May Day always makes me think of my grandmother.
My main frame of reference for the first of May as a child was Grandma teaching us how to make heart-shaped May baskets out of woven strips of construction paper to fill with candy and hang on the doors of people we liked. I think this has added a lot to my mental image of my grandmother as extraordinarily innocent.
She passed away last May, though she faded away from herself far before that, thanks to a drawn-out battle with dementia. It’s been many years since I made a May basket with my grandmother. But there’s still something about the joy and springiness and love of the start of May that always reminds me of her.
I decided to do a little three-card spread with my Wildwood Tarot deck – not assigning any specific question to each card, but just to give myself a broader-than-one-card picture – to help me think about what sort of energy I’m carrying forward into this new season.
the green woman (the empress in a traditional deck), the nine of vessels (cups), and the sun of life (sun) from the wildwood tarot, art © will worthington
There is all sorts of exciting energy here. The Green Woman reminds me that my grandmother’s May Day is not the full picture – far from being all innocence, there is wildness here, Nature at her least tamed and most alluring.
At the same time, the Nine of Vessels tells me that the connection and sharing with loved ones is an important part of this season. I have plenty, therefore I should pass it around.
And the Sun of Life…I feel like I’ve been running into the Sun a lot, lately. Even when the weather outside is grey and depressing, there is brightness and life within me.
Restless Tarot 