My word for 2026: Sovereignty
Closing out this hermit year and preparing for a magician-coded wheel year.
After completing another section of my business review workbook, I pulled a three-card spread yesterday afternoon to close out 2025 and vision 2026.
The questions were simple: What am I leaving behind? What am I stepping into? What will support my success?
What fell on the table gave me pause. It wasn’t surprising by any means. Well… maybe a little surprising. But only because I wasn’t expecting to receive confirmation so quickly. It named exactly what I’ve been feeling and gave me permission to do it — unapologetically.
And if you’re a writer ready to take yourself and your work seriously in 2026, this reading might be for you too.
Card 1: What I’m Leaving Behind – Queen of Wands
The Queen of Wands is magnetic, creative, charismatic. She’s fire embodied. People are drawn to her warmth, her energy, her generosity.
And I’m leaving her behind.
Don’t get me wrong, this energy is not bad. Trust me, honey, the Queen of Wands is a force. Not to mention fine as hell. But I’m leaving her behind (metaphorically) because I’ve been the Queen who serves others’ visions instead of building my own empire. The Queen who uses her fire to keep everyone else warm while burning herself out. The Queen who shrinks her sovereignty to maintain relationships that drain her.
What I’m actually leaving in 2025:
Giving my creative fire away to people who don’t tend their own flames
Shrinking to make others comfortable
Saying yes when I mean no
Performing palatability so people will accept me
Any relationship — personal or professional — that requires me to be less
The Queen of Wands in the past position says: “You were powerful even when you were giving your power away. Imagine what happens when you keep it.”
Card 2: What I’m Stepping Into – The Chariot
The Chariot is about mastery. Control. Sovereignty.
It’s harnessing two opposing forces — the white horse and the black horse, which is symbolic of: light and shadow, personal and professional, soft and boundaried, masculine and feminine energy, and directing them toward a singular destination.
The Chariot doesn’t ask permission. The Chariot doesn’t shrink. The Chariot doesn’t stop for anyone who isn’t moving in the same direction. Period.
What this card told me:
I’m stepping into sovereignty in 2026. Not the Queen who serves – the Sovereign Empress who directs her own path with clear standards and unwavering focus.
I’ve decided where I’m going. The Story Temple as institution. Personal wholeness. Aligned relationships only. Clear boundaries in every area of my life.
The Chariot says I will get there because I’ve finally harnessed the forces that used to pull me in different directions.
The Chariot doesn’t choose one or the other. The Chariot harnesses both and moves forward with power.
This is my 2026 energy. Forward. Focused. Unstoppable.
When this card flew out, Spirit said “I heard you. I got you. Now go live it.”
Card 3: What Will Support My Success – The Hierophant
“Find your elders.”
That’s what the Hierophant said. Clear as day.
The Hierophant represents traditional wisdom passed down through lineage. Institutional knowledge and structure. Spiritual authority grounded in practice. Teaching that transforms students into teachers. Systems that outlast individuals.
What this means for me in 2026:
My success is supported by finding people who’ve already walked this path. Not just any mentors/coaches. Not the love and light folks who only focus on being in the feminine. I’m talking about elders. Real ones. People who built spiritual businesses that generate real money. Who maintained integrity while scaling. Who created institutions, not just audiences. Who hold both mystical practice and business acumen.
Sidebar: for those who didn’t know, running a business is very masculine in terms of energy. You’re making decisions, being strategic, taking action. Feminine energy comes into play when you’re using your intuition along with logic. When you’re paying attention to your emotions and how you feel when you’re running your business. This goes back to the Chariot. I’ve learned to master both.
But the Hierophant also whispered something else: “You’re becoming an elder too. The Story Temple is a Hierophant institution. You’re creating systematic teaching, building lineage, establishing tradition.”
The practical guidance:
Join communities where elders gather
Hire coaches who’ve done what I’m trying to do
Trust traditional business wisdom alongside mystical guidance
Build systems and structures, not just vibes
Create something that will outlast me
The Hierophant reminded me: institutions require foundations. I’m not winging my way to my goals. I’m building systematically, learning from those who came before and creating something built to last.
The Shadow Card: Five of Cups
At the bottom of the deck — the shadow truth beneath everything — sat the Five of Cups.
The card of grief. Disappointment. Mourning what’s been lost while ignoring what remains.
I knew immediately that I wasn’t the mourning woman in this card.
Other people are.
The hard truth this card revealed:
Some people in my life are going to mourn the version of me that said yes when I meant no. That made myself smaller to keep them comfortable — especially when I begin publishing the Writing While Black pieces (expect the first one real soon). The version of me that gave my fire away to warm them. That let them have access without reciprocity.
2025 has been the year of the snake. I’ve shedded to the point of becoming unrecognizable to many. That Queen of Wands version of me died when I fully took my power back and made the choice to keep it for myself. She’s staying dead in 2026.
And some people are going to grieve her. They’re going to feel like they “lost” me. They’re going to be disappointed that the new me — the Sovereign Empress — has standards, boundaries, clear nos and isn’t available for their convenience.
The Five of Cups says: Let them grieve.
And I shall.
Their disappointment is not my assignment. They’re crying over spilled cups — the access they used to have — while refusing to see the full cups still standing. The authentic relationship that’s possible if they meet me where I am now.
But that’s their choice. Not mine.
What This Means for Black Writers in 2026
If you’re reading this and something is resonating, pay attention.
These cards aren’t just about me. They’re about what happens when you decide to take yourself and your work seriously. When you choose sovereignty over people-pleasing. When you stop performing and start building.
Ask yourself:
What Queen of Wands energy are you leaving behind?
Where have you been giving your creative fire away? Shrinking your vision to fit someone else’s comfort level? Performing palatability instead of showing up in your full truth?
What Chariot energy are you stepping into?
What would it look like to harness your opposing forces instead of being torn apart by them? To move forward with clear standards and unwavering focus? To stop asking permission and start claiming what’s yours?
What Hierophant support do you need?
Who are the elders you need to find (I’d be honored to be one of them)? What traditional wisdom do you need to learn? What systems and structures will support the vision you’re building? What are you creating that will outlast you?
What Five of Cups grief are you willing to let others hold?
Who will be disappointed when you stop shrinking and write your truth? When you set boundaries around your creative time? When you promote your work without apology? When you say no to what doesn’t serve you?
Can you let them mourn the version of you that’s gone without taking responsibility for their grief?
The Collective Message
2026 is asking something of us.
It’s asking us to stop playing small. To stop giving our creative fire away for free or cheap or to people who don’t value it. To stop performing for an audience that will never truly see us.
It’s asking us to step into sovereignty. To build institutions, not just platforms. To create work that matters, that lasts, that transforms. To find our elders and become elders ourselves. To create real community.
And it’s warning us: some people will not like this version of you. They will mourn who you used to be. They will be disappointed that you’re no longer available for their convenience.
Let them. They’ll be fine.
You’re in the Chariot now. You’re moving toward something real. Something yours. Something that requires all of you — not the shrunken, people-pleasing, fire-giving version, but the sovereign, boundaried, focused version.
The magician-coded wheel is about to start spinning and the path ahead is clear. Some people won’t follow. That’s not your assignment.
Your assignment is reaching the destination.
If you pulled cards for 2026, what did they show you?
Drop them in the comments. I’d love to see what Spirit is saying to other writers stepping into their power this year.
2026 is the year we stop asking permission. The year we write free.
See you on the other side of the portal.
— Lakeisha | High Priestess, The Story Temple
Beautiful share sis. Love your word for 2026. 🙌🏾👌🏾
I’ve been sitting with your post quietly because it resonated so deeply—especially the part about leaving the Q of Wands behind to start your own empire. I agree this reading could apply to so many of us trying to carve a path. I’m a new writer here, still forming my voice as I build my own empire. There are loud, annoying voices on Substack and across the internet saying how one should do this, how to attract all the people and market and blah blah. There’s a trap of being the Q of wands—warm and inviting and palatable to attract people. Eventually that won’t work. In my own intention setting for next year I wrote down “fierce courage.” After sitting with your post, what occurred to me my courageous work is to DELIGHT myself with my writing, promote myself the way I want to, and be confident that delight and pride will be the draw. Thank you for this writing, I follow along with you quite a bit and love your work.