More and more I’m conscious of intention with everything I think, say and do. So as I shuffled the cards for my customary one card reading at the beginning of a new year I said to myself, “I ask that I bring through only information from the highest and purest source of light and love, and information that will facilitate the most powerful positive shift for everyone who reads it, and the planet as a whole.” So if after that advance warning you’re still happy to read on, then here we go!

My heart warmed as I turned over the Princess of Cups. I love the grace and beauty of this card which has a gently joyful quality.

2016, then, is a year to dive deeply into our spiritual natures, our connection to the divine, our inner truth, and our dreams for the future. First we need to clearly define and understand what each of those things means for us as individuals, and enable ourselves to express them without inhibitions. That means freeing ourselves from manipulation by outside influences and painful emotions, and trusting absolutely in the voice of our own hearts. For some of us that’s already easy, but for others there may be a need to seek out a counsellor or healer to help you identify and release any blocks and limitations holding you back.

When this awareness is crystallised, when we have released the past and are seeing with new clarity, we are then ready to share our true selves with others and the world. We can do this effectively because if we work with the energy of this Princess we’ll have dropped all insecurities and jealousies, and can encounter differing opinions and choices kindly and graciously. There is no need or desire to force our beliefs or ideas on others because, like the dolphin alongside our watery girl, we accept our place as an element of a larger “pod”, within which we’re free to express ourselves lightly, playfully and joyfully. We’re not alone, we’re all one. So if as yet you don’t feel safe to do that, now is the time to go in search of the tribe that will hold that space for you.

2016 is a year when water is going to play a lead role, on many levels. As I type, we’re in the middle of ridiculously heavy and persistent rainfall in the UK where flooding has been traumatic for many communities. At the same time, there is growing concern about drought and diminishing fresh water supplies elsewhere in the world where previously scarcity has not been an issue. This is just a taste of what we can expect to see, but our Princess reminds us never to lose our optimism and to refuse to be dragged under by sadness or despair.

In the Tarot water represents our feelings, among other things, and for me this card is urging us to get real about opening up – about everything. No more stiff upper lip, repressing and containing; we’ve got to start talking about what really matters, what we care about and how we feel about what’s happening to humanity and what we’ve been doing to the planet. It’s a bit like lancing the boil so the infecting poison can be released. We’ve got to remove the stoppers and let the muddy, silty, stagnant water that’s built up over the past centuries flow until it runs clear again.

New challenges require new approaches; we have to flow with the necessary changes that are confronting us. Only then can we share the dreams and visions that will help us find solutions and answers for the future. The best idea kept hidden away and nursed closely to yourself can never manifest, because it never gets put to the test. Dreams remain just that, fanciful theories and vague longings, until they are brought out into the world for practical testing and refining. So I believe that this Princess offers us hope, through openly sharing and implementing our visions with and for each other.

Finally as I look at this card, I’m moved to say that this is the year when we have to learn to love ourselves. It’s true that you can’t extend love and acceptance to others (so desperately needed in the world right now), not fully, unless you first afford those things to yourself. If by the end of 2016 everyone on the planet owned and lived that reality, we’d already be surfing a powerful wave towards what may seem now a distant safe shore.

Semele Xerri

Credit: semelexerri.co.uk