I’m grateful to be here.

Fifty years. 

I have friends who did not make it here.  Their finish lines drawn sooner than mine.

It’s 2025. 

The Me that I and We know (hi!) emerged from the Universe in 1974 and universe willing? There will be more solar returns and lunar baths.

Today (written 1/1/25 and revised 1/11/25), I decided to create a spiritual, if not magical (mind) set and setting for myself and then draw three tarot cards.  Why three?  It’s a number that I like. And it’s a fundamental number, at that, considering human history and experience.  Triads.  Triplets. Trinities.  There is a real balance there. In three.

Like all humans, I learned and developed a, “past, present, future” configuration of thinking about time and existence and have integrated it into my being. My becoming. 

There is what was. 

There is what is. 

And there is what will be. 

(While acknowledging, as I tend towards Taoist and Buddhist lineages, that only the present exists.  Also?  The present cannot exist without the non-present.  Duality. But I’ll get to that in a little bit.)

I like to think about, “then, now, ahead,” as my linguistic framing. Rather than a predictive or purely divinatory approach, I like to consider the wisdom the cards may illuminate related to my lived experience of the ever present NOW and it’s connections to THEN and AHEAD.  It’s not better than anybody else’s framing or approach. You likely have something that works for you.  Great!  Just substitute in your words/constructs for however you currently approach the time trinity of past, present, future. Cool? Cool.

Okay, set and setting?  Check.

Entheogen? Check. (Your mileage and choice of fuel may vary. I find it’s helpful to use cannabis when I dive into any ocean of THEN or AHDEAD, exiting the core reality of HERE AND NOW.)

Snacks, hydration, etc.? Check

Well, what did the cards have to say?

As for “Then”:

Another spin of the wheel of fortune (X, or ten, in the major arcana, or fool’s journey).  Focused on external factors, relinquishing internal control to The Universe, as if it’s separate from Us.  Uttering the name, “God,” or whatever externalized, depersonalized construct of Ultimate Reality with which We, as expressions of The Universe, fool Ourself.

And “Now”:

Emerging from another journey around The Sun (XIX, or nineteen, in the major arcana), enclouded (I drew this card reversed and had chosen that orientation would matter here. Thus, enclouded…), but nevertheless with the emergent clarity of the brightest star in our pinprick in The Universe.  Quite actually life giving.  Here is the understanding of The Universe as expressed in We, humans.  Each and All of Us.  The wheel of fortune, much earlier in the fool’s journey (We are The Fool) is nothing more than the necessary and momentary clinging to separateness.  Life happening to us, rather than the reality that We are expressions of The Universe.  We are Life.  One with The ever-emergent Universe.

Finally, “Ahead”:

The gift of the ace of pentacles.  A single, Earthly, material token offered graciously and confidently.  It sits above a verdant Garden. Edenic.  And through the vibrant, Organic archway?  A vista of distant, rising Mountains. A beginning.  And an ending.  The constant waves of Yin and Yang.  The reality of Duality. Existence and Non-existence.  Clinging and releasing. Observer and observed.  All One. Ahead is an ever emerging beginning. A becoming. And one wherein we deepen our understanding of duality, which is oneness, or synchronicity. A John Lennon lyric comes to mind here, “I am he as you are he, as you are me and we are all together.” Koo Koo Ka Choo.

So yeah, that was one hell of a drawing.  It is optimistic, albeit reasonably cautiously so.  Actually, cloudy.  That reverse The Sun as the “Now” card?  How could heading into 2025 be anything BUT?  You know?  (You know.)  And in the same breath? There is something emerging. Something anti-paradigmatic. Counter-cultural. A blossoming zeitgeist that is more simply humanistic. Inclusive. Trauma-Informed. Neurodiversity-affirming. Genderqueer-affirming. Person-centered.

And it’s earthly.  Materialistic. We will work and accept the gifts of Our labor, and if they are not offered, We have permission to pursue or relinquish them with the knowledge that Our Existence (Self) KNOWS best.  There is no external judge of the decisions We make.  Not really.  So be patient and gentle with Yourself. We are all We have. And We are precious miracles, each and every one of us.

That’s what I got.

I hope you know how much I appreciate you.  (And yes, if you’re reading this, I absolutely mean you.)

We will do the work and We will do the work together. Forever. (I’m now singing “We Go Together” from Grease.  So, thank Universe for levity.)

-G

P.S. The alt-text from the thumbnail image: An image of Fred Rogers, known as Mr. Rogers. He’s a kindly older white man with salt and pepper hair and a red cardigan. He is safe. This is aspirational for me. I try to carry this lineage of human kindness and inclusive, equitable philanthropy. Carrying Mr. Rogers’ energy into 2025.