Each year at Samhain I pull a Tarot card for each of the Sabbats. I use the traditional Rider-Waite cards for this purpose.
The first card indicates the Energy which I am to be surrounded in from 10/31-12/21.
The next card is the Energy for Yuletide to Imbolc,from 12/21-2/1 and so on. There are eight Holy Days, so I pull eight cards.
Last year for, this year’s guidance during Lughnasadh, I pulled the Death card, so I will be surrounded by the energy of the Death card from 8/1-9/21.
For many the symbols of Death are frightening, unknowing, and sometimes spooky. There are others of us who see the Death card and say “Thank the Goddess and good riddance!” I am usually grateful for the Death card, because for me it typically means the end of a difficult patch, a time to accept what is, and to prepare for rebirth.
This fall is the first back to school season that I have not had a child entering school in 26 years. That is a whole lotta back to school, and this year, I am O- U- T- out! Whoop!
I would never exchange a single back to school day, event the difficult ones, not enough money ones, emotional ones, or apprehensive ones. Each one served its purpose for me and for my children….. but LOOK! Yay! The Death card!!!
With that said I am also letting go of unnecessary chores, tasks, or self assigned obligations. (I am sorry to say that I will be holding moon circles a bit less frequently for a time.) I am weeding out what is not working, modifying what I want to work, and simply allowing myself the pleasure to let things unfold naturally for the first time ever!
So, as I take a look at the “Tarot card for this Wheel of the Year”, I notice the details on this particular card. I see the skeleton on the dead horse, for sure, but I also notice the white flower on the flag. Also, I see the sun rising in the East. Though the skeleton rides among dead bodies, there is one woman in yellow, the color of beginnings thrusting her hands together in prayer, a sense of hope lingers in her…. but alas, DEATH will have his way.
Bittersweet this time may be, for me and my non-back to school days, or for anyone who is experiencing closure on the chapter of their life. Let’s keep the sweet part in mind, knowing that even though there are many deaths in life, it is not over until it is over. Not until that final death will we ever stop living life.
May all the harvests you gather at Lughnasadh fill your heart and home with joy, love and peace!
Blessed Be