How to pick your tarot card for 2019—and what it means for the year ahead

Anyone who likes getting a little extra guidance straight from the universe probably checks in on their horoscope with some regularity. A fun woo-woo activity you might be missing out on, though? Tarot cards. Each deck contains 78 cards (no two alike), all of which serve the purpose of providing a little insight into your life through the metaphors the cards display. And what better way to kick off the year than by picking out the ones that will be meaningful to you?

For the latest edition of her beloved Many Moons Planner, Los Angeles-based tarot reader Sarah Faith Gottesdiener touches on the three tarot cards of the year—two meant for society as a whole and one just for you. For 2019, Gottesdiener selects the Empress, which includes themes like “the garden of your life, nature, the earth, love, and care,” and the Hanged Woman, which invokes “surrender, gaining different perspectives, and spiritual awakenings.”  You can read these cards together as “a change around [the country’s] value systems, one that will take form as we all do our inner and outer work,” she writes. That is, these changes will make the world more loving, more accepting, and more charitable.

Beyond the general picks of 2019, you can figure out your personal card of the year by following a few simple instructions. Gottesdiener offers four methods you can use to figure out your card. From there, you should pick whichever resonates most deeply.

How to pick your tarot card for 2019, according to Sarah Faith Gottesdiener.

1. Add up your birthdate and the year you were born to get your soul card number. Add your soul card number to either: 2+0+1+9 or 1+9.

2. Add your birth date and your birth month number plus the year: 1+9. (If your birthday is January 1, you’d add 1+1+1+9 together.)

3. Center yourself, take a few deep breaths, and shuffle your deck. Pick a random card out of the deck. This is your year card, if you want it to be.

4. Take some time looking through all the cards in your deck. Pick a card with themes that resonate with you, your dreams, what you’re interested in learning, or qualities you’re interested in embodying.

Use your 2019 tarot card to give yourself an idea of what lies ahead in the new year, but don’t take its meaning too literally. Think of each card as a metaphor, and don’t let your mind go straight for negative conclusions—even drawing the Death card, which can feel disastrous, can simply mean letting go of something in your life. The year ahead is shaping up to be a good one and tarot cards might just let you experience it with a little more depth.

Here’s how to use tarot cards to boost your creativity. Or, find out how to pick the best oracle cards for you.