2023 - Collective Year 7

Keywords: Inspiration, Spirituality, Introspection, Meditation, Truth, Consciousness
Tarot Card Archetype: The Chariot
Secondary Archetype: The Tower

Many years ago, before I was aware of the personal year cycle, I sat down for a reading while attending a local expo. After asking for my birthdate, the reader let me know that I was embarking on a Personal Year 7. “What does that mean?” I asked her. She proceeded to explain that this was the year to climb up to the top of the mountain, take a moment of silence in solitude, and to wait for the answers to arrive.

On a personal level, a 7 Year is about connecting to the source of it all and growing into ourselves - figuring out who we are, truly and at our core. But, because this is a Collective Year 7, meaning everyone is impacted, it’s also about discovering who we are as a people, as a group. This could look like a sudden and deeper collective interest in religion, spirituality, the nature of reality, meditation and so on. Forget the small talk; as a whole, we’re going to be asking ourselves and each other the big questions - “what does it all mean?”, “why are we here?”, “what are we missing?”, “how can we cultivate a greater connection to divinity and our higher selves?”

And as individuals, we cannot dismiss what we bring to this, even if it feels minor or inconsequential. This year is a reminder that we are all connected, and even a thought, or time spent in contemplation, can radiate outward and impact the far reaches of this globe. No one is off the hook. 2023 will shine a big spotlight on how our individual thoughts and attitudes can either restrict this world or expand it. We are apart of all of it - the good, the bad, the intolerable, even if we feel as if we’re removed. This is why it’s so important that in 2023, individually and as a collective, we claim responsibility and aim toward a higher vision.

The number 7 really points to mystery in many ways. It’s the thing we seek that also seeks us. Its significance is rooted in many systems, spiritual and otherwise. Take the 7 musical notes, 7 days of the week, 7 ancient planets, 7 alchemical metals, 7 chakras, 7 seals in revelations, 7 steps on Jacob’s ladder - we could go on. The point is, it’s used frequently to suggest a sense of spiritual reward, fulfilment or completion.

But, it’s a process, and 2023 will see both the efforts and fruits of that process in motion. In fact, many of those examples listed above, while complete as a group, do demonstrate a sense of graduation or moving through a series of intervals. Peace, love and attainment are the rewards, but there is also work involved. We know this world has been heating up for years, literally and metaphorically. The pressure continues to build and in a Year 7, it may even be the driving force compelling us, in exasperation, to take the quest inward. Not as a way of escape, but as a way of sorting out for ourselves what the truth is and how that truth can progress us forward.

As it relates to tarot, the number 7 is associated with 2 Major Arcana cards - The Chariot and The Tower. On the surface, they read quite differently, however, together they contain a very important message for our year ahead. As our spiritual eyes adjust to the darkness that has been, we won’t be able to dismiss or deny any longer the things that aren’t working. As these old structures (internal and external) fall, and our perceptions shift, we must rely heavily on our faith to see us through. As we make this trek in our individual chariots, we should understand that everyone will go at it in their own way, at their own pace. We should not judge what it looks like on the surface or else we'll be back to misunderstandings and miscommunications. As long as we’re all steering in the direction of our truest truth, we will ultimately, at one point or another, all end up at the same destination.