The attitude in 2023
The Sun – This year brings a lot of freshness and new perspectives, but only by letting go of the old resentments and cleaning up the messes that created them.
Ostensibly, it will be a rewarding year. After all the collective experiences, losses and learnings of the last 3 years, many people are looking for more simple happinesses and are very hopeful for a good year. There is an urge to break out of restrictions and spend money on pleasure, but again it’s in the pursuit of renewed joy. This is a time of vitality and good health, enjoying good company and shared experiences.
The year is especially good for people who are balanced in their behaviour. For those who are not feeling balanced, they will find more opportunities to change their lives and fewer excuses not to change. It’s a time for taking responsibility for one’s self, and for facing things that have not been working for you. Living in denial just doesn’t work anymore. Now is the time for removing the broken things from your life in all ways.
Some people however, are feeling desperate or depleted, and instead of simplifying their life & lifestyle, they are trying to get back to the old ways or make up for lost time. Therein lies the problem of this year. The world has irreversibly moved on from 2019, and will continue to move on regardless of what any of us think or how hard we try to stop it.
2023 is a 7 year numerologically, and in the tarot cards it is represented by both The Chariot and The Tower. These create the themes for the year, and are associated with inner truth, progress, and breaking limitations.
7 wants us to be true to ourselves, to discover what matters, to listen to what our heart values and then follow it. The Chariot impels us to change what is stagnant or outmoded. It encourages a capacity for clear-eyed thinking and progressive ideals which compel us to be true to ourselves. Combining this with the Tower means that these changes will be vast and disruptive. The Tower shakes people and events to their core, and demands that we wake up to ourselves, break out of ruts and habits and find better ways to live.
All of this will combine to help us to visualise new plans for our lives and to create new paths towards them. To make success of this however, we must change our attitudes and clean up the messes that created our problems in the first place.
The influences and surrounding environment
Death – The old ways end here but the new ways haven’t yet started. Ghosts from the past must first be revisited. This year marks the pivot point between the old era and the new era. What we may have thought was dead, finalised or just history will come back to be readdressed, seeking justice and new healing.
As we progress further into the current millennium, much of the self-interested attitudes of the previous millennium continue to fight for control. Despite a growing awareness that this planet really is a global village and that our mutual survival depends on mutual support of each other, there are many who still cling to the “me first” attitudes of the past, afraid that giving others equality means that they will lose their own privilege and alleged superiority. As such, the ferocity of unevolved selfish entitlement and the “might is right” and “greed is good” mentality continues to try to suppress equality, equity, mutual consideration and universal respect.
Coupled with this is a pervasive sense of apprehension and fatigue in many ways. Everyone wants the emotional turmoils to end, but they simply will not end by themselves and no one else will end them for you. Demanding and entitled behaviour has become outdated, but many people have so much pain and disappointment from their pasts that they live insisting that their current expectations must be met. Others have such long term and unresolved feelings of anxiety or depression that they cannot conceive of how it would feel to be balanced. When presented with ways to think and feel better now, they may struggle to let go of their dependency on struggling.
The more that people engage in the old demanding and complaining, the worse their outcomes will be, either directly or karmically linked. In order to change these behaviours they need to address their sense of overwhelm, come to terms with their underlying fears, and find feelings of forgiveness.
2023 sees people come together to question who we are and what we’re about. Each of us will face the personal choices about what we believe in, and how we will choose to live and let live going forward in this year and in the years ahead.
So how do we both stand up for our truth, and yet co-operate and compromise with those whose truths are different?
The answer is that we have to learn how to accept differences and create societies where all differences can live together harmoniously. This will be an enormously steep learning curve for everyone one of us.
Change means letting go of something. This will come to each of us in many new ways. There is also a lot of resistance to this change because people are afraid of it. Afraid that they will lose out, that it will bring disastrous outcomes, that if others score a win it will mean that they must lose.
We are being forced to change in order to progress.o
Our hopes and fears
The Lovers – This year brings up choices between different ways of living life, and asks us each to define what it is that we need. It asks us to examine the nature of relationships, to consider the needs and burdens of others, and to question if our expectations are fair or unreasonable.
We can easily point to corporate greed and malevolent government and accuse them of unfairness, but what about the unfairness that we all exhibit in some way to the people around us every day? Where are we refusing to carry our weight, do our fair share, or fix ourselves rather than accusing others of being broken?
Everyone has some pain, wounding and fear. We habitually hang on to our wounds as a legacy of all we’ve suffered, and by hanging on, we perpetuate the suffering. By letting go of the importance of these feelings, we can be more ready to enjoy life and the benefits that this year will bring.
Calm is required – calm, grounding, patience, a willingness for people and governments alike to stop looking at self aggrandizement or furthering their own self gain, and to start actually listening to the people around them and what people need.
Who we are need not be defined by the past or our experiences. Now we are being called on to define ourselves for ourselves.
The likely outcome
The Magician – This year will show us all what goals are possible, and highlight areas that must change in order to achieve these goals. We can expect various improvements in almost all areas of life, and by meeting challenges and expanding comfort zones a lot can be achieved this year. It is a year for planning and for addressing questions about who you are, what you’re about, what you believe in, and how you will chose to live and let live going forward in this year and the years ahead.
Because the world will be in flux, the economic situation is uncertain and will quiver in response to each change and event around it. These wobbly circumstances mean that untested ideas and excessive financial outlays are very risky this year. So test your ideas before implementing them, do your research, and make small investments to further your mission. Uncover the difference between what your instincts tell you and what your ego is telling you. Find where your balance lies between good foundations and wishful aspirations. Therein lies this year’s magic.
By doing the work on yourself and your life you can fulfil your ambitions and achieve many of your goals. Just keep saying this little mantra – “A week, a month, a year, it doesn’t matter how long it takes, I will stick to my path and achieve my goals.”
Wishing you a year of good health, good humours, and illuminating discoveries.