A New Year’s Vision Board with the Eight of Wands
Create a Vision Board that Actually Works with Tarot’s 8 of Wands
If creating a Vision Board interests you, I am hosting an in-person workshop on January 21st in San Francisco from 12–4pm. We’ll do a much more comprehensive version of today’s exercise and you’ll have the added benefit of getting to share your vision.
What your subconscious mind creates may not be immediately recognizable to you, but when you share it with the group you’ll see things you didn’t know you intended.
There may still be tickets to EnVision 2024, I’d love to see you there, sign up today!
In thinking and reflecting on the legacy of MLK, I heard it said that he didn’t have a plan, he had a dream. That resonated with me so much.
Dreams inspire. Dreams enliven. Our dreams are what we came here for.
A plan that isn’t in service of a dream is just a to-do list.
As I shared in my last post, 2024 is an ‘8 year’, so our card for 2024 is Major Arcana 8, Strength.
Strength is ruled by Leo, a Fire sign.
The Wands are ruled by fire. They represent our passion, our hustle, and our creativity. When we look to the Minor Arcana, it’s the Eight of Wands that caries that fire energy into the world.
THE EIGHT OF WANDS
When we look at the Eight of Wands, we see eight staffs flying through the air. We don’t know exactly when they will land or if they will hit their mark, but they are in motion.
The Eight of Wands calls us to dream. The Eight of Wands ask us to leap before we look.
The Eights of the Tarot are a time of evolution. The symbol 8 is also the symbol of ∞, infinity. We’re at a turning point on a road that has no angles and no end.
Often we may set a resolution for the New Year, but by this time we’ve already lost momentum. It’s fine to make a resolution, but our inner resolve can only take us so far. What we need is a dream and a vision to carry us along.
The Wands are all about energy. In The Wands we are learning how to conserve it, how to spend it, and how to regenerate it.
A NEW YEAR
December is a season for giving, and so January necessarily needs to be a time of re-centering.
You cannot give from a place of depletion.
It’s time to fill our own cups. In January you want to be ‘selfish’, meaning — you want to get centered on what you care about most.
What makes you happiest, is your most important task in this world.
I don’t mean that in a solipsistic sense. So often we confuse sacrifice with purpose, but it’s NOT TRUE!
When you are centered in who you came here to be, your life is a gift to the world.
This is the season to find your center. This is the real time to take aim at what you want to launch in 2024
We get to adventure.
When we are kiddos, this feeling of adventure and possibility is around us at all times. Someone says that the floor is lava, and we jump to the couch. We commit. We can imagine ourselves on the Moon, on a pirate ship, winning an Oscar, and swimming with mermaids all in one afternoon.
As adults, this ‘magical thinking’ is lost to the critic. New Year’s resolutions are a perfect example.
Many people choose not to make resolutions because they can’t permit themselves the space to dream. Adults are ready to sign up for plans, tasks and to-do lists, especially if they scratch that ‘sacrifice’ itch, but secretly don’t believe that change is possible for them. Some of us believe we will fail before they even try. We need to get back to our dreams.
A resolution that isn’t tied to a dream isn’t attached to joy, to passion, to our fire, and and so is is unsustainable.
To demonstrate, give yourself a moment to consider and write down any questions you have about the year ahead. For example:
Will I get a promotion?
Will my loved one stay healthy?
How can I loose weight and exercise more?
When will I have time for my artwork?
There’s nothing wrong with these questions, in fact, I really encourage you to actually write down your own questions now…
It’s important to ask questions about the future that are grounded in reality, but too often we define ‘reality’ only through the lens of fear.
When our questions are bound by our perceived limitations, and our desired outcomes are grounded in fear, our inquiries are led by the critic. They don’t inspire the possible.
Now, I invite you to re-frame your questions from the lens of the possible. For example:
- What work would make me feel most purposeful?
- What am I doing to give myself recognition and praise?
- When do I feel the most abundant?
- How can I position myself to feel that more regularly?
- Are there things that I am doing externally to get rewarded, but that don’t feel rewarding?
- If so, what would it look like to stop those things?
- How can I be present with my loved ones, no matter what?
- Are there behaviors that would express my love to those I care for that I can enjoy more of?
- If I stepped away from judgment on the quantity of time with the people I care about, how might that allow me to be more present and joyful in the quality of time we get to share?
- What do I get to learn about and appreciate in life, when health isn’t a given?
- What would be the most fun way to move my body?
- If I were to experiment with different foods, how could I make a game of it?
- When I step away from judging my body, what steps forward in its place?
- When I think about nourishment, what comes up?
- If something feels soothing to me, but it also creates dependency or allergy, is it possible to address that which is longing to be soothed in a more comprehensive way?
- What would rest feel like if it was a compliment to greater playful activity?
- When do I feel the most creative?
- How can I invite my creativity into my everyday tasks?
- If I were to imagine there were no obstacles, what might I be inspired to create?
- Who would I share it with?
- Who would I like to collaborate with?
CREATING YOUR VISION BOARD
“Nothing ever is, but all things are becoming.” — Plato
TO BEGIN
You’ll need:
- 8 Candles and a flame
- Magazines, scissors, glue, and poster board
- A Journal
1) Gather your supplies and clear some space. You’ll want a place you can make a bit of a mess in.
In your journal, without overthinking, write down what you’d like to call in more of. What are you ready to get rid of?
Next, make a list of all the things you are currently doing in each one of these areas of your life:
- ADVENTURE/ ROMANCE/PLAY
- WORK/FINANCE
- SPIRITUALITY
- COMMUNITY/FAMILY
- MIND/CREATIVITY
- BODY/HEALTH
If your list in any one category is much longer than the others, or if you are lacking in a few areas, ask yourself if it feels like an imbalance. If so, ask yourself if you want to make any shifts towards greater balance.
Remember, you are building a dream, not a plan.
2) Take all the magazines you’ve got and start flipping through them to see what sparks joy.
You’ve just spent some time thinking about the areas of life you’d like to bring greater fulfillment into, are there images that register with that spark?
If one of your adventure goals is to go to Paris someday, but you don’t think that you will do it in 2023, don’t let that stop you from pulling a picture of the Eiffel Tower. Or a baguette.
The purpose of this exercise, especially in working with the Eight of Wands, is to begin tossing your passion into the world. Eventually, you will need to put your logistical brain to work to book a ticket and pack a bag, but that’s not now. Now your purpose is to touch in with the wonderment and vitality of your imagination.
Assemble your images onto your poster board. If you’d prefer to take more time and you’re not ready to glue, you can use washi tape, or simply lay them out in an arrangement that looks pleasing.
If it feels right to you, you can group images that are tied to your work in one area and images tied to your family in another, but you are a whole system, not parts, so it’s always one thing.
After allowing yourself to be sparked by joy, take a look at your images. What are eight things or the themes you’re sending into the universe to manifest?
3) Now it is time to light your candles.
Place your candles around you and your vision board. As you light each candle, say aloud what it is you are calling in from a place of abundance and possibility. For example:
“I am ready to manifest passion and love. Divine, bring me passion and love in ways that surprise and delight me.”
Look at the images that align with your intention as you light your candle. Go slowly.
Stay with each candle and as you look into the flame, get in touch with the feeling and the experience of this manifestation. Feel the touch of your newborn baby, smell the air in your blooming garden, and sink into the comfort of your healthy body.
When you have lit each one of your candles, place your vision board in the center of the circle and look at your sacred space as a whole.
This is your dream. This is what is possible.
4) Close your ritual
When you feel complete with your intentions, give thanks to yourself and Spirit for the work you’ve both begun.
Like the Eight of Wands, your manifestations have been launched into the world. You’ve allowed your heart to take aim at what it wants to bring into being. Well done.
Extinguish your candles and place your vision board in a place you will look at it regularly this year. You can always add to it.
The most important part of this work is that you must revisit your Vision Board
It’s not enough to create a dream and a vision, then toss it under your bed until next year. Put your vision board somewhere that you will see it every day if possible. You will be amazed by what comes to pass when you revisit your dreams on a regular basis.
Remember, you’ve asked the universe to surprise and delight you. Your job is to stay on the lookout for, and out of, judgments.
Where and when and how your dreams come true will be a collaboration between you and the Divine. Your vision board is the tool for inspiration and sustainability.
If you are looking for more guidance on how to work with a Vision Board, come to my Vision Board workshop in San Francisco on January 21st!
At EnVision24 I’ll provide you with everything you need to discover what your soul is longing for, and put those desires into an actionable Vision Board that will make your manifestations WORK!
Sign up before we sell out!
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Reading the Tarot is my joy and my vocation. If you would like to receive a reading from me, I would be honored to serve you. You can book with me, either in person from my San Francisco location, or remotely from anywhere in the world here.
