How I’m living intuitively + forecasting the energy of 2018

For the past 4ish months, I’ve started dabbling in reading the energy of my life through oracle/tarot cards. My intuition has been in overdrive lately, or perhaps I have just tapped into how I can live more intuitively, and that is changing how I approach my everyday life + look toward the future. With this new focus on living intuitively, I have claimed + accepted that I, as any of us do, actually have the ability to read and feel the energy that is swirling around me. In addition, I also feel a deep connection with knowing what my soul is whispering to me is my focus for the days ahead.

Let me be clear, none of this has anything to do with guessing or telling the future. This is not fortune-telling or predictions or even statements that “this is how it going to be”. Instead, for me, living intuitively is about listening to the present moment + casing a vision for the future. The details and specifics are completely unknown. The days + months ahead remain a mystery. And the days will unfold as they will.

For me, the focus of living intuitively + of forecasting the energy of my life for 2018 is simply about setting intentions + visions based on listening to my soul and feeling the energy around me. So, what is my soul saying to me? And what is the energy that is propelling me forward in 2018?

Well, here’s the lowdown. In the beginning of December, on one cold, dark weekend morning, I lit a few candles, made coffee (of course), and did a reading with my oracle cards. After preparing the cards (shuffling, taping, and meditating with deep breaths for a few minutes), I spread them out on the kitchen table + set my intention for the reading: discovering my overall theme for 2018 and my monthly mini-themes throughout the year. 

I tool a few deep breaths to center me and focus on my intention, and then I drew 13 cards: One for the overall theme of the year. And 12 for the months. Seeing them all there, placed in a circle, with the theme of the year in the center, and not yet revealed to me, I was filled with excitement + possibility.

And, then, one by one, I turned them over. Taking time to sit with each one before moving on to the next. Gazing at the card, listening to what messages might spark within me by it, letting my intuition lead me in feeling whatever I felt with the card. I made notes in my journal. And read the summary that came with the deck of cards. And, then I let it be.

There was no prediction for how the year/month would be. No clear details about what would or would not happen. Only the energy I felt. the vibes I got. The connection I made with the card. And this is the important part of “forecasting” my year: there was only the possibility + potential + opportunity of an intention that was revealed. A possible theme on which to focus.

Today I want to only share the card I pulled for my overall theme for the year. I’ll reveal each month in a post at the beginning of each month (I’ll focus on January’s theme once i am back in Sweden after this weekend).

The card I pulled for 2018’s theme felt like a long, deep yessssss when I turned it over. It just made sense + felt so incredibly right.

I mean, on my homepage of this website, I have a photo I’ve taken of a forest. Sometime last fall, I decided that the deep greens + browns of a tree-filled forest was an image that spoke to my soul and that I needed to use as a muse. This card was an incredible affirmation of that.

And, then, the ancient part of it. I had not thought of it in this word, but since this past autumn, I’d been really tapping into my connection to the ancient ways. Mythology. Magic. Spirituality. Nature. The ancient ways of contemplation, simplicity, slow living. These are ideas + ways of living that have been with me all of my life. I’ve always been an old soul. But, this past autumn, I began the process of manifesting these things as my way of life.

This card revealed to me, I felt, that I am to continue this journey of the ancient ways. And to dig even deeper into the wisdom that I have within me. To acknowledge + live from the deep roots that I have already established as my foundation.

As I read from the guide book, after reflecting on my own, I realized that I was totally aligned with the words of the author/creator of the cards:

She spoke of deep roots, of immense, unseen support + abilities, of finding my strength in the silent, deep, powers in contemplation, meditation, and reflection, of being grounded + stable in the community of the ancient forest, while having an individual  spirit that reaches high to the heavens.

And in all of this, I feel totally rooted. And completely ready to rise. What that means + how that will unfold, of course, I have no idea. And that is the beauty of it all… the beauty of the slow, unfolding, perfect pace of nature; which may not be understood or may be uncomfortable as it is happening, yet, still totally perfect in perspective.

Speaking of being rooted, that, my friends, is my word of the year. I had actually chosen it before doing this little card reading + forecasting. So, having the card “ancient forest” show up as my theme of the year was just mind blowing.

This is the energy that is swirling around + within me right now. It’s magical, old, deep, and organic. And I cannot wait to see how it all unfolds. 2018 is a year that feels like a balance between a quiet, contemplative year + an active, bad ass year.

How is your year feeling so far? Have you chosen a word of the year? Or has one chosen you? What kind of energy do you feel that 2018 has in store for you?

Magical, new year blessings to you, my fellow wild soul. xoxo. liz