remember your magic
what 2017 can teach you about 2026
In tarot, 2026 is a Wheel of Fortune year—and also a Magician year.
I love The Wheel of Fortune—I think of it as a challenge to consider who we want to be in the circumstances presented to us. But The Magician resonates more right now because I need to feel agency in this painful moment when xenophobia and murder have become our norm again.
The Magician stands ready to conjure, reminding us that we have the power to transform our circumstances using tools already in hand. Everything we need is already present. We just have to choose what to create with first.
If you’re like me, you forget your power all the time. This post by corinna rosella reminded me to mine my own history to remember my tools, my power, and my agency.
The last Magician/Wheel of Fortune year was 2017.
Think back to 2017. Think about both the twists of fate that got you to where you are today and the agency you brought to those twists. The skills you already possessed. The magic you made out of what was available to you.
Here’s some of what 2017 held for me:
After Donald Trump's inauguration, a federal hiring freeze blocked the career change I was desperate to make. Stuck, I threw myself into the difficult job I already had and nailed it. When the freeze lifted, I applied for a promotion I wouldn't have considered otherwise. I got it. That twist of fate - not getting what I wanted, then stretching for something bigger - propelled me forward. In the coming years, I hit career milestones a full decade earlier than I expected.
It was also the year I edged closer to my divorce. A really big revelation happened in my marriage. We decided that year to move with our young children from a small town in Massachusetts across country to Seattle, in part for the promotion but also so we could get the mental health support our family needed. While my marriage ultimately ended, it was the start toward a very healthy revised relationship that is truer to both of us.
Looking back, I can see how much agency I actually had in a year that felt like pure chaos and held an immeasurable amount of heartache.
I didn't have ideal circumstances. I had a hiring freeze, a difficult job, a failing marriage, and young children who needed support. I was grieving deeply for the lost opportunity and my crumbling marriage. But I also used what was already on my table: my professional competence, my clarity about my family's needs, my willingness to make a hard choice to uproot my family serve multiple purposes. I made what I could out of what was presented to me. The Wheel of Fortune was turning, but I was also the Magician. I took things that were available and transformed them into something new.
Some reflection prompts for you:
What did 2017 hold for you? How did the Wheel of Fortune turn?
What skills did you develop or lean on? What tools did you already have?
How were you the Magician? How did you use your skills and tools to make magic from your circumstances?
What tools do you have right now that make you the Magician in 2026?
The Wheel turns whether we want it to or not. But you’re not just along for the ride. You have tools, and I’m certain you’ve done stunningly impressive things in less than ideal circumstances before. You know how to make magic out of what’s in front of you.
What will you choose to create first?
If you’re not already connected to ways to help and it is within your means, here’s a mutual aid guide for Minneapolis.
I love this lesson about the temporary block propelling growth. Inspiring! 💖