It's May, the height of spring and the beginning of summer, so this month we are using a spread designed to acknowledge the ancient Celtic seasonal festival of Beltane, which traditionally takes place on May 1st, about halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. This was when cattle were driven out to pasture and rituals were performed to protect crops and people, and to encourage growth. Beltane is a festival of optimism, celebrating the waxing power of the sun and the symbolic union of the Goddess and the God in a holy union that emphasises sexuality and fertility. This is why Beltane is a fire festival, a bright moment when hopes and dreams are encouraged to come to fruition. For this reading I decided to use The Druidcraft Tarot by Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm (Connections, 2004).
1) The Goddess - What is within - The Sun (XIX)
2) The God - What is manifesting - The Magician (I)
3) Union - How can 1 and 2 bring balance and create something new - 6 of Cups
4) Fertility - What is abundant right now - 10 of Swords
5) Fire - What needs to transform - 4 of Pentacles
6) Creation - What energies are around your creativity - 3 of Swords
Bel is the name of the Celtic God celebrated at Beltane - "teine" is the Gaelic word for "fire". Traditionally bonfires were lit to honor the sun and to encourage the support of Bel and the sun's light to nurture the emerging future harvest. So it seems particularly auspicious that the first card in the reading should be the Sun (XIX) and that the card's position in the spread should relate to the Goddess. The nakedness of the golden child suggests that what is within you at this time is innocence, joy, and love. You are completely in accord with the time and circumstances in which you find yourself. This is a wonderful time to begin new creative projects.
The next card, The Magician (I), once again appears in an astonishingly fitting position in this spread. The Magician is a conduit who brings down power from above to manifest here on earth. "What is within" above in the Sun card is mighty, and what is manifesting is equally mighty. More specifically, the card could also mean that your inner sun wants to express itself within the world of magic. You mentioned that you were only recently getting back into reading cards again, so perhaps your work with tarot or one of the other occult sciences is how your current surge of energy will express itself. You are manifesting as a magician, or at the very least as a person in the secular or business world who takes control and gets things done. Perhaps you are taking on a leadership role for the first time. The Druid sage on the card is pictured in front of a portal at Stonehenge to dramatise his role as a link between the higher and lower worlds. Stonehenge itself is, in effect, both a temple and a gigantic astrological clock constructed so as to align to the movements of the sun. At the summer solstice, around 21 June, the sun rises behind the Heel Stone and its first rays shine into the heart of Stonehenge. Everything seems to be dramatically in alignment for you at the moment.
Card 3, Union, suggests what quality you need to bring forward to ensure that your potential within and your ability to express it work together successfully to "bring balance or create something new". Eerily, the companion book with the deck says about this card that it represents "a place of balance, meeting, and union." That's 3 cards in a row that seem to match the pre-set meaning of the card within the spread. The 6 of Cups shows a proud and happy father looking through a window at his children playing outside. Calm within the house, he represents security and protective concern. It is a card about the nurturing of innocent love. Perhaps your challenge is to integrate the innocence and beauty of the children with the mature wisdom of a parent. The child in the Sun card and the children on the 6 of Cups might suggest that you are in the process of manifesting something in a new way with which you have little experience. You need to summon the willpower of the Magician and the gentle strength of the father on the 6 of Cups to push your new project through to completion. I also notice that the window on the 6 of Cups seems very similar to the gateway at Stonehenge on the Magician card.
Oof! In the spread position designated "Fertility" we suddenly come crashing down to earth with the 10 of Swords. "What is abundant right now" is represented by a card usually associated with destruction and defeat. Swords are associated with the element of Air, the suit of the intellect, of thoughts and words. So "What is abundant right now" must be the criticisms of others, or more likely self-doubts. The previous 3 cards show that you have all you need to succeed but your own powerful mind is doing all it can to sabotage this new venture.
The impression of holding yourself in check is confirmed by the next card, the 4 of Coins, which shows a man kneeling in a dark room, so that he is cramped and less than his full height, who is opening a treasure chest with a key. The keyhole is another aperture, which possibly echoes the Stonehenge gateway and the open window in the cards above. His face, half hidden by a beard, is turned away from us and his head is further obscured by a hat, so that he seems reluctant to expose his identity. There is an element of secrecy about the card. His satchel seems to be full of coins which he is about to hide away. "What needs to transform" is of course your tendency to "hide your light under a bushel" (Matthew, 5:15).
The last card in the reading, concerned with "the energies that are around your creativity", is the 3 of Swords. Threes in the tarot generally refer to creativity, and Swords to conflict. So the card dramatises the creative benefits of suffering . Overcoming the self-doubts evident on the 10 of Swords will result in a creative triumph on the 3 of Swords. To sum up: perhaps what the tarot is saying is that, even though you have abundant talent, the finished product you eventually produce will be less of an achievement than the process of overcoming the challenge of silencing your inner critic and allowing your inner Sun to shine. What you create is less important than giving yourself permission to create.
On the final card, the odd ghostly shape in the middle of the tree is where the bark has been peeled away to disclose the bare, exposed wood within. The companion book informs us that the three swords and the three holes in the trunk are arranged in the shape of the symbol for Awen, the word in Druidry used to denote blessings and divine inspiration. The swords represent three rays of light symbolising the three sunrise positions - the equinoxes at due east, and the midsummer and midwinter solstice positions on either side. The three holes stand for the three drops of Awen that flew from the cauldron of Ceridwen, the witch who represents the dark aspect of the Great Goddess. She gave the young child Gwion the task of watching her cauldron, which contained a magical potion that bestowed divine wisdom and inspiration. Three drops fell from the pot and scalded Gwion's hand, granting him divine inspiration he was as yet too inexperienced to control. So Ceridwen pursued him with ceaseless energy, even as he wildly changed shape and form, and caught and ate him. Nine months later she gave birth to Taliesin, the legendary bard of Druid mythology. This is a myth about the relationship between suffering, patience, and creativity. Gwion's first exposure to the magical potion is felt as pain and confusion. Later, as Taliesin, he has matured into a complete artist.
