Aeonology reading for 2026

6 card spread

We enter our 6th year of readings using the AEON Gnostic Aeonology cards. The first reading on January 2nd 2020, warned us of a massive disruption that would later be recognized as COVID and last year’s reading told us to expect unimaginable “brutality, inhumanity, and insensitivity”.

“2025 will expose us to new levels of crass and ugly human behavior that will be hard to comprehend. Vulgarities, once tempered by a shared sense of decency, will surge in all aspects of life — commercial, economic, societal, political, and aesthetic.” —2025 Aeonology reading.

What to expect in 2026?

I’ve written recently about the astrological events in 2025 that underscore the significance of the times we are living through. A pencil note of mine in Carl Jung’s book Aion reminded me of the ‘great conjunction’ of Saturn and Jupiter that fell on Winter Solstice of 2020. While that event (also noted by Nostradamus) marked the start of a new era, we are still in transition— described as chaotic, turbulent and unpredictable. This period is defined by the rise Abraxas (more on that later) and we are all increasingly under his spell and living with the consequences of his ignorance.

Before we get into it, it is also worth noting that 2026 is the Chinese year of the Fire Horse. The sign of my birth year (1966) which comes around every 60 years. This is an important year for me too. 60 years old, 30 years living in America, and 20 years with my husband Daniel. A full 60 year cycle complete.

This reading builds on my recent post about the importance of emptiness: “we must make space for anything new, and we must understand the emptiness of what needs to be filled.”

This has led me to start this year’s reading with the card BYTHOS, which means ‘Depth’. Profound depth, like that of a deep ocean. Nothingness. A void.

Bythos : Depth

1. The subject of the reading: BYTHOS

This subject card asks the question: what will fill our current sense of emptiness? There is much talk of transition, change and the start of something new… but in order to create something we need to understand the emptiness that is to be filled. This is why I chose this card which represents the starting point of all things: BYTHOS—Depth. Nothingness. Stillness. Void.

The shapes on this card symbolize the multi-faceted complexity of our current situation—lots of things to juggle, lots at stake and a lot of cards in play and yet so much unresolved. The circle around it represents ‘wholeness’. BYTHOS as the starting point of the reading, asks the cards to help us lift above our day-to-day complexity so that we might see the bigger, fuller picture.

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Macariotes: Utopia

2. The energy that is in play: MACARIOTES

Macariotes means a future utopia. The desire for a place of safety, comfort and happiness for everyone. It is the AEON behind the American ideal of the ‘pursuit of happiness’ that is written into the Constitution but obviously precedes the United States as a fundamental tenet of almost all ancient religions. In ancient texts, Macariotes refers to the state of bliss enjoyed by the Gods, a life free from the normal cares, suffering, and the limitations of human existence.

There was even a monk from the 3rd century called Saint Macarius the Great of Egypt who was best known for living in the desert for 60 years in abstinence of material comforts — there you go, that 60 years cycle again! Much of his writings emphasize the spiritual bliss of living in balance with nature and enjoying the natural gifts available to you - rather than taking them from others.

This card in this position tells us we are all ready to move on. No one is happy in our current state and we all definitely want less war, conflict, suffering and brutality. These mostly negative energies (referred to as Archons) seem so out of our control, which makes it hard to know what we, mere mortals, can do about it.

The spirit of Macarius the Great, makes me think that 2026 is going to be a year of competing ideals. A battle royale between the haves and the have nots. A struggle between visions of happiness that are based on material success versus those that are more spiritually grounded. A year where philosophies of scarcity compete with those of abundance and self-interest declares war against society’s shared interests.

We are entering a year where different visions of utopia are set on a collision course. Both sides have already declared their intentions. Both sides believe that theirs is the righteous path. Both sides have their armies at the ready and their dutiful followers amped up. What remains to be seen is where the critical mass put their weight. Which future will the rest of humanity get behind? What will it take for the masses, who currently sit on the side lines, to get involved? What deepening levels of depravity and immorality will it take to kick us out of observation mode and into action mode? Sadly, our choice will not be determined by philosophy or reason but by our sense of unity —whether we feel stronger standing together or standing alone.

3. How we must proceed: HEDONE

HEDONE or pleasure is a long-standing principle of most religions. Not pleasure in the colloquial sense of the word ‘hedonism’, that is different—more self pleasure. Hedone in the ancient context means pleasures and celebrations together with others. It’s the reward when a change of circumstances (delivered by God) offers a new hope of things to come. It’s the feeling of pleasure that comes from shared intimacy, shared ritual and shared purpose. The inner spiritual dimension of this Aeon is that Hedone is also a guiding principle by which we can get closer to happiness. If Joy is how humanity experiences divine deliverance, then we can also be guided by it—navigate towards the things that give us (and others) pleasure. By fine-tuning our sensitivity to our own joy, Hedone is that non-rational, inner guidance system that informs self-discovery and spiritual enlightenment (Gnosis).

So, even if we are feeling a distinct absence of joy, this is what we must seek out. 2026 is the year to invest the extra effort and intentionality towards an intimate knowledge of what brings you pleasure. Find the people who make you happy and spend time with them. Find ways to make the things that are painful or difficult more fun. Be inspired by the people who chose not to take anger and hate to a political rally but instead took inflatable frog costumes! There is both pleasure and pain to be found in every task, but the people who unearth the pleasure of it are not only more successful but they are more resilient and more able to encourage others to join them in what needs to be achieved.

4. The truth we will discover: ABRAXAS

Oddly, this exact card turned up in the same position in last year’s reading. It’s worth re-reading Carl Jung’s description of Abraxas in last year’s post, because we are still under the power and influence of him.

ABRAXAS means magic, but it is also the name given to false Gods and deceitful realities. There is still much that is being deliberately concealed. Last year, Abraxas was symbolic of the new American Political leadership. A Trumpian figure.

The return of the card in exactly the same position tells us there’s even greater horror and brutality still to be revealed. At this stage, I don’t think anyone doubts there has been a lot more political collusion, lies, deception and covert actions. But, what might not be so as apparent is how deeply Abraxas will infiltrate every aspect of our lives in 2026. The longer term consequences of Abraxas’ reign have only just begun: the lies we are teaching our children; the falsehoods being woven into our healthcare systems; the corruption of our laws and our institutions that we depend on; the deterioration of equity and fairness we expect from civil society. We need to keep a strong handle on reality so that we are not tricked into more of Abraxas’ swindles and are not fueling his chaos.

The most successful technique used by magicians is misdirection— the deliberate manipulation of an audience to draw their attention away from ‘secret action’. This is the truth that this card is unveiling for us. Magicians will never pause to allow scrutiny of their last trick, that’s not how magic works. Magicians move on to the next trick before the audience has time to diagnose or scrutinize how a trick was done. If you keep the audience moving from trick to trick to trick there is no time for scrutiny, and they instead accept the false reality that the magician asserts. As long as the magician draws an audiences full attention to their next trick, all previous illusions are believed.

This technique is used in many different areas of life. Venture capital and private equity perform one 'fortune creating’ trick after another. Look back over all of those ‘successes’ and assess the long term value created for society or for customers? Nothing…it all disappeared in a puff of smoke but the investors have made their money and moved on. The same will be true of many technology promises: social media platforms, AI, crypto schemes. Their ‘trick’ is to keep the momentum going and don’t allow anyone to look back or scrutinize their true contribution. If you want to halt this deception, step back, don’t allow the narrative to move on and scrutinize the truth of what has been achieved. Such scrutiny will finally land on at least one of the over-hyped tech companies, financial institutions, billionaire owned media company or Crypto pundits in 2026. They will be exposed as frauds and their massive ‘smoke and mirror’ deceptions will collapse publicly.

My concluding thought from last year’s reading, which had the same card in the same position, still stands: “We empower them and by the same mechanisms we have the power to unseat them and expose their trickery.” Stay vigilant, scrutinize claims and don’t let the magician direct your attention towards something new, before the truth of their assertions have been established.

5. What we do not expect: ALETHIA

ALETHIA means Truth. Literally translated as a “truth that will be revealed”.

What none of us expect from anyone, even ourselves, is the truth. Our immersion in a world ruled by Abraxas leaves us without trust, increasingly polarized, disengaged and paralyzed by fear and uncertainty.

In 2026 the truth will out. Truths will surface that a lot of us would prefer to keep hidden.

What I mean by that is that we are hard-wired not to acknowledge or deal with realities that compete with our existing beliefs and comforting points of view. It is well proven that our mind experiences only what we want to see, what we expect to see, what we find comfortable, familiar and easy to see. Everyone, regardless of the nature of their upbringing or their social privilege, are the products of repeated traumas that cause us to constantly ‘narrow’ our worldview as we age.

We start life, not as a blank slate, but with inherited personality predispositions. Research has also shown how epigenetic traits (latent personality characteristics carried in our DNA) can be triggered by trauma such as famine or stress. Increasingly psychologists are exploring whether these ‘inherited traits’ also occur from the stresses of normal development.

The reason I mention this is because, as with all trauma, living under the rule of Abraxas naturally results in a narrowing of your perspective. When we experience trauma (whether severe or minimal) our mind goes into protection mode. We start to be over sensitive to certain things (hypervigilance) and often imagine them when they are not there. A vicious cycle created because it’s easier to reinforce what we already believe than it is to question it. We become hyper-focussed on our fears and anxieties — resulting in an increasingly fractured and fragmented sense of self— confusion, paralysis, despair and/or rage.

What the card ALETHIA tells us, is that we have to work hard to see past our fears and to see the truth of the situation. Ask yourself what illusion are you currently protecting because dismantling it would cost to much or cause too much pain? We have to heal from our trauma so that we can have awareness and visibility of our whole-selves—who we are and what we could be— both individually and collectively.

There is an ancient wisdom: “As within, so without”. The secret to unearthing truth is that it starts with knowing yourself. Knowing your own mind, your own self, your own psychology and your own true nature. As you deepen your knowledge of your true self, so you will be able to identify deeper truths in the world around you. Discovering truths is never comfortable, easy or simple. No matter how many times we avoid them, tell ourselves they are not important or declare them ‘fake news’, they keep rising to the surface until we deal with them.

6. What will be: ELPIS

The final card tells us the final outcome. This card ELPIS means hope or anticipation.

Modern Christianity paints ‘Hope’ as a positive force but ancient wisdom saw it differently —both a positive and a negative force. In other posts I’ve written about how ‘Hope’ was the one remaining evil after Pandora’s curiosity released all other evils from a jar (not a box). For this reading, I think it’s worth digging into this a little because it relates to how we deal with Abraxas’ deceptions and how we navigate towards truth.

Throughout history, philosophers (Aristotle, Plato, JS Mill, Kant to name but a few) have questioned whether hope is evil because it distracts us from embracing reality. In “The Myth of Sisyphus,” Albert Camus describes how hope keeps us fixated on an unpredictable future rather dealing with our meaningless reality.

But this is where the nature of Hope can vary from person to person. Especially in the context of Abraxas. There are three ways to think of hope as a response to Abraxas:

1. False hope feeds Abraxas: Those who fall under his spell will fall deeper and deeper into the deception. Once down this path, cognitive dissonance makes it hard to get out. Our natural response is to double down on the false reality and participate in the pursuit of self interest— getting all you can for yourself and your tribe. This response socially reinforces the delusions of Abraxas, making it even more powerful. However, because it is all predicated on a lie, and not grounded in any truth, it also feeds societal division, fear and a the destruction of order.

   
   

2. Hollow hopes prolong Abraxas’ reign: Those who resist the false realities of Abraxas will suffer a debilitating crisis of trust—uncertain who or what to believe and despairing at the overtly selfish or corrupted behaviors. Many of us are not strong enough in their own self-knowledge, confident in our own convictions, nor convinced by the corrective forces of the universe and nature to stand up to Abraxas, even when we know it’s a lie. This second group of people, who have yet to master their inner guidance systems, grasp at false hopes only to be disappointed. For them hope turns into a dispiriting optimism that leads to greater emptiness and cynicism. We’ve all seen the consequence of hope not deeply felt, it manifests as jaundiced views from the sidelines; trolling of anyone who takes action; the invisible cage of fear and judgement, that creates paralysis while also maintaining the status quo.

   
   

3. True hope weakens Abraxas: ‘Hope’ is an entirely different energy for people with inner strength and the confidence of gnosis (knowing). For them, Hope is a positive energy that fuels perseverance and resilience. Macarius the Great saw Hope as “an anticipatory joy” that sustains someone through the labors of spiritual truth. For him, when Hope combines with a deeply understood truth, it becomes an energizing force that feed and sustains us through the inevitable suffering, persecution and struggle that is awaiting us.

   
   

So, even if we can’t find this radiant version of hope within ourselves, we must be on the lookout for ‘True Hope’ in 2026. And where you see it in others, we must unite with it.

To end the reign of Abraxas we must do more than reject lies and deception. We must also abandon cynicism, fear and judgement of people who have the courage to take action. Be on the look out for truths that well up in your heart, when you are being at your most honest with yourself, and act on them. Do not mind the cynics because they will never achieve anything. If you cannot find an energizing ‘True Hope’ within yourself, align with someone who seems energized by it, they will be radiating love and joy and are the most likely to achieve real progress.

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