the numerology of 2025

hello, friends. we're in a nine year, a year of the hermit, the final stage of a nine-year cycle. but what does that mean? why does this matter? in our dark and scary and uncertain world, what anchors could these energies offer us moving forward? how is this framework helpful as we move through the next twelve months?

let's talk about it. remember that if you really love tarot numerology and want to learn more, i have a few different options for you: silver and gold tiers here at devils & fools get spreads and exclusive writings on numbers and cards every month, i have a free tarot numerology lecture that you can watch anytime, and i’ve also got a robust tarot numerology course called devils & digits that you can access through the 3am.tarot conservatory membership.

to start with the basics, how do we get to 2025 as a nine year? in pythagorean numerology, we add each of the digits for the year together to find our core, collective number: the energy that is everywhere, a universal vibe that will impact all of us together throughout the year. 2+0+2+5 = 9, making 2025 a nine year. and in pythagorean numerology, nine is the final number of the cycle, one that began back in our last 1 year of 2017 (2+0+1+7 = 10 // 1+0 = 1).

nine as a number has a lot of layers, which means that being in a nine year can mean a lot of things, and look a lot of ways. as the final digit of the cycle, events or ideas or transformations that began back in 2017 may be coming to a head or to a close; ideas that were set into motion almost ten years ago may be finding their form or falling away. but since we are in this energy as a collective, it means that we may be more broadly seeing some old ways disappearing, clearing space for new methods and structures to emerge.

nine is very community-minded, very service-oriented, very big-picture — but it's also willing to leave things behind, to embrace whatever new path might be beckoning. there is both magic and grief in this truth.

endings, and transitions, can be incredibly activating for people. in a world that so often feels deeply unstable, having something change without our express choice for it to do so can leave us scrambling, frantic, rattled to our core. and with that knowledge, the awareness that we are in a collective nine year might feel, frankly, like too much for you to process.

and friend, i get it. nine can be really uncomfortable.

but this is why for me, the tarot can be really helpful in understanding what these numbers have to offer us. because when we take nine to the tarot, we find our core archetype for 2025 of the hermit, the ninth card of the major arcana and our companion for the year. with this archetype by our side, the landscape for the year ahead might feel a little easier to wrap our heads around.

the hermit is often associated with solitude and retreat, with rest and quiet, with isolation and separation. but the hermit is also associated with virgo and service and attention to detail; the minor arcana nines and emerging from the journey transformed; the sage herb and the wisdom that lives within our senses. there is much more to the hermit than just a fringe weirdo who's abandoned society to live in the woods — this is a mentor and guide, an explorer and rebel, an experienced teacher and curious student all in one.

i love the hermit as an archetype of courage and of change: of observation and awareness, of shifting priorities, of allowing truths to settle in and transform us. the hermit encourages us to slow down and pay attention, to remember what we already know and to question what we have not yet untangled.

with the hermit we apply the wisdom that we have gained through the course of our journey, and allow our experiences to really take root within us. when something intense is happening, when we’re moving through fear or rage, when we are getting through something with muscle memory or fear or pure adrenaline, we rarely do our full range of processing and feeling and synthesizing until that stress has passed.

but if you’re anything like me, it feels like the stress never really passes. for almost a decade we’ve been navigating collective catastrophes, political collapse, environmental disasters, and having the earth shake underneath our feet. we cannot catch our breath — and it doesn’t seem like that is going to change anytime soon. personally, i have tried to adjust my expectations around collective relief, and instead am trying to accept that this may just be our collective long-term reality. there is grief in this, but there is also a kind of grounding into the truth of it, an acceptance that i must learn how to operate within these conditions, instead of waiting for the world to resolve itself.

in this collective nine year, it may feel like the energy demands that we slow down and consider what changes are really possible. and while slowing down may feel like something that is fully impossible, i urge you to really consider what that would look like for you: what would be required, what it would cost, what it might lead to. where have you been craving change, and what might that actually mean?

and how might an energy of universal change, of collective transition, be the best possible thing for all of us right now? what are we as communities and societies ready to part with, and how might that ultimately benefit the many?

but the hermit is not the only card we can look to in order to understand this energy — the number nine is echoed throughout the tarot, specifically in the minor arcana nines. each nine represents the culmination of a different kind of story, offering an intersection between this digit's general energy and the element that the suit explores.

the nine of wands is banked embers and what ifs, the thin line between powering through and showing ourselves compassion. the nine of swords is uncertainty and internal cobwebs, recognizing what is true and what is fear. the nine of cups is wishes fulfilled and unfulfilled, the emergence of desires and the joy we feel in having our emotional needs met. and the nine of pentacles is reaping and rejoicing, grief and satisfaction and pride and anticipation for the next growing season.

each of these cards offers us a piece of the number nine, an insight into all that this digit contains. and each of these cards also helps us see a different side of the hermit archetype, this figure's compassion and sense of truth, the way that they represent emergence of a new self and the reaping of all that we have done so far.

the hermit is compassionate but realistic, someone who pursues truth unflinchingly, who is willing to embrace what is known and discover what is not yet known. this figure can teach us how to acknowledge how far we've already come, to feel the stability of that effort underneath our feet, while simultaneously not resting on our laurels for too long — reminding us that good work is worth celebrating, and also must keep being done.

if the hermit feels like a tough archetype for you to connect with personally, i highly encourage you to try this little exercise: grab your tarot deck and pull the hermit card as well as the four minor arcana nines all out. look at the hermit alongside each of the nine cards, one by one.

consider: how does each suit's element manifest within the hermit's energy? what does each card have in common with the hermit, and where might you find tension or contradiction? what does each minor arcana nine amplify or highlight about the hermit as an archetype? how does the hermit utilize each element?

to go further: what does the hermit mean to you, and where did that meaning come from? what are your experiences with this archetype? which emotions come up when you think about the hermit? what history do you have with this card? if you think about working with this archetype all year long, what hopes or fears come to mind?

and if you'd like a tarot spread to work with, i've got you covered. pull the hermit card out of your deck and keep it on your reading surface, then shuffle the other 77 cards for this new hermit tarot spread:

card one / a journey that is coming to an end: what is wrapping up, internally or externally, in your personal life? what collective story is shifting, or universal chapter is ending? where is transition on the horizon?

card two / something you can let go of: what can you release or say goodbye to? what kind of freedom is at your fingertips? what is ready to be surrendered?

card three / a light you bring to the world: what magic or illumination or hope do you bring to this world, and to your communities? what is something you can lean into this year, that might be beneficial to many others?

but of course, the collective energy of 2025 is not the only numerology that will be relevant for you. you are also in your own personal cycle, and have your own personal number for 2025 and your own personal archetype to go along with it.

taking a few moments to calculate this number, and orient yourself within your own cycle and story, can be a helpful anchor for your own life — particularly if you find it hard to connect with the hermit, the number nine, or the idea of a collective cycle.

once you've completed this calculation for 2025, i highly recommend looking to the tarot to see what your guiding archetype will be by finding the major arcana archetype that corresponds to your personal cycle number. take some time to journal with this card, to consider what this archetype might have to offer you, and to think through how you can intentionally step into, embody, explore, or utilize this energy all year long.

you may also find it helpful to use this calculation to look backwards, and figure out which previous years of your life had the same number. where in the cycle are you right now, and when have you been here before? what might that knowledge bring up for you, and what have you learned or discovered since then?

and how might your personal archetype intersect with the hermit to offer you clarity, purpose, courage, wisdom, and support all year long?

wishing you a year of hopeful change, grateful service, authentic soul-searching, and powerful transformation.

want more on our collective nine year? check out these pieces from numerologist bee scolnick and tarot writer charlie claire burgess. listen to the january 2025 forecast from CALL YOUR COVEN. read my essay on the hermit from 2022. and don't forget that i'll be exploring how nine might show up all year long in my monthly pieces for the silver and gold newsletter tiers.

and if you'd like your 2025 to include intentional community, creative expansion, spiritual support, and ongoing accountability, don't forget that the grove begins on january 29th! learn more and sign up to join almost two dozen other writers and artists here: