Welcome to Fay May!

From left clockwise: Boadicea’s Tarot of Earthly Delights, The Last Unicorn Tarot, The Arthur Rackham Oracle (by Duck Soup), Tarot of Echoes. Center: The Liminality Oracle

Warnings Ahead: Suggested nudity and if for some reason you haven’t watched The Last Unicorn, there are spoilers ahead. Go watch it now!

I’ve been looking forward to this month since my Tarot friend and I started Fauna March, because of course we had to cover the three “F” which about 90% of our decks fall into: Fauna, Flora, and Fay. May, kicking off with the Beltane festival seemed particularly suited for a month of strange decks surrounding fairies, elves, trolls, unicorns, magicians and all sorts of magical creatures and people.

I pick newer tarot decks in my collection that haven’t used much and because I’ve covered many of my Fay related decks already, but that means I have to work hard on my readings this month because I’m unfamiliar with all of them! At least I have used the oracle decks quite a bit!

I won’t lie, I’m in love with The Last Unicorn Tarot and I was going to grab the earliest opportunity to chose it as a monthly focus deck. This deck does an excellent job at picking the most magical elements from the movie (with a few nods to the book) and putting it to the tarot system. While the movie has a limited cast of characters (compared to the Tarot system, that is), the contexts of the card images all feel natural if you know the source material. I’ve used this deck a little bit, and I will say that it is not nearly as gentle of a reader as I fantasized it might be. I mean, the story isn’t a gentle story so I shouldn’t be surprised! The cards are just gorgeous in every way possible, and it is a deck that I can’t seem to stop grabbing off the shelf.

Ana Tourian is one of my favorite Tarot artists, and they seem to be on a roll this year with various deck releases. The Tarot of Echos positively oozes magic and welcomes its queerent into a wondrous world. This is a deck that doesn’t immediately scream “FAY!” in each card, but it does seem to embrace the magic in the individual, no matter how plain or uninteresting they might at first seem to look. It invites you to look at your own inner Fay.

Boadicea’s Tarot of Earthly Delights was one of those decks I glanced at on Kickstarter and passed by because collage decks usually aren’t my thing, but after tarot-friend gave me a little nudge to watch the flip-though I changed my mind. It is SO weird with the oddest sense of humor! I think it really feels like a creepy trickster and manages the lighthearted/profound juxtapositions; if that isn’t quintessential fay energy, I don’t know what is. It’s complex. I can already tell I may need to use this deck for a couple months before really getting into the meat of it.

The Liminality Oracle has made at least one if not several appearances on this blog before–it is a stunning deck that feels very balanced in its key words and evocative in its imagery. The subjects in the deck all very cleanly fall into the Fay category so it’s a no-brainer of an oracle deck to use this month. And, Duck Soup’s The Arthur Rackham Oracle is charming as all get out. This was my second oracle deck and I used it so much I became sick of it, so its high time it came out to see the sun again! The storybook images, the curious words and phrases make this a very dynamic oracle deck that is perfect for pairing or simply doing a daily “what do I need?” draw.

Lets see what May has in store for us:

Starting at the top are our themes for the month: Center and Courage–Defensive but Daring. Interesting! I’m already getting a similar vibe to last months.

We see our Center Fay with her feet tangled with the weeds and in muck and the crown of her head above the surface of the water while the rest of her is tugged about by the current. There are many different forces acting upon us, pulling us one way or the other. It can be hard to know what it is WE want through all the proverbial noise. This card acknowledges that there is struggle to knowing one’s self, but it is so important even in the heat of things to look into our-self to find stillness and listen to what our heart most desires. How can you align your direction with the current rather than fighting against it, is a question I find myself thinking.

And courage. Courage is a difficult thing to define, but this fresh young character is showing courage by standing their ground! Be resolute about your decisions. To be courageous isn’t about finding trouble and being brave so much as preventing trouble from disturbing your path forward. Sometimes simply “sticking to your guns” despite others pulling you away is the most courageous thing you can do. With the Center card it makes me think about “chose your path and stick to it” even in the face of challenges and “common sense” telling you otherwise.

From Boadicea’s Tarot I drew the positively overwhelming Nine of Fungi (Pentacles). This jaunty woman has what looks like a golden chanterelle as a hat–one of the most delicious mushrooms you can find! In one hand she has a man-hawk and in the other what looks like an auto-man heart. Full disclosure, I have not read the book though I do have it. This is a rare exception of a deck I want to fully explore on my own before I get the artist’s vision! But in the meanwhile I may be wrong in the imagery. Oh well; I’m having fun with it! Anyways, she has quite the fruit and wine table spread with a walled fortress town behind her. Oh and she looks like a complete badass to boot! The nine of pentacles this past month has been stalking me in my draws so I’m not surprised to see it again. You have got it all–now what are you going to do with it?

Our Nine of Fungi is flanked by Echos’ Six of Cups and Two of Pentacles. What two very interesting takes on these cards! I love this deck. In this Six of Cups I see a long lasting (perhaps childish?) dream of adventure, but now the means are at hand! The sea is right there, calling to the man from his window! Something you’ve longed for and perhaps even have forgotten is nigh! All you need to do is step outside your door and have the courage to go get it!

The Two of Pentacles is calling on the old tale of the goose that laid golden eggs. You’ve stumbled across something that is incredibly creative and can bring you wealth, but use it unwisely and you will spoil it for yourself. How can you balance pleasure with business? Where is there an opportunity to see growth beyond what you already have? Can you invest in what you see as a longed for opportunity? Hmmm…

SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Last Unicorn is a deck that, due to its rose petal finish really needs to be coaxed to produce jumpers, but today I didn’t seem to have a problem at all and three cards came flying out in one shuffle! I guess it has words to share.

The Queen of Swords does not make it immediately clear who is the queen; Mommy Fortuna or her (fatal) counterpart the Harpy? I think this particular Queen of Swords, which is arguably one of the most difficult court cards to pin down already, is perhaps the most complicated of any Queen of Swords I have ever seen. Mommy Fortuna is one of the most clever and scary villains I can think of, but she meets her downfall early in the story due to her greed and misjudgement of the Unicorn’s purity of heart an righteousness. But interestingly Mommy Fortuna is wise enough to know whats coming to her! She is incredibly crafty. But when we see how the Harpy has exercised patience for many years waiting to exact her revenge and being decisive in her freedom, it becomes clear that the Queen is the Harpy in this card. See things for how they really are–it’s easy to fall into black and white thinking, good vs evil, but reality is so much more nuanced. Be unbiased. Understand that what is right and follows your values is not necessarily seen that way by others, and sometimes that clashing of beliefs is desperately needed. See where oppression and manipulation is occurring and be a force to release those in that place. I often ask myself what is the difference between Justice and the Queen of Swords, and the Queen of Swords see’s the grey in-between situations and still acts.

The King of Wands as the Red Bull. You know what you want and need to do. Don’t let anything stop you. You are a master of your fate. Of course the story tells us how the bull is defeated, but it is only by overwhelming numbers and those who intentions shift to determination!

And Judgement. We see Schmendrick the Magician either about to change the Lady Amalthea back to a unicorn or having changed the unicorn into a woman. Either way, you and your world view are going to profoundly change. It is inescapable. Growth and change are largely out of your control, so the best you can do is embrace it fully and be ready to learn in this next stage of your life.

Taken together, these three tell me that by embracing my personal values unequivocally I will become an unstoppable force but this will profoundly change my person!

Phew! What a monthly reading! There’s a lot of concepts of being true to yourself despite resistance and outside pressures and things needing to be balanced, and chasing after things that for the longest time seem impossible. But it comes with a warning– to do so will profoundly change who you are and your world. Wow!

Um, anyone else’s May gonna rock their world?