The Forest Lovers -Where do we find True Love?

Where ever did I get the idea that the Wildwood Tarot is a wintry deck? 

Today’s Cards is The Forest Lovers. The setting of this card is during Beltane, the beginning of summer, when the world is in full bloom. The Lovers are celebrating their handvasting near a Birch tree, which is adorned as a maypole. Both are pledging their love for each other with their hand over their heart; the seat of their true love. It is very likely that their marriage will result in a third creative energy. The lilies are symbolizing this very clearly.

Personally for me The Forest Lovers is mainly a card of self acceptance which will eventually result in true self love. This card is all about embracing the darker aspects, the not so nice parts of myself. It is about commitment and about “for better and for worse”, even when we discover parts of ourselves which we loathe and detest. Yes, these are harsh words but it is not so difficult only to embrace our minor flaws. We all have more despicable aspects too. When we uncover these parts, our self love it really tested to the core. Can we hold our hand over our heart and say “I do” even then? 

I think only if we can truly and completely accept and love ourselves, we can truly and completely love someone else. Because “to truly love, we must be truly whole”

Beltane Contemplation with The Wildwood Tarot

Time is flying too fast for me. Beltane is already the beginning of Summer. Where did Spring go? This is a time of fertility for the animal and plant kingdom. Animals are procreating and flowers are pollinated so they can bear seeds and fruits. It is a lusty season for the wild and the free.

In the Wildwood we move from the period of the Arrows to the period of the Bows. This is a time of high energy levels which will reach their peak at midsummer. Bows represent willpower, creativity, spiritual pursuits and other “fiery” aspects of life J

The two Major Arcana cards which are representative for Beltane are The Forest Lovers (The Lovers) and Balance (Temperance).

We are invited to the handfasting of the Forest Lovers. They are speaking their vows and begin their commitment to each other. A new relationship is born. From two energies a third one comes into play, whether it is their child or the energy of this constant fluctuating togetherness. It is giving and taking, again and again; always changing, never the same. Each moment the Forest Lovers are creating their relationship over and over again. They are continuously seeking Balance which is the second card of this post.

Here we see two snakes intertwined. They’re coming together but they’re keeping their own identity/color. Always seeking the balance of life always moving and adjusting.  Together they look like the shape of the double helix of human DNA, the building block of life. The face carved in the rock at the bottom of the tree reminds us that in order for light to shine there has to be darkness to. In this darkness our greatest treasures are hidden which will restore the balance once again.

For me personal The Forest Lovers also represent the balance between the masculine and femine energies in every human being and in the Divine as a whole. Jung explains it as follows: “In the unconscious of the male, this archetype finds expression as a feminine inner personality: anima; equivalently, in the unconscious of the female it is expressed as a masculine inner personality: animus. The anima and animus can be identified as the totality of the unconscious feminine psychological qualities that a male possesses or the masculine ones possessed by the female, respectively”.

Maybe this year Beltane for me will be all about acknowledging and embracing my masculine aspects: my animus. Besides that I also want to create a more balanced image of my Gddess: to affirm She is feminine, masculine and probable so much more which I don’t know yet J

Pathway spread about creative blocks

The day before yesterday I had very frustrating experience with  my painting. I knew I wanted to paint something, anything. I tried so hard but nothing worked and I felt like such a failure. I was so angry and disappointed with myself. Perhaps me beating myself up was even worse than making such an unsuccessful painting. After reading the post from Louise about her Pathway spread, I felt a lot better. The cards advised me to stay away from activities that cause frustration and to sit out my inner storm.

Since I have this deck myself I thought let’s do my own pathway spread. My question was: How can I work trough my creative blockages? 

The Wildwood Tarot

1 The issue : The Forest Lovers

This card was a nice surprise to get on Valentine’s Day but it also threw me of balance. What does the lovers card has to do with my question? But when I thought about some more, I knew it is a perfect card to draw since this card, beside addressing romantic love, also speaks about loving every part of yourself to become a whole person. After that union new things can be created, new sparks will ignite.

2 Action to avoid: Ten of Stones – Home

I’ve interpreted this card in this position as a warning not to hide in my house and behind the business of family life or perhaps worse: Pouting in my room

3 Action to take: Seven of stones – Healing

Instead I want to take the time to heal and to reunite with the parts of me that have been hiding in the shadows. It felt almost as if I was lying in a circle of calcified aspects of myself who are still able to protect me but who are also waiting to be acknowledged.

The first thing  I did was listing every aspect of me I could think of and that already had a surprising result. Besides: the good mother, the little girl and the perfectionist,  there were also the adventurer who was afraid of nothing at all and the one who says sorry all the time. The hardest thing is to keep writing and dig deeper. Forgotten parts don’t always have to be negative sides of yourself.

I know this process will take time but I think it will be very exciting and rewarding whatever the outcome will be.