A Miscellany for May Day
In which I share a Tarot spread and some lovely links.
Happy May Day to Witches and Workers!
Today is one of my favorite days of the year and I have some seasonal treasures for you below. Let’s begin with a Beltane Tarot reading.
This is a reading I did for myself. I drew Temperance reversed and Ten of Cups.
Temperance is a card I draw more often for myself than for anyone else. This comes as no surprise to me. I can do all. I can do nothing. I can do this horrible combination of doing nothing because I’m too anxious about everything. What I cannot do is moderation. Thus it has always been, in pretty much every area of my life.
Lately, I have been trying hard to carve out some space to prioritize and get organized. In fact, I’ve been using a vision board I created a little while working with Queen of Wands to create some structure and remind myself of where I want to focus my attention and effort right now. But when I’m trying to turn a to-do list into a schedule, I feel like I should just be doing the stuff on the to-do list. Sometimes, this makes sense, as some things take about as long to do as it takes to write them down—see the Eisenhower Matrix—but, more often than not, I just end up distracted and scattered and feeling like a failure—see the ADHD. In fact, ADHD in women often manifests in all sorts of excess, from substance abuse to impulsive spending.
So… Temperance reversed. This card speaks to all of this. It’s also an invitation to check yourself before you wreck yourself. For me, it’s a message that taking the time to prioritize and plan is a pretty good idea. I also see it as gentle encouragement to pull myself out of the tempest of shame spirals that make it impossible to do anything—and lead to some less than ideal choices.
Let’s move on to Ten of Cups, a much happier card. This is a picture of blissful union, Cups are the suit of water—of emotion, creativity, and intuition. If we look at the Minor Arcana card as a journey through each suit in Tarot, Tens invite us to reflect on where we have arrived and ask ourselves: What comes next? Ten of Cups suggest that you have the luxury of answering that question from a safe, contented place.
My inspiration for a two-card May Day spread was the marriage of the Young God and the May Queen as an internal, alchemical process—of the union of the “masculine” and “feminine” within the self. Temperance is, itself, a card that talks about alchemy, about the perfect balance of elements that create something beautiful and much-desired. And Ten of Cups is about joyous union.
I see “masculine” and “feminine” dissolving in the sacred water that flows two and from the cups that Temperance holds. And Sonia Lazo’s Rainbow Tarot makes it easy to forget about gender altogether. This isn’t quite what I imagined when I designed this spread! But years of working with Tarot has taught me that the cards don’t really care what I have in mind when I pick them up and spread them out. This is a message that speaks to me quite clearly. I’ll take it.
This is a glimpse of how I work with Tarot. If you’d like a Beltane reading, there are still a few in the shop.
Let us not forget that May Day is also International Workers’ Day. This is a day for union members to honor those who died for workers’ rights and plan for the future. May Day is a reminder that we are stronger together. The Nation put out a pretty good list of protest songs today.
More miscellany…
Cecily Sailer has published a fantastic essay called “Setting Imposter Syndrome Ablaze on Beltane (in Scotland!)” Author Jessica Hatch describes her life-changing experience celebrating of the Beltane Fire Festival in Edinburgh. I love this quote:
If imposter syndrome relies on not being perceived, on eschewing our accomplishments, then the energy that comes from a community of bodies is its antidote.
I just discovered Till April Is Dead by Lisa Knapp. Give it a listen.
And… over at The Cauldron, Lindsay Merbaum offers her own May Day miscellany.
Wishing you all the blessings of the May, whatever May Day means to you.
Blessed Beltane! Thank you for the shoutout!