My annual reading always starts with me selecting a card that represents a topic that I wish to explore. This year I am selecting Anthropos (mankind) as the foundational card. The reason for this choice is that last year's reading ended with Nous (mind) and I want to know how our shift in mindset will manifest into new actions and behaviors. Anthropos is the card of our physical and primal being; the perfect, unified human (both male and female); a physical manifestation of God, the idea of wholeness in alchemy, Homo-totus (in the western tradition) and Chy-un (true man) in eastern traditions.
According to Carl Jung, the Anthropos is at the foundation of our journey from the primal self, which later separates from our ego to become differentiated (our unconscious-self) and ultimately re-unites again to the integrated state of 'individuation' (our true nature). This card has a combination of powers, both unlimited potential and a clarity of focus that comes from the human capacity to assert our will.
As the first card of the reading, Anthropos sets the theme and topic.
What is our potential? What should we focus on in order to evolve and move forward?
The second card tells us the energy that is in play.
This card Soter (Savior) tells us something many of us already know. We are all in a state of discomfort and seek relief. Soter is the card of the savior. A daemon of safety, preservation and a deliverance from harm. We are all hoping that someone or something is going to save us. As we imagine forward into 2024 we are all pinning our hopes on some superhero, a champion, political or social leader, an election, a technology, a ruling from high that is going to go our way and that this will relieve us from our suffering. We are hard wired to believe in these higher forces of fate, destiny, God or luck that will somehow magically intervene and relieve us of all the problems that ail us. I see it everywhere, everyone is turning to their own version of ritual, prayer, lobbying of the powers that be, superstition, fortune tellers and mystics in order to appeal for help. We are all desperate for salvation but this illusion prevents us from finding the courage to look our challengers and challenges in their face and deal with them.
The third card tells us the manner in which we must proceed.
This card is Phronesis the card of practical wisdom. The most practical, tangible and material card of the AEON deck. The pentagon symbol on this card represents the many different considerations and complexity that we will need to manage in 2024. What seems quite simple or straightforward is in fact a complex assortment of interlocking variables that must align. There are many different perspectives, points of view, tensions and shifts that need to be acknowledged and understood. Despite what we hope, there will not be a simple answer, a single silver bullet of transformation for us. This card tells us that 2024 will be a difficult year of negotiation. It will include many contradictory perspectives and differing points of view. There will be deep fakes and misinformation, there will be alternate truths that will need to be unravelled. While it may be tempting for people to simply believe what they want to believe, this will not change the reality that complexity and nuance abounds in our divided yet interconnected world, Phronesis is a reminder that progress will require us, in some small way, to abandon the pursuit of our self-centered ideals. 2024 will be a difficult year and none of us will achieve everything we hope and pray for. The ideals we all have in our minds will not be delivered. But equally, neither will our deepest fears be realized. We are going to have to learn to live in a grey zone. In the grey zone, it's important to see light where there is darkness and to be aware of the dark underbelly of the things that we perceive as light.
The fourth card tells us the truth we will discover in 2024.
This card is Acinetos, the aeon of immovability, strength and staying the course. In some interpretations this is a card of powerful and unexpected immortality. In the ancient texts that Aeonology emerged from, the Anthropos was weak and feeble in comparison to the Gods - The Anthropos was mortal and perishable compared to the other beings who were spiritual and eternal.
And yet, it turned out that despite human inferiority to the Gods, we have within us the power to be immortal and to leave an impact on the world that lasts longer than our physical being. Acinetos surprises us with this truth of immortal potential. That we have a power, if used in the right way, that can transcend our own lives and bring us immortality - not of body but of the legacy we leave. This moment in time will go down in history and how we respond to this moment will be remembered for generations. The truth of 2024 is that fulfillment and success will not be achieved if we focus on short-term, material goals for ourselves. Instead, we must raise our minds to the enduring legacy we (individually or collectively) leave. Play the long game and focus on what really matters rather than what is convenient, popular or easy. If you do this, and rise to this occasion, 2024 will be a great year because you'll (we'll) discover that you (we) have much greater powers and potential than you (we) ever imagined.
The fifth card tells us what we do not expect.
Abraxas (magic) reversed. When the most powerful card of transformation is reversed, as it is in this reading, it tells us we will get stuck. There will be several occasions in 2024 where we feel we are going round in circles, unable to move forward, caught in cross-fire, lost or disoriented and with no clear path forward. While almost everyone we know is hoping for change and transformation, this card tells us that the magical metamorphosis will not happen. In fact, quite the opposite. We are going to experience more of the same. More of the familiar problems getting worse and little movement to overcome them. Sorry to burst everyone's bubble, but what we least expect as we enter 2024 is a year of festering and stagnation. Mired in immobility with a rising or increasing sense of urgency surging around us. A year where the unpleasantness intensifies, the troubles get more troubling, where divisions get more divided and the status quo calcifies. We will over-estimate the progress we think we'll make in 2024 but underestimate the importance of the small steps that will be achieved this year. Some will see 'more of the same' as success, a triumph, but this will seem like a bitter disappointment for many because lasting and meaningful change takes time.
The sixth card tells us what will be.
This card is Bythos (depth) a card of everything and nothing. The deep abyss from which all emerges and into which all is lost. The ultimate outcome of 2024 will be profound and meaningful but it will not necessarily be the bright and hopeful relief we dream of. 2024 is not so much a transition year, although it is clear we are in some form of transition, but it will takes us deeper into ourselves. We will gain a deep appreciation of what lies ahead. The need for something new and different will be deeply felt. It is a year when we will be pulled deeper into our communities and our relationships. It will be a year of deep reflection and learning. Bythos doesn't necessarily promise that we will find what we seek (nor like what we find) when we immerse ourselves in our own depths... but we will discover something valuable. We will emerge from 2024 with a clearer and more truthful understanding of our current situation and the direction we need to move in. At first blush 2024 won't be a year of relief, unless, like me, you believe that ridding ourselves of illusion and gaining clarity and understanding of the causes of our suffering and discomfort is in itself a step in the right direction.
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