1st: Beltane
11th: Mother’s Day
12th: Full Flower Moon in Scorpio
15th: Buddha Day
27th: New Moon in Gemini
28th: Feast of Bendidia
As the Wheel of Fortune shifts to May, the second full month of spring, we grow wide awake. The rains of April give way to a lingering rainbow in the sky, one full of vast possibilities. This month, the Universe says “Yes, you may.” The month of May is the permission granter. Now that we have gained confidence in pursuing our heart’s desire, we are encouraged to claim it as a part of our authentic identity. With this reclamation, we are renewed. When someone asks who we are and what we do, this informs our answer.
The month kicks off with Beltane, meaning “bright fire” in Gaelic, in honor of High Spring. It is a pagan May Day festival held in celebration of the fertility of the land, people, animals, and the coming months of sun. At this time of year, all the individual fires of the hearth were extinguished, in favor of a grand communal bonfire called the “need-fire.” The Green Man shed his winter coat to wed the May Queen, prompting the oncoming summer. Per National Geographic, the celebration is supported by several characters representing different aspects of nature. This includes the whites, who embody the Queen’s “emotions and energy,” the blues, elders who “uphold tradition and order,” and finally the reds, who “represent nature’s chaos and carnality.”
The eleventh marks Mother’s Day, followed by the Full Flower Moon in Scorpio on the twelfth. The blossoming from April’s Floralia reaches its height on this day. Let no doubts remain that this is the expression we were meant to embrace and fully step into. On the fifteenth, in honor of Buddha Day, we may want to consider where we can release some attachment to the material, in favor of deepening our spiritual connection. What roles are we willing to let go of, to step into greater alignment? On the twenty-seventh, the New Moon in Gemini encourages us to let go of either or thinking. We can embrace coexisting experiences. We have blossomed into something new, and can sustain aligned values and identities from before. Finally, on the twenty-eighth, the Feast of Bendidia, dedicated to the Thracian Goddess of the moon, underworld and nature ushers the deep intuitive self out of hiding, and into wilding.
The Rainbow Spread below is based on the colors of the rainbow: Red, Orange,Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. These represent areas of opportunity opening in each of our chakras.
Red: Root Chakra ~Reverse Death~ (Don’t Fear) The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult
The Reverse Death card in Red suggests we have outdated survival techniques and coping mechanisms that we are hesitant to let go of. Over the course of many years, we learned that we needed them to stay safe and secure. This may take the form of appeasing others, not speaking up or voicing our boundaries, becoming defensive or aggressive instead of allowing for vulnerability, and more. Spirit suggests that while we felt we needed this growing up, our lives have since expanded, and now those tactics do more harm than good. Are we truly in survival mode, or are we reenacting conditions that make us think we are? Keeping the Death function at bay is much like sweeping the floor with an upside-down broom. We’re going through the motions, but nothing gets cleared away. More dust and dirt accumulates in the meantime. Spirit suggests we right the broom and sweep away the dust, so that we inhabit an expansive, lighter space. We don’t have to lose valuable energy maintaining something that’s already been lost. We can redirect it instead to our heart’s desire, which is already under way.
Orange: Sacral Chakra ~Hanged Man~ The One Eyed King by Jacco Gardner
The Hanged Man suggests that in May, we can only see the present state of our Orange, sacral chakra. Our view of the future is limited. Though in Western culture this type of blindness often brings discomfort, waiting patiently and holding space for the unknowing becomes a source of strength and growth. This is how we remain present with and accept the self. Inspiration and epiphanies occur in the liminal space of contemplation and relaxation. We can let ourselves–our emotional, creative, and sensual parts–be where we are, instead of worrying about the next steps. There is nothing to fix or improve, nothing else we have to be or do. We only have to love, appreciate, and marvel at where we are. We can find the gifts of our experiences in everyday sensations, in the sweetness of life. Old pathways from the Death card above may have been cut off, but if we are patient, new life can emerge, in the form of a flowering tree.
Yellow: Solar Plexus Chakra ~Reverse Seven of Cups~ Find Yourself by Jacco Gardner
In May, we might feel pressured to put on a show, with lots of flashy ribbons, so that others may acknowledge or be impressed by us. Instead of doing things for show, we are encouraged to consider what truly makes us flourish, feel joy and alignment. The Reverse Death card in Red reveals that we no longer have to base our choices in receiving validation or approval from others. We can instead consider our personal satisfaction. We are the ones who have to live with the emotional consequences of our choices, and witness our internal landscape on a daily basis. Spirit advises us to return to the Hanged Man state, to allow something to organically grow and develop while we enjoy the bliss of creative, emotive, and sensual flow. To discover more about our inner selves, so that when the time is right, we can confidently choose a path that we know aligns with our true and authentic self.
Green: Heart Chakra ~Reverse Ten of Cups~ When The Saints Go Marching In by Louis Armstrong
In our hearts, we want more communal validation. We feel that this could be the missing piece to complete our “somewhere over the rainbow.” We made a big accomplishment this month while pursuing our heart’s desire, but it feels incomplete if it isn’t celebrated with a big brass band. There is a joy we’ve overlooked that still remains accessible to us–the authentic self that we’ve bloomed into. If there is silence, we’ll soon be able to fill it with the community we’ll attract in expressing our truth. In finding deep connection with ourselves, we can also encourage it in others. We can look beyond ourselves to see where we can play a metaphorical trumpet to cheer on and celebrate others in their endeavors. This can bring us the same sense of belonging that our hearts have been yearning for in the first place.
Blue: Throat Chakra ~Two of Swords~ New Person, Same Old Mistakes by Tame Impala
For as long as the root chakra lingers in Reverse Death, the throat chakra will follow suit in the Two of Swords. In other words, we will be torn between a past expression of ourselves which strives for external love and approval, and the new version which blooms out of us as a result of pursuing our heart’s desire. It’s as though we know who we are and want to be, but we don’t feel that we can express it yet in the greater collective sphere. Yet the growth is undeniable, something that can’t be reversed, try as we might. Until we feel we can be this version of ourselves with others, we’ll feel conflicted, limited in expression and code-switching all the while. The subconscious mind asks Which is it?, in this polarity of either/or. The New Moon in Gemini has the potential to help us resolve these dual experiences, and how we might best go about integrating our expressions.
Indigo: Third Eye Chakra ~Reverse Three of Pentacles~ Third Eye by Florence and the Machine
In our current state, we have an inverted heart and third eye. The third eye is obscured by difficulties with self love and worth, which keeps us from seeing situations and ourselves clearly. This is what limits our vision in the Orange sacral chakra card as well. We are advised to look at ourselves through the eyes of love. Love is how we can distinguish fear from intuition,integrity, and true relationality. When we honor that which we hold sacred, that is love. When we sacrifice unhealthy habits and leave our comfort zone, so that we may discipline ourselves in the name of the sacred, that is love. It is when we backpedal, and sacrifice what we hold dear–not setting boundaries, remaining in our comfort zone, making choices based on what we think others would approve of–that we act in contradiction to love, spirit, and intuition. The enamored third eye will see past the blindfold, the intellectual duel between two ways of being, that is typically associated with the Two of Swords card above.
Violet: Crown Chakra ~Knight of Cups~ Simple Kind of Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd
From a wider perspective our connection with the divine heartens us to take the path of the Knight of Cups. We may not know the outcome, but we’ve come to realize that it’s the quest, the pursuit of our heart’s desire that matters. On our quest, we’ve learned to express concern for this cup, taking care not to tip it over, carefully considering it and cherishing it as we let our intuition take the wheel. Once we act from this space, we enter our most aligned golden path, the one that brings us home to ourselves. Home is growing comfortable in our own skin, which brings us the confidence we seek in the Yellow sacral chakra card. In the pursuit of our personal holy grail, we learn to court ourselves, to honor what matters to us, and fight for its cause. We become its protector, our own hero and suitor. We find validation and belonging with ourselves, and celebrate all the ways in which we’ll grow on this journey.