Thursday, May 2, 2013

Sowing to Reap at Beltane

Spring is at its apogee, Beltane is here, and with it its famous fires. As I see it, there are two aspects of the Beltane Fires: the fiery, creative aspect we usually associate with spring, and the less considered one that deals with what exactly we are burning. This casting addresses both.

In the first position, over the scalepoint of fa, we find the Fermata Card with The Moon above it: the Moon reveals Herself to us and we are held in thrall. Tonight, Beltane Night, the Moon is on the wane: She won’t let go until we let go – of our excess psychic schmutz. The third and final position finds the moon-ish scalepoint of le with the Editing Card and the Four of Pentacles dangling from it like a pendulum. Drawing our energy, dragging us down, the Editing Card speaks of the things we need to cut, to excise from our lives; the Four tells us we’re attached to those things, that we don’t want to let them go. These are the fuel for our fire, these bookend positions.

The second, center position of the casting forms its axis. Here, over the double scalepoint of la, we find the Improvisation Card crossed by an Accompanist of Voices. This interesting cross tells us of a need to expect the unexpected, and respond in real time to events as they unfold; and at the same time to always be foremost of service. It’s like a spiritual calling to be spontaneously kind. Above the cross, the Page of Pentacles travels downward from the point of Governance, reinforcing the notions of spontaneity and springtime abundance – he stands in flowers and newly furrowed fields – and promising success. The keycenter of the casting is A# ascending, which speaks of energy moving upward from the Third Eye to the Crown Chakras, from the personal to the transpersonal – a kind of melding with and giving back to the collective.

In addition to the fire metaphor, we may also see in this casting elements of that other most wondrous of Beltane mysteries: compost. As we discover things that we once held dear are no longer serving us, may we lovingly turn them under. As the warming spring days fill our hearts with gladness, may we we simply give what is needed wherever and whenever, in a relaxed and spontaneous way… remember the blossoms.

And in gratitude may we reap.

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