Happy New Year everyone!

Some of my clients and readers shared how this year rolled into the new with a sense of quietness, and I thought that in this article I will share a bit more mysticism today – about the unique numerology of 2023, which might shed some light into this smooth, almost quiet feeling that they, and perhaps you too, might have felt.

2023 carries the universal energy of the vibration 7. Seven is a very mystical number, with a long history in mysticism and spirituality, and found in almost all religions, spiritual beliefs, esoteric texts, ancient mystical texts, folklore, storytelling, etc. – it is essentially considered a sacred number and usually related to spiritual awakenings. In Vedic astrology, it is also associated to the planetary body Ketu, known as the South Node in Western astrology. In Tarot philosophy and the Western mysteries, 7 is the number of the major arcana the Chariot, the zodiac of Cancer, and also related to the High Priestess, which encompasses within herself the energy of the Moon, Cancer zodiac, and the Chariot. And these are all also connected to the path of Cheth in the Tree of Life, and the vibration of the Secret Lovers and sacred unions. Let’s go one by one, and at the end of the article, I will also show you how you can calculate your own personal year vibration using numerology.

Table of contents:

  • The symbolism of Ketu or the South Node
  • The Chariot and the Moon
  • The High Priestess
  • The path of Cheth
  • The Secret Lovers
  • How to find your own personal year vibration for 2023

Ketu and the South Node

If you were to imagine Ketu as a person – it’d be a monk. In our natal charts, this is the point of past lives, karma, and the many gifts that we’ve come in with in this life – as well as the crosses we carry on our backs. It is also what will draw us back into a sense of comfort and a kind of water well of knowledge and past life wisdom, which we may use for our benefit.

While in astrology we look towards the North Node or Rahu as a point of destiny or path forward in this life, the South Node or Ketu are always connected to that; they are both part of the one axis and like an intimate dance, we pull and push along the way. As I always say to my astrology students and clients, our Ketu is not something we should be moving away from or detaching from necessarily – but it is rather an area of life that we should come to understand, accept and use for its highest benefit, transforming it into its higher manifestation.

Ketu is a highly spiritual body with deep esoteric secrets as well, so when we are under its influence, it supports us in work related to itself such as mysticism, spirituality, and intuitive and self-development. In this way, the year 2023 will support and give rewards in professions related to spirituality, mysticism, research and investigative research mainly, some medical professions, agriculture, humanitarian work and charity, esotericism and occult studies, philanthropy, psychology, and spiritual astrology. 2023 is also a year in which you’ll be supported in your self-development and taking time off for introspection. This will in turn channel more ideas, creatively and professionally, that will support you in the years to come.

It is also about faith. In this year, if you desire to flow most naturally and be more aligned to and successful in your pursuits, you’d have to align your actions to higher values and faith. Whether you believe in God or not, is irrelevant. The fact that higher forces exist is what is truth, and it never needed our validation. But even if you find yourself an atheist, you need to find within yourself something to believe in – something higher, a Northern star of high values to which you must align yourself. It can be love. It can be family. It can be humanity. It can be self-trust and authenticity. You then need to stay true to this Northern star – and stay in integrity.

There is often a lack of integrity in our world, a lack of many things – and this year, these will begin to come to the surface. Discipline, integrity, self-responsibility and accountability are all things we must as humanity begin to resurrect and apply in all of our doings. Also, humility. These are all quiet things because they begin from the within. Faith too is a quiet thing. But threads are always weaving even when we can’t see them. It’s been quite sad to see how weak humanity is – how little was needed for people to separate even further and turn against one another.

You have to have something of higher benevolent power that you believe in and have faith in. If you don’t, then you’ll begin to see the world as only ugly and malevolent; and you will lose your own self because you’ll stop seeing anything benevolent in yourself also. You have to keep, solidify and nurture your bridge to God and to love. Otherwise, you will lose your human spirit, heart and humanness; and will become susceptible to anything harmful to enter you and misguide you. 

Ketu knows – the lantern is inside us, as much as it is above us. A monk knows that the monastery is not meant to entertain him or make him happy always, just as true lovers know that in a relationship too the partner will not always make them happy or entertain them – but it is a kind of sacrament and cross to be carried. Because it is all, whether a marriage or a monastery, a path towards the higher self evolution, self-trust, and towards God. A monk knows – the heaven is found only within us, and from there, seeds can be nurtured, so that love becomes a warm space for all else to be sheltered.

The Chariot from the Scapini Tarot, 15th Century, Italy

The Chariot and the Moon

In Tarot philosophy, the number 7 relates to the major arcana The Chariot. In esotericism, the Chariot is related to the energy of the zodiac of Cancer – which is also called the vehicle of the astral body. This is because Cancer rules the heart and the emotional body, and as we already know, if you’ve been reading my work for a while: emotions are the vehicle of our soul and spiritual body, and the heart is the initiatory pathway to higher consciousness. A lot of people may look at the Chariot and think “wow how can this powerful card be associated with this sensitive Cancerian being who cries at watching sad animal commercials?” Well, to those people I’d encourage them to learn more about esotericism and spiritual astrology.

The major arcana in tarot, and the minor arcana also, are all connected to various zodiacal and astrological associations. Just as the Chariot is related to the energy of Cancer, the minor arcana 2 of Cups is associated with Venus in Cancer. What all these mean however, is not necessarily that all people born with Sun in Cancer are like the Chariot – but it means that the arcana often show the highest manifestation of these energies. In Tarot philosophy, the major arcana portray the evolution of consciousness and the path of life that we all take, but what we choose to do and learn and embody as wisdoms is only an individual choice.

The ruling planet of Cancer, and thus the Chariot, is the Moon – who rules and corresponds to the major arcana the High Priestess, which is why these two arcanas are actually very intimately connected and I’ll discuss this further down. Both the High Priestess and the Chariot essentially connect through the Moon – or in other words, through the heart and through the soul.

The Chariot forms the conclusion of the first cycle of the spiritual evolution along the path of consciousness and simultaneouslt begins the next. This is because the major arcana are basically divided into three cycles, each of seven “keys”. The Chariot has learned how to love and to decide consciously and correctly in his previous phase shown by the Lovers. Now, with emotional mastery and wisdom and discernment, he can move ahead, and put into practice his true independence into practice. I often say: True independence is learned through healthy dependence. In other words, through the interdependence that a true love and relationship are in their core, we can come into our own, using our emotional mastery as well.

Another thing to notice about the Chariot and the number 7 is that it is: 4 + 3. The stability and the walls of the 4 are about the earth, and our body; and the 3 is the holy trinity, divine trinity, as well as the number of creation, creativity, birth and manifestation. This means that out of our inner understanding and deep spiritual core stability, we will then be able to create something beautiful and meaningful in the years to come.

The High Priestess from the Rohrig Tarot

The High Priestess

As we mentioned, the Chariot is connected to the High Priestess through the Moon. The High Priestess is essentially the conception of all that is. She is the cosmic womb within which the Magician’s seed and spark of life is now conceived. She is quiet. She doesn’t tell you things, because it is you who must find them; we can’t learn anything nor see anything unless we have first awakened this truth within us.

The High Priestess is the keeper of all knowledge, she is the mystic, and she is the one who will give you the key only when you have proven your dedication, devotion and commitment to truth and learning. She knows that initiation and knowledge are to be earned, not easily given because they could be misused; though she also knows that those unable to understand will never understand. She knows that the spiritually impure will never understand the spiritually pure; they think they do, but they don’t, they can’t and they never will. But not all is meant to be understood by all anyway.

All truth is already out there in our world, yet sometimes even when it stares us in the eyes, we still can’t see it. This is why old mystics will say that you should never throw away books – because even when “you don’t get it”, in years time, if you have grown within, you may go back to that book and see something you hadn’t seen before.

Essentially, the High Priestess reminds us in this year that we must first look within before hurrying to discount things and people.

We live in fast pace society where we’ve become too spoiled at receiving and taking without investing nor giving much. In the old days, students of mysticism had to invest years and years of basically “chop wood, carry water” without being taught much high in spiritual wisdom and esoteric secrets. This was why: they had to learn dedication, patience and discipline. Because without discipline and self-responsibility, you will get lost in the spiritual realms and you will misuse knowledge. I can’t stress enough how important it is to be deeply rooted in stability, your values and your spiritual core, before diving into the abyss of the spiritual realms.

So again, remember: one of the aspects of feminine energy and the secrets of the High Priestess are discernment, know thyself, integrity and discipline. In the old days and the mystery schools, priestesses would always first and foremost spend years and years learning to “know thyself and know the earth”. Without this self-knowledge, real intuitive development could not be practiced for the highest benefit and purpose.

In 2023, those who are devoted to self-knowledge will be supported by the universe and will gain success in their pursuit – and also, will gain riches for the years to come that will help their futures. As the High Priestess is also about discretion and privacy, you may find a sense of more introversion and introspection – or the need for one, such as creating some more sacred space. Especially in times of distress, discern where to spend your time and energy, i.e. away from the loudness of social media. This year, there might be more appreciation towards more privacy with this energy of 7 – and perhaps this will be reflected in some technological changes in the collective as well.

NASA. Image description: At the middle-bottom-right of the photo, the core of our galaxy shines brightly.

Aligning it all together …

As the Moon, the High Priestess and the Chariot come together in unison – with the spiritual veil of the monk Ketu – we come into the alignment of the heart and our church within.

The 4th house of Cancer, which is the house ruling the Moon, is associated with the deepest part of us – it is the doorway to all that is, was and could be, simultaneously. It is the key. It is our own unique individual key to our hearts. It is not an easy house, but it is the one we go to even when we think we don’t. It goes beyond time, before time. It’s the beginning – from our womb – until the time we go back to all five elements. In a way, it is us and all around us – it is our entirety and how we experience our life.

For the Chariot to gain speed in his success, he needs to know himself – he needs to know his heart and how to navigate his emotional and spiritual wild lands. His confidence comes from his inner self trust. In this way, he is portrayed with a golden shield and he is indestructible – because he knows his truth, and with the power of the above, he will always move forward in wisdom.

As it says in the Kybalion:

“Just as does the skilled swimmer turn this way and that way, going and coming as he will, instead of being as the log which is carried here and there — so is the wise man as compared to the ordinary man — and yet both swimmer and log; wise man and fool are subject to Law. He who understands this is well on the road to mastery.”

The Path of Cheth

The Chariot is also connected to the letter cheth, which is the 8th letter in the Hebrew alphabet and the 18th on the path of enlightenment on the Tree of Life.

In Hebrew, cheth means enclosure or fence, and it is known as the vibration and path of destiny.

Individuals close the doors and windows of their homes in privacy and protection, and symbolically this takes us back to the energy of self-development, introspection and self-reliance, which will aid us in warmth, light and love – which can only come from the hearth of flames within.

This also encourages us to pay less attention to external influences and working on self-confidence rather than seeking outside validation through social media, or using filters, fillers and superficial relationships/friendships that are lacking in depth and real connections.

Cheth also refers to the enclosure that holds the soul in a state of peace and calmness, as it moves through all planes. This is why the Chariot is often portrayed in images as someone very calm and focused. He knows that the Fool (major arcana card zero) smiles not always because he is a fool and not knowing – but because he’s been through it all, the entirety of cycle of learning and of life, and so he knows that things always circle around.

The Chariot has seen both the darker and lighter matter of the quantum mind – also signified by the black and white horses – and through rising above it, he now knows how to navigate it and discern it, and how to balance it all with wisdom and emotional mastery. We must have the humility to see and accept the reality of things, and the audacity to then imagine how it could otherwise be. And then, we need to apply our courage to make things happen and to align our actions with our words. This is how change is made forward. Delusion and illusion are not what the Chariot does in his highest manifestation – he uses his attuned sensitivity towards actually making something beneficial happen. This alchemy of emotional mastery and discernment of choice are his secret.

More than anything though, 2023 is the vibration of the Higher Path. Whatever that may mean to you and how you’ll choose to live your life, may it be blessed with peace and calmness on your path – in your hearts and in your homes.

The Lovers from the Alchemical Tarot

The Secret Lovers

And now, love. The vibration of 7, combined with its mysticism, spiritual depth and the energy of the high heart, all relate to sacred unions and soulmates.

This is why the Chariot relates to what is called the Secret Lovers, and the inner beloved. In tarot, the High Priestess would also often show up in love readings when there is a significant soulmate on your way.

Destined, pre-destined, meant to be, a love from a time before time beyond time, the one who always resided in your soul, your eternal beloved, or however you want to call it – the mystical number 7 has always been related to the concept of soul lovers and sacred unions. So for those romantic souls looking for something extra special and a true love – this might just be the year for that also, though of course, love can happen at any time.

Destined love happens when it’s meant to; it has its own timing beyond numerology, beyond astrology and transits, and it is beyond our human clocks. As the old books say, as above, so below – the rest is only a matter of time. It is only natural that when a person has connected to their heart and true purpose, and has done inner soul growth, love too will reflect this higher energy through their relationships and the people they may meet on their path.

How to calculate your own personal year vibration

To calculate your own personal year ahead, add your month of bith + day of birth + 2023, and then reduce it to a number between 1 and 9.

So for example, if you are born on October 25, your personal year is: 10 + 25 + 2023 = 15 which is 1 + 5 = 6. This means that you’ll enter a vibration 6 on your birthday in 2023. Until then, you will still be in your 5 personal year. A year 6 vibration is related to the planet Venus – so it is all about focusing on harmony, balance, love, beauty and your relationships. It is about finding depth, truth and meaning, and deepening friendships, family relationships and intimate relationships. It is all about legal matters, so you are more likely to gain success in these, and also, about contracts of any kind including, work contracts and marriage also. Of course, it is also about self-love and making wiser choices in your life. As you deepen into more understanding and harmonize your relationships, your next year of 7 will lead you into more soulmate energies also.  

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