerment: Dive into my spiritual, cultural, and magical roots to uncover hidden truths and expand my capabilities.
These themes are the foundation for setting meaningful and aligned goals.
Translating themes into goals
The next step was to transform these themes into goals. Using these themes, I refined my brainstorm of potential goals, editing and combining ideas into four objectives.
First, I committed to reconnecting with the foundations of my spiritual practice. This goal centres on returning to the basics of my Craft and deepening my connection to the natural world.
Second, I will honour my cultural roots. I’ll delve into Cuban folklore and traditions to strengthen my spiritual connection and expand my practices.
My third goal is to bring more practical magic into my practice. My Paganism is meditative and devotional, and being in right relationship with my spirits keeps my life in good order. Still, I also get excellent results from magic and witchcraft, so I’d like to do more to refresh and empower my spiritual repertoire and infuse my work with renewed energy and creativity.
Finally, I’ll dedicate the year to deepening my work with Georgian Wicca. Revisiting my materials and preparing lessons to teach for the first time is both an exciting and daunting prospect. I’m typing my handwritten Book of Shadows, researching the origins of its ideas, practices, and rituals. Additionally, I am interviewing Elders within the tradition to preserve their stories and wisdom. This goal reflects my commitment to preserving the tradition and my readiness to step into a teaching role.
The journey and the destination
If you enjoy setting SMART goals, your next step might involve identifying the Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound aspects of your goals. For example, if I were to turn “reconnecting with the foundations of my Craft” into a SMART goal, it might look like this:
Specific: Dedicate time to revisiting foundational texts and practices within my spiritual path.
Measurable: Read three key books and attend at least two workshops or events by mid-year.
Achievable: Allocate two hours weekly to study and reflect.
Relevant: Strengthening my connection to my Craft aligns with my overarching goal of spiritual growth.
Time-bound: Complete this phase by 30 June 2025.
However, as mentioned earlier, SMART goals don’t work for me. I find them too rigid and narrow, as they don’t easily allow for reassessment or emotional considerations. They often feel binary—you either achieve the goal or you don’t—leaving little room to acknowledge progress or the valuable lessons learned along the way. While SMART goals might suit clear, short-term tasks, they’re less effective for complex, long-term objectives where the journey is as meaningful, if not more so, than the destination.
Instead of adhering to SMART goals, I focus on the small steps contributing to my broader intentions. I identify books to read, activities to explore, or workshops to attend, but none of this is set in stone. There’s no specific number of books to finish or events to participate in. I leave space for unexpected opportunities and organic growth.
Divination also plays an ongoing role in clarifying my next steps. For instance, I consulted my cowrie shells for yes/no guidance. Lukumi readers have consistently advised me to learn to read the baraja española (Spanish playing cards), as my ancestors and spirit guides want me to master this skill. However, I’ve encountered conflicting interpretations in the books I own. Turning to divination, the cowrie shells affirmed that I should set aside the books, watch a few trusted YouTube tutorials, and prioritise hands-on practice.
If you don’t read cowrie shells, you could use a similar method, such as a pendulum, for yes/no guidance. Divination can help you weigh options, gain clarity, and ensure your steps are aligned with your intuition and spiritual path. This flexible, intuitive approach honours both the journey and the destination, making the process as fulfilling as the outcome.
Reflecting and refining
Setting goals is not the end of the process but the beginning of an ongoing dialogue. I’ll revisit my tarot reading and the themes it inspired throughout the year, using additional divination and journaling to assess my progress and adjust as needed. This iterative approach ensures my goals align with my spiritual path and practical realities.
By framing my intentions within the context of the Death card’s transformative energy, I’ve created a roadmap that balances spiritual growth with actionable steps. This process highlights how divination can be more than just a tool for insight—it can be a catalyst for meaningful change and a guide for living intentionally.
Bringing it all together
Using divination to set goals for the New Year is a holistic practice that blends intuition, reflection, and intentional action. By starting with a tarot reading, identifying key themes, and translating them into flexible goals, you can create a roadmap honouring both the journey and the destination.
This approach doesn’t require rigid adherence to a plan. Instead, it invites adaptability, allowing space for unexpected insights and opportunities. Whether you use SMART goals, a more intuitive approach, or a mix of both, the key is to remain open to growth and progress as it unfolds.
Divination is more than just a tool for insight—it’s a partner in co-creating your path. By revisiting your readings throughout the year, incorporating small steps, and listening to your inner guidance, you can transform your goals into meaningful progress.
Whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or new to tarot, this method can help you align your intentions with the wisdom of the cards, creating a year that is purposeful, inspired, and uniquely yours.
