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December 29, 2025, through January 4, 2026

It seems work will be calling our names the last Monday and Tuesday of the year under the Taurus Moon, but getting things completed now will give us a clear run into the new year ahead. The last day of this year and the first day of next year will shine under a Gemini Moon, and Mercury will join the party of planets in Capricorn on the first day of the year. With so much goat energy kicking the year off, we’re sure to experience a shift in stability, success, and consciousness for the entirety of 2026! We’ll have a Cancer full Moon on Saturday, which will add to the security-conscious plans we are making, and call for a two-week cycle of releasing anything that is holding us back or creating blocks to forward movement. Sunday’s Leo Moon insists we spend the day keeping the focus on ourselves for a change, renewing, regrouping, and reviving our dreams for the future!

Get Ready for Your Year Ahead with a Tarot Tableau Reading, by Thomas Witholt

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

If you've been reading cards for a while, you might have heard of a tableau or grand tableau but not know what it is or why it's perfect for this time of year.

Reading the Big Picture
Le grand tableau of the Lenormand method is a card reading that uses all the cards in the deck to reveal predictive insights for you or your client, but it's not just a tool for Lenormand readers. Whether you read with tarot cards, Kipper cards, playing cards, or even runes, you can conduct a tableau to see what the future holds. And if you use a numbered oracle deck, you can even use oracle cards (but read on for some cautions).

The term grand tableau helps distinguish this type of reading from, say, a future-oriented three-card reading. The phrase grand tableau has two meanings in French. The first is "big table," reminding you that you'll need a lot of space to lay out so many cards. While this is a funny and practical translation, the other translation is more helpful for understanding the method's purpose for divination: "big picture." A grand tableau shows you what's coming up in all areas. It's not just a peek into the future; it's a wall-sized window.

A Tableau Is Not Just a Whole Mess of Cards
When you're conducting a traditional tableau, or even a more modern approach like my own Tarot Tableau method, you're dealing a large number of cards (the whole deck, all the major arcana, all the runes, etc.) into a predefined grid.

With the Lenormand, Kipper, my Tarot Tableau, and some rune readings, the tableau grid is organized in rows and columns with positions following the same sequence as the original system.

For example, a Kipper grand tableau's third position is called the House of Marriage, which is the third card in the deck. In a Tarot Tableau, the last position would be called the House of the World.

These House positions provide a sequential order that allows for prediction. Things unfold in a particular sequence, left to right or right to left, as you progress through the year, month, or week. If you have 9 columns of cards in your Kipper tableau and are looking 9 months ahead, you can get a sense of the general vibe or major event of month 5 by looking at column 5. Isn't that convenient?

But the Houses do more than just tell you the order for laying out your cards. They indicate areas of you or your querent's life, and these are used to conduct lovely little mini-readings into specific areas of life. This is what allows a tableau to provide such a big-picture view. It also gives you a starting point with the tableau if you're overwhelmed by seeing so many cards on the table. (You're not alone in that.)

You're a tarot reader who wants to know about creative endeavors? Look to the House of the Empress. You want guidance on where things are at risk of falling apart? Look to the House of the Tower.

This combination of a predictive sequence and an all-encompassing view of things make tableaux (the plural of tableau) incredibly rich for seeking insights about the future. It's a prediction and advice about what you can do about it all in one. Once you're comfortable with the big picture and those individual mini-readings, you can go even deeper and learn to cross-verify predictions and uncover subtle interactions between the cards based on their relative positions. There are so many great techniques available for those who love learning and digging in!

Putting Predictive Readings in Perspective
With predictive readings, it's important to keep in mind how you believe predictive readings work. Does your divination give you a probable trajectory of current events that you can take advantage of or avoid? Is the future written in stone? How much leeway do you have to change the predicted outcome, and how hard is it to do so? Answers to these will help you set the right intentions and have the right expectations about your reading. They'll also help you use the wisdom you divine, and that's sometimes the hardest part for even long-time readers.

A common theory is that the further out you read, the more things can change from the time of reading. A year is a long time for even small changes to have a large impact; just ask someone who sticks with a simple New Year resolution for the whole year. But when looking at the week ahead, you might need to take more dramatic action to shift the tide of events. A year-ahead reading helps you chart your goals, whereas a week-ahead is more helpful for taking necessary precautions or setting expectations about the next seven days.

And remember, even a "bad" warning about the week ahead can be good for you if it helps you reset your expectations or take reasonable steps to shift the expected outcome.

Using a Tableau for Reflection and Goal-Setting
Even if you don't believe that you can predict the future in a meaningful way, you may still benefit from the wide-ranging look at the "big picture" of a tableau.

I often work with creative clients who want help overcoming obstacles in completing their passion projects while they're managing a difficult situation at their day job, and they're also looking for guidance on their love life. All of that can be found within a tableau. Not all of it will be equally important, at least not according to the tableau itself if you're doing a traditional predictive reading, but it's there for the uncovering.

And if you've ever run into a situation where you're reading for someone who doesn't know what they need a reading for, a tableau is a great solution because once you start talking about one topic in the reading, your querent may realize they want you to look into something completely different. No problem! It's already there in front of you.

You can also use the wide-ranging spread for personal reflection by letting the card in each House help you reflect on that area of your life. If you're like me and like to have specific questions, you might want to have those handy ahead of time. (If you have the Seaborn Kipper, you'll find several reflection questions for each card.) But open-ended reflection is a powerful tool, too.

Getting Started with Tableaux
The first time you lay out all 36 cards in a Kipper tableau or even all 22 major arcana in a Tarot tableau, it can feel like a lot. And there's a reason for that: it is a lot. And if you're used to getting fifteen minutes of insight out of three cards, the thought of seven or twelve times as many may seem like it's going to take all day to read the spread. But it doesn't have to be difficult.

When you read with a lot of cards, you don't need to read them all individually. You're looking for patterns and themes that are repeated. It's not important that the Devil and Death and the Tower are all in your Tarot tableau because all 22 major arcana are in there. If you didn't see the Devil and Death and the Tower, you’d have a bigger problem because you'd have some missing cards. Instead of a smaller reading, when the point of the reading is which cards are there and what of their many nuanced meanings are brought to life, the trick to a tableau is knowing how to pay attention to which cards are where and letting their core essence tell it to you clearly.

As with any form of divination, it takes practice, but here are some simple tips:

1. Set a specific time period.
   If you want a predictive reading, choose something that feels reasonable for prediction and for reflecting on the prediction. Know how each column corresponds to that time period, such as a column per day or per week or per month. I recommend starting with a week if you're new to predictive readings.
2. Set an intention for your focus (general life, work life, side hustle, love life).
   You can see all aspects of yourself in a tableau, but if you have a complicated (or "multipassionate") life, a general reading with no boundaries can be unnecessarily complicated.
3. Choose a significator.
   In Lenormand and Kipper, this is usually decided for you. In my Tarot Tableau method, it's always the Fool who's on a journey through life. But if you're using another system, you should know which card represents you. Once you've laid out the cards, you can see what's going on in the House of your significator and you can see where your significator has landed to give you perspective on the situation at hand.
4. Choose 2–3 specific aspects that you want to investigate.
   Once you have these, decide which Houses will reveal the most useful information for you. For example, if you're a Kipper card reader looking for predictive insights on a new written project, you may look to the House of the Letter and the House of Work. Once you have your tableau laid, you will know to focus on those specific Houses.
5. See where else your intuition guides, but be okay with leaving cards unread.
   When you’re just getting started, it's important to let things go. Don't read all the cards just because they're there. It's just too much information for most readers, and it's totally overwhelming for new readers. However, your intuition may not let you stick to your intentions around just 2–3 specific areas. Trust your intuition. It may reveal small details or help you see patterns that are relevant in subtle ways that may not show up in the expected places.

Using Oracle Decks and Other Systems for a Tableau
I mentioned early on that you can use an oracle deck for a tableau with certain cautions. This is true of a tableau made with any divination system: a good tableau requires two things. It needs to have a clear sequential order and it needs to offer insights into a wide range of things.

Some oracle decks meet both criteria. They are numbered sequentially and they cover all of the main areas that you might want for a reading (love, career, money, personal happiness). Some oracle decks do not.

If you're using an oracle deck like the Hedgewitch Botanical Oracle by Siolo Thompson, my first oracle deck and a perennial favorite, you can use the alphabetical listings in the guidebook as the sequence. You might just want to create a numbered list to help you remember. And you'll have to decide for yourself what the House of Lady's Mantle/Magic means to you in terms of your reading. Set that intention ahead of time and know where you're going to look for, say, money if you want to know about money (Hollyhock for Abundance would be my suggestion). With clear intentions, you can make it work. But if you're using an oracle deck that skews toward more abstract meanings and has a sort of haphazard structure that's hard to organize for yourself, you might struggle. It's doable, but it's not nearly as easy to do.

Even more abstract forms of divination, such as scrying or bibliomancy, are even harder to wrangle into a tableau. I love both methods and reading tableaux, but even I wouldn't bother with a bibliomancy or water-scrying tableau. It might be a fun thought experiment, but it's probably not a useful reading.

Looking at the Year Ahead
I hope that you're excited to explore the weeks, months, and years ahead with a tableau. There are so many ways to read your cards, and whether you're looking for predictive insights to help guide you, seeking creative new ways of thinking about your future, or hoping to simply reflect on particular aspects of your life, a tableau is a great place to start.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2025. All rights reserved.

I've been suffering from night terrors for almost 10 years now. I've searched the web and most sites recommend visualizing white light or other processes that involve visualization. The problem is that visualizing anything is very difficult for me to do. Do you have any other options for me?

D.

Astrea:

For my son, putting his shoes under the bed keeps most of his nightmares under control. It doesn't matter what kind of shoes they are; the important thing is that they were worn that day. He's been using this method since he was nine, and he's 34 now. Usually, that's enough.

Each pair is placed heel to heel, going in opposite directions. This is said to confuse the Night Mares that haunt us. This often works, but for some reason, it seems to be hard to remember.

For my Goddaughter, it took a St. Benedict medal under her mattress and a St. Michael's medal around her neck. St. Benedict is said to discourage anything violent or scary, and St. Michael will spread His wings across your bed to keep the uglies away.

Even if you're not of a faith that includes Michael as the most powerful Angel in heaven, you can still see that the Force is with Him. The Archangel Michael can be a powerful, protective Force for Peace and a peaceful night's sleep, too. He's the only Angel who is also considered a Saint, and he's great at eliminating negative vibes. I keep an old-fashioned prayer card of him by my front and back doors just to feel a little safer in this crazy world.

My last suggestion is a flint arrowhead in a half a glass of water. Drop a (clean and scrubbed) flint arrowhead into about half a glass of water, pray in your own way for pleasant dreams, remove the arrowhead and drink the water. The arrow will shoot the nightmare as it comes into your being, and you won't experience it anymore.

I think you'll discover that once you get into a habit of doing something to prevent these creatures from haunting you, the night terrors will begin to dissipate; they'll happen less and less because it's no fun for an entity to attack someone who is unafraid.

I know you'll find the right ritual to keep your night terrors from haunting you. Just realizing that you're safe and secure despite them is a huge step away from that darkness. Good luck and sweet dreams!

*****

Susyn:

There are a number of ways to eliminate night terrors. Visualizing a protective field around you may only be effective until you fall asleep, so you'll want to add some protective measures that function throughout the night and don't require your conscious efforts anyway.

Turquoise and lapis lazuli stones are known for their protective energies. I recommend you place one or both under your pillow or on a nightstand as you sleep.

Salt is another powerful mineral for absorbing and eliminating forces that could cause night terrors. Place a few small packets of salt under your pillow in addition to the stones; little packs of salt from restaurants work well.

Once you've established a protective environment with these minerals, the next step is to record the night terrors. Often when we pay direct attention to such troubles, they begin to fade on their own.

Keep a tape recorder or pen and pad near your bed. Every time you're awakened by a nightmare, record the details you recall. Each time you do this, you will be confronting your fears and deciphering the messages trying to emerge from your subconscious. Then you can determine if the night terrors are originating from some past trauma or an entity or influence outside of yourself.

There are some other possibilities you may want to consider if you find the cause to be environmental. Some people get relief from night terrors by changing the position in which they sleep. If your bed is positioned north to south, realign it to run east and west.

Electromagnetic fields in the earth's core can sometimes generate disturbed sleep, so you may also want to purchase an electro-magnetic field tester to see if there are high EMF's being emitted from a ceiling fan, alarm clock, lamp or other electrical appliance in your bedroom.

If you still experience nightmares once you've investigated these possibilities, call in a metaphysical professional; a psychic or Spiritualist should be able to offer you additional remedies.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.