22 Days to the End of the Year – A Spread To Help You Cope

The end of the calendar year is a completely artificial construct – I mean, Time isn’t aware that we humans have segmented it in various ways in a semi-pathetic attempt to control it – but we all buy into it because, well, try ignoring the calendar and see how well that works.

Also, if you run a business or have a job or have kids (or really, are just on the planet and breathing), there are certain externally imposed tasks that must be completed by this artificial, and yet inevitable, deadline, or else Bad Things Will Happen. And there’s probably a holiday or two (or more) that you want to observe between now and December 31. (Although “want” isn’t always the right word with holidays, but that’s another post.)

There are 22 calendar days left in the year. Remove one or two days for Frantic Holiday Preparations for Holiday of Your Choice, remove said Holiday, remove December 31 because it’s a short work day for a lot of people (other than Retail and Hospitality employees), and you have 18 days to do it all. The mere thought is enough to make a T Rex molt.

So, let’s take a deep breath, exhale, and look at the List of Things That Must Be Done Or Else.

First, how many of those really and truly *must* happen? If any of them don’t happen by 5:00 pm on December 31, how dire are the consequences?  If the consequence is that your electricity will be turned off, or the government will give you a hefty fine for not doing something, that’s a Must Do. If the consequence is that  you’ll just have to do it on January 2 and no one will mind, it can wait until January 2.

Now that you’ve marked up your list, it is (hopefully) smaller and more manageable.

Certain things can be done only at certain times or places. You can only grocery shop when the store is open, although the number of places where one can purchase groceries has expanded greatly. (Still, you probably can’t pick up everything for your Christmas Brunch or Kwanzaa supper at Office Max.) Sort out those items, and you’re left with the list of Oh My God When Is This Going to Get Done? (OMGWITGTGD, or “I Need A Drink NOW”.)

So, take that list, and pick the three biggest things. If you have a list that has fewer than three things, congratulations!

This is a simple two card spread, one spread for each item on your list.

Card 1: What is keeping you from accomplishing this item? This may be an internal or external block – for example, fear, lack of motivation, lack of information, lack of cooperation from others.

Card 2: What you can do to deal with this block.

We did this spread at San Francisco Tarot Cafe last week, so I’ll share the reading I received there. We added a bit of a twist – Card 1 was drawn by the client from their own deck, and Card 2 was drawn by the reader from their own deck, just to make it a bit more interesting.

I drew Card 1 from David Palladini‘s Aquarian Tarot, and received the Queen of Swords. What is keeping me from accomplishing this task is being too caught up in my head, thinking about everything I have to do and giving in to the sense of impending doom attached to it all. Also, being distracted by things that aren’t worth my attention is a problem. I need to trim my list and refocus my thinking.

For Card 2, my reading partner drew from the Pagan Cats Tarot. Two cards stuck together – the Three of Cups (showing three cats in the usual RWS scheme of holding cups and doing a circle dance) and the Four of Cups (showing a cat sleeping next to four cups). Her suggestion was to go dancing, get drunk, and take a long nap.

While that precise course of action isn’t feasible, I took the suggestion to mean I could lighten up and enjoy the holidays (we celebrate pretty much every December holiday we can find). Do the best I can to fulfill my responsibilities, work when I’m at work, and let it go when it’s time to be with family and friends.

I’m trying to put this into practice – for example, I took *all* of Saturday off – slept in, played online, read in front of the fire all evening. Today I’ve done some work, but nothing too strenuous. Tomorrow, I will be back at my desk and greet my to do list with calm determination (instead of feelings of oppression and doom), and see how it goes.

I’d love to hear how your readings go with this spread! Feel free to add a Comment!