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Kerykeion

New Year Spread #

Introduction #

The turn of the calendar year carries collective power—billions of humans marking the same threshold, setting intentions, feeling the psychic weight of ending and beginning. Whether at January 1st, the winter solstice, or another culturally significant moment, the new year offers an invitation to conscious transition.

This spread is designed for that threshold moment. Unlike the Year Ahead Spread which maps each month, this reading focuses on the transition itself: what you’re completing, what you’re initiating, and the wisdom you carry across.

Use this spread in the days surrounding your new year, whenever that is for you.

The Layout #

The Past Year
1 Lesson
2 Gift
3 Release
4 Threshold
The Coming Year
5 Theme
6 Challenge
7 Blessing

Drawing order: Lesson (1), Gift (2), Release (3), Threshold (4), Theme (5), Challenge (6), Blessing (7)

The spread moves from past through present threshold into future.

The Positions #

Position 1: The Lesson of the Past Year #

What it represents: The central teaching the past year brought you. What you were meant to learn.

This card answers: What was I meant to learn this past year?

Reading this position:

  • Honor the lesson, whether easy or difficult
  • If you missed the lesson, it may repeat
  • Understanding the lesson integrates the experience

Position 2: The Gift of the Past Year #

What it represents: The blessing or positive development the past year brought, even amid difficulty.

This card answers: What gift did this past year give me?

Reading this position:

  • Every year brings some gift
  • It may be growth, relationships, skills, or wisdom
  • Carry this gift forward with gratitude

Position 3: What to Release #

What it represents: What you must leave behind as the old year ends. What should not cross the threshold.

This card answers: What must I release to enter the new year?

Reading this position:

  • Some things need to stay in the old year
  • Release makes space for what’s coming
  • This may be painful but is necessary

Position 4: The Threshold (Center) #

What it represents: The energy of the transition itself. What the crossing between years holds.

This card answers: What is the nature of this threshold I’m crossing?

Reading this position:

  • This card illuminates the transition moment
  • It may suggest how to cross consciously
  • The threshold itself is a powerful place

Position 5: The Theme of the Coming Year #

What it represents: The central energy, archetype, or focus of the year ahead.

This card answers: What will be the theme of my coming year?

Reading this position:

  • This is your guiding image for the year
  • Return to it when you need direction
  • Let it shape your intentions and focus

Position 6: The Challenge of the Coming Year #

What it represents: The primary difficulty, growth edge, or testing point you’ll face.

This card answers: What challenge will I face this coming year?

Reading this position:

  • Forewarned is forearmed
  • The challenge is where your growth lies
  • Prepare without fearing

Position 7: The Blessing of the Coming Year #

What it represents: The grace, gift, or blessing available to you in the year ahead.

This card answers: What blessing awaits me this year?

Reading this position:

  • This is promised, not earned
  • Receive with open hands
  • The blessing may balance the challenge

Reading the Spread #

The Arc of Transition #

Past (1-3): What you’ve learned, received, and must release Threshold (4): The crossing itself Future (5-7): What you’re entering—theme, challenge, blessing

This structure honors that new years aren’t just about looking forward but about consciously completing what was.

The Balance of Challenge and Blessing #

Cards 6 and 7 work together:

  • How might the blessing help with the challenge?
  • Does the challenge prepare you to receive the blessing?
  • Together, what do they say about the year’s texture?

Working With This Spread #

New Year Ritual #

Create ceremony around this reading:

Before the New Year:

  1. Review the past year through journaling
  2. Make a list of gratitudes and lessons
  3. Prepare your space with candles and intention

At the Threshold:

  1. Draw your seven cards with ceremony
  2. Take time with each, journaling thoroughly
  3. Create a release ritual for Card 3 (burn something symbolic)
  4. Welcome the new year by physically stepping over a threshold

After:

  1. Write your theme (Card 5) somewhere visible
  2. Create a symbol or altar for the year
  3. Return to the reading monthly

Sample Reading #

Question: “What do I need to know crossing into this new year?”

Cards Drawn:

  • Lesson: Ten of Swords
  • Gift: Strength
  • Release: The Devil
  • Threshold: Death
  • Theme: The Star
  • Challenge: Seven of Pentacles
  • Blessing: The Sun

Reading:

The Past Year:

The Lesson (Ten of Swords) was about endings, perhaps painful ones. You learned that some things must fully end, that hitting bottom is sometimes the teacher, that the worst can happen and you survive.

The Gift (Strength) is the quiet courage you developed. Through the difficulties, you found an inner reservoir of gentle power. This resilience is now part of you.

Release (The Devil): Leave behind the bondage, the addictions, the chains—whatever had you bound must stay in the old year. Don’t carry limiting patterns across.

The Threshold:

Death at the center confirms: this is a profound transition. You’re not just starting a new calendar page but dying to an old self and being reborn. Honor the magnitude of this crossing.

The Coming Year:

The Theme (The Star) promises hope, healing, and renewed faith. After the death of the old, renewal and gentle blessing arrive. This is a year of restoration.

The Challenge (Seven of Pentacles) asks for patience. The healing won’t be instant; you’ll need to tend what grows slowly, waiting for results that take time.

The Blessing (The Sun) offers radiant joy—clarity, vitality, success. After the darkness and the patient waiting, sunshine comes. This is your promised blessing.

Synthesis: You learned through painful endings (Ten of Swords) and gained strength (Strength). Release what’s bound you (Devil) as you cross a profound threshold (Death) into a year of hope and healing (Star). The challenge is patience (Seven of Pentacles), but the blessing is radiant joy (Sun). From darkness through transformation to light.

Journaling Prompts #

  1. Lesson integration: What specific experiences taught me the lesson of Card 1? How have I grown?

  2. Gift recognition: Where do I see Card 2’s gift in myself? How will I use it going forward?

  3. Release ritual: What specifically represents Card 3 that I can symbolically release tonight?

  4. Threshold meditation: What does it mean that Card 4 describes my crossing? How can I honor this?

  5. Theme embodiment: If Card 5 were my motto for the year, what would change about how I live?

Affirmation #

I complete what was. I release what must stay behind. I cross the threshold with courage. I embrace the theme of my new year. I accept its challenge and receive its blessing. A new year begins, and I am ready.

The turning of the year is a powerful moment—collective and personal, mundane and sacred. This spread helps you cross that threshold consciously, honoring what was while opening to what will be.

May your new year be blessed. May you meet it with wisdom, courage, and open arms.