This age of uncertainty has been a boon for crystal ball gazers. From New York to New Delhi, fortune-tellers have seen spikes in business; in the US, Forbes magazine reported a 136% rise in people seeking supernatural readings. In societies where religious belief is dwindling, and trust in the establishment under threat, the idea of looking elsewhere for guidance – to the stars or beyond, if you believe in a beyond – has made a kind of sense.
Millennials and Gen Z-ers are increasingly likely to livestream YouTube mediums, receive daily tarot readings via their Instagram feeds, or consume online horoscopes. The logic of astrology appeals to a modern desire for answers, while the magic of tarot is now available in “hip hop”, “modern love” and “bad bitches” themed card decks for sale online. In the US, the psychic services industry as a whole – which includes astrology, mediumship, palmistry, aura-reading and tarot – was valued at $2.2bn in 2018 (a 52% rise on 2005). Some celebrities consult spiritual healers just as they do therapists or nutritionists.
In 2020, the fear and upheaval spread by the pandemic has driven an extra need for reassurance, whether that is relatives unable to attend the funeral of a loved one, or people who have lost jobs or businesses seeking a way forward.
Not all psychics have had a good year. Some have been unable to make the switch from face-to-face readings to video calls, and many rely on tourists, parties or events for their income, all of which have been in short supply. And even they could not have forseen every consequence of 2020. With a year we’d sooner forget almost behind us, dare they predict the next one?
‘Political systems will be taken down’
June Field was voted the world’s greatest psychic medium, beating 70,000 others in International Battle Of The Psychics, a European X-Factor style TV show, in 2013. Based in Dundee, she has been clairvoyant, clairaudient and clairsentient (seeing, hearing and feeling spirits) since childhood and makes predictions based on psychic intuition. She usually tours theatres and the events circuit, but this year has been approached by Covid survivors wanting a healer’s help with their recovery.
These next 12 months are a stepping stone to something better. We’ve done a lot of transitioning and 2021 is a time for re-educating and adjusting to a new reality. It is a year of healing and rebuilding.
People are in denial about the virus and that causes friction. People will continue to be afraid, and the return to normality will run into 2022.
March feels like a turning point, a light at the end of the tunnel. Confidences will grow. September feels like another turning point, a fresh start for business, with things picking up a little in the economy. Financially, 2022 feels lighter and brighter than 2021.
I started January 2020 with a feeling of dread. Long before coronavirus arrived in the UK, I had cancelled work commitments – theatre dates and events. I felt death coming. I wanted to give the year a miss.
2021 will present an opportunity to reassess what’s important. Sometimes people are forced into that because they have lost someone or something, a job maybe, but it brings a chance to rebuild.
In politics, I feel there is major change coming next year. We will see more division, like the standoff between Manchester and Westminster over the second lockdown, and there will be more polarity – geographically, ideologically and financially.
You don’t need to be a psychic to see the anger over how this has been handled. Political systems will be taken down, but we will then rebuild. We are reaching a point where nearly everyone will know someone or be connected to someone who will have passed from this. We will hug again next year, and we will come through this.
‘In the final quarter, I’m getting clarity: clear quartz, light pastel stones’
Jayne Wallace is clairvoyant and practices aura reading, tarot and crystal healing. Her clients include Kim Kardashian West, Kylie Jenner and Kate Hudson. She has worked as a psychic for 35 years and heads the agency Psychic Sisters; she has a waiting list and travels internationally with clients. This year, she says, people have exposed more emotion and anxiety in their readings than at any other point in the past three decades.
Every crystal has a different voice. Blue stones are linked with communication; purple with stress and anxiety, yellow is money and turquoise represents protection. The darker, deeper the colour, the stronger the voice.
As I link in to the first quarter of 2021, the biggest question people have is health. I’m drawn to tiger’s eye (a brown stone showing the need for grounding), rose quartz (pinks speak to matters of the heart, and the emotional impact of the virus) and green aventurine, which tells me that those first months are going to be stressful in terms of mental health. Make sure you have people around you who you love.
March through to June is about division in health, as well as realisation – understanding and accepting why some have suffered worse. Something about the quarter is showing overcaution, which feels intense, not always good. Heading into the third quarter there’ll be a new lockdown of some sort, a “slap” we will need to listen to.
Moving to the economy, I get green aventurine with dark, brown stones (tiger’s eye and black obsidian) and I’m coming to a divide. One side feels intense and will become successful: they will innovate, adapt, grow; the other side will decline. Mindset will be important. People must be focused.
Politics is also about darker brown stones. For the first four to five months, there will be weak structure. Reaction to politicians will remain divided. Around April-May, I see the same government but with fresh blood.
Autumn is a time where we will start to adapt and, as I link into the final quarter of the year, I’m getting clarity, clear quartz, light pastel stones, a time that will feel much lighter.
‘If 2020 has been about building a rocket ship, I liken 2021 to that ship taking off’
Dale Spencer Weeks has practised as a psychic numerologist and seer for nine years, reading the numerical energy of people and events by studying patterns between numbers and physical or emotional states. He is clairvoyant and clairaudient. Requests for his readings have increased by two-thirds this year, including 30-40% more men than usual; most are looking for guidance with jobs or relationships.
I get different feelings or vibrations from each number. In 2020, the earth has been walking through a four vibration – the number of shelter, rules, law and governments. It is the number of determination, reassessing, cause and effect, so the solid, pure vibrations of 2+0+2+0 were going to be intense.
We are entering a solid “five” year (2+0+2+1). If 2020 has been about building a rocket ship, I liken 2021 to that ship taking off. Five’s energy is mercurial, like pumping 1,000 volts through 100-volt wires. It’s going to be a huge year of change.
Weather events will be intense: storms and hurricanes. There will also be political unrest and missiles will fly. The world is going through a period of transformation and the vibe of 2021 is about expression and looking for freedom.
People will speak out in large groups and old norms will continue to come crashing down. But this huge political and social electricity means violence. The other side of this vibe is chaos – it is not only those with peaceful or progressive views who will seek to be heard.
February brings a seven vibration, a time when truth will be revealed. Medically, that could indicate wider availability of a vaccine. We may see revelations about the government.
March is an eight energy; it’s aggressive. I expect earthquakes and events in world financial markets. China, North Korea and Venezuela will be centre stage. In April, one or two hugely famous icons will die – one a white man and one a woman, an actress, artist or designer.
The changes won’t work in everyone’s favour. Ask yourself, “How can I adapt to what’s out there?” This will be a time to promote your own business. It’s a time for technical advancement in the media, innovation in tech, music and entertainment platforms.
If 2020 has been about deconstruction of social norms, we come out of a tunnel next year. But that isn’t our destination. Our destination is four or five years away, and it is somewhere bigger.
‘The last time these planets aligned was the Spanish flu and the Black Death’
Demian Allan is a teacher at the College of Psychic Studies in London, and has practised western astrology for more than 20 years. He writes horoscopes and political astrology forecasts. In 2012, he published a book in which he predicted issues with healthcare and a time of momentous struggle in 2020.
Astrology is a bit like predicting the weather. We look at astrological patterns and return to history to see how we responded to previous cycles.
The last time Saturn, Jupiter and Pluto were in aspect of one another (meaning, their combined power had the capability to shape or manifest change), as they have been since the start of 2020, was at the time of the Spanish flu (100 years ago) and, before that, the Black Death (in the mid-1300s).
Pluto rules collective viruses; Jupiter rules expansion and travel overseas (a virus spreading across the world); and Saturn rules limitation, regulations and heavy responsibilities. This stellium – a group of planets clustered in a single zodiac sign, was there as the year began.
The planets trigger an emotional response in us, and 2020 has had a lot to do with fear of the unknown. On 23 March, for the first time in just over 29 years, Saturn briefly went into Aquarius (an air sign symbolising separateness, individuality) until July, as we socially distanced. But it wasn’t until the third week of November, as Jupiter and Pluto began to separate, that things really started to shift, ahead of the new year.
In the days leading up to Christmas, the conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter that have been in earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) for the past 250 years – starting with the rise of the Industrial Revolution – entered an air sign. This marks a major astrological moment, starting a new cycle, from a social perspective, lasting for the next 200 years.
We are entering a period of technological revolution in 2021 that will change jobs, education and how we interact, as well as the green revolution we have been on the verge of (a manifestation of strong Aquarian themes).
In September/October, the virtual world of smoke and mirrors that has come from Neptune (ruler of the nebulous) travelling in Pisces for the past decade, will bring new regulations around social media, following a turning point that we’ll be unable to ignore in May/June. Coronavirus is not going to disappear but Mars moves out of Taurus on 4 March, easing the general health picture.
In the run-up to 2020, people were already finding life difficult. In this country, we tend to try to engineer things back to the norm. We mustn’t do that in 2021. This is a transformative time and, under Pluto, will be until 2024/5. Do not hang on to old ways.
We will see the heavy dose of capitalism and materialism change. Social equality will be a mantra for the next 20 years.
‘This card is a wake-up call – it tells us not to bring the burdens of 2020 into 2021’
Tatianna Morales has been a tarot reader and holistic healer for six years. She uses a tarot deck and accesses the Akashic records (a spiritual store of every thought, idea or event that has occurred in universes past, present or future) to ask a series of questions, pulling a face-down card in answer to each. This year, she has seen a rise in clients wanting to connect with loved ones who have died, as well as people wanting to learn tarot themselves. Over Zoom, Tatiana responded to a series of questions about 2021 and explained the card that showed itself.
1. What are the final lessons that we can take from 2020 before we move on?
Card: The Ten of Wands. A man carries 10 sticks up a hill but does it inefficiently. The assumption is that he is going to build a fort, a home, but his load is excessive, and he can’t see where he’s going. This card is a wake-up call – it tells us not to bring the burdens of 2020 into 2021. It points to working smarter, not harder, to thinking more creatively and intellectually, not emotionally. It asks us to make amends with hardships and challenges. It speaks about laziness and procrastination, so if there’s something 2020 has taught you, whether it’s the importance of spending time with your family, focusing on health, organising finances or actualising a dream, address that.
2. What does the energy of 2021 hold for the collective?
Card: The Page of Swords. This card brings innovative solutions and ideas. It also asks you to think intellectually, not emotionally. It speaks about radical truths being revealed in society – the kind that rock the boat. It brings an energy of busyness, of research and strategy in 2021. It asks that if you are inspired to take up new studies, hobbies or find new income streams, you take action. It talks about unexpected assistance from government. It speaks to the economy, where communication, virtually, and in the arts, will take the lead.
3. Do we see the solution to Covid-19 arriving in the first quarter of 2021?
Card: The Magician. This speaks of commanding solutions. It is the energy of those who are relentless in their pursuit of solutions, of resourcefulness, cleverness. The answer is, “Absolutely, yes.”