After a few moments in silence, Christa Marshall shuffled her tarot cards before pulling one.

Death!

As unnerving as that may seem, Marshall sees it as a perfect way to symbolize 2016.

“We as a world have gone through a huge transformation,” says Marshall, who does readings at Open Secret Bookstore in San Rafael. “Things are changing; there is death to the old.”

A new year in itself signals changes, but many Marin astrologers and intuitives see 2017 as a time of expanded change, personally and globally. It’s a year, they say, to be open, stand up for causes and embrace new opportunities.

If it sounds somewhat political, it is. But they say the messages they are getting are in response to the uncertanty so many feel right now.

Danielle Rosa doesn’t normally do predictions, but since President-elect Donald Trump was elected, her visions have grown stronger. What Rosa, a San Rafael intuitive, saw for Marin next year is a positive color — purple.

“There is a lot of love that is pouring through that has been woken up from the sense of tragedy and loss and the political atmosphere, and that has instigated a new level of productivity,” says Rosa. “Things that were on the back burner are now on the front burner.”

Beyond seeing purple, Rosa kept hearing two words — “collective” and “organize.” What that means for her is a need to support innovative people and movements, even if they seem too lofty.

“2017 is the quietness on the front of the more progressive movement,” she says. “People who have new ideas, who are good, they are going to need support. Listen to people who have new ideas, back them up and give them some agency in our political system.”

NOT POWERLESS

Marshall’s death tarot card aside, she also pulled many cards that reiterate a positive theme, that we’re not powerless.

“I think 2017 is going to be a really big turning point for people to use their own artistic drive to create their own prosperity,” Marshall says.

Marlene Caldes, a Mill Valley intuitive forecaster, describes this time as one of growth, where people are at a major crossroad in their lives.

“Even though there is stress and conflict, there is opportunity to cultivate talents that people didn’t know they had,” says Caldes.

At the end of March, there’s going to be a huge push of energy, Caldes says.

“Something will happen that is going to set people in motion and get them to participate in a way they never have,” Caldes says.

Numerology coach Kathleen Lamoureux also names March as a pivotal month, but one filled with some turmoil.

NEW START

In numerology, 2017 is a “one” year, the first year of a nine-year cycle, she says. Which means it’s a year of reinvention and “opportunity, courage, unity and action,” says Lamoureux, who does readings at Open Secret Bookstore in San Rafael.

“Instead of panicking, you need to be proactive,” Lamoureux says. “The lesson is for us to unite and stand up for ourselves.”

Astrologer Randall Curtis has been observing the planetary trends of Pluto in Capricorn, and they are signalling activism. The last time the signs were aligned similarly was when the Americans fought against Great Britain’s King George and created the Declaration of Independence, he recalls.

“Since these negative forces of control and suppression of our freedoms are so strongly present, we must begin now to be true Americans and fight for the love of our country,” says Curtis, of Institute of Planetary Psychology in San Rafael.

Fairfax astrologist Jessica Shepherd suggests the way to do that is to channel the energies present in 2017: the warrior Aries, which asks people to face whatever makes them uncomfortable, and Pluto, which asks for deep reflection for what they want.

But, the worst is behind us, Mill Valley astrologer Wendy Rose says.

“What I’m seeing is ‘expect the unexpected’ because the whole system over the last four years was breaking down and needs to go,” she says. “But the new hasn’t been invented yet.”