Beltane tarot spreads center around the theme of the Mid-Spring pagan festival named Beltane. These spreads are performed during this time of the year and incorporate the energies of manifestation, love and community.
We’ve included our favorite Beltane spreads in this article as well as a quick introduction to Beltane so you can celebrate this heart-warming Sabbat with your favorite tarot cards.
How To Use A Beltane Tarot Spread
Beltane (or in other spellings: Beltine, Belltaine and Beltaine) is a Gaelic festival celebrating May Day. The word Beltane roughly translates to ‘bright fire’ and is celebrated by pagans as the return of the Sun. Beltane sits exactly between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice.
Beltane is officially celebrated on the first day of May but as a season it lasts for much longer. Because seasonal changes shift slowly the Beltane season happens roughly two weeks before and proceeds to two weeks after May the first.
Using Beltane spreads is similar to using any tarot spread: the reader pulls a card for each question and places it where directed in the spread. However their key difference is the timing of when these spreads are performed.
The Beltane season shifts slowly from Spring to Summer so these spreads can be used between this time to evoke the themes of Beltane such as manifestation, sex, creativity and abundance in our lives.
1. Beltane’s Flower Tarot Spread
This spread uses the themes of Beltane with its fiery passion and excitement to explore within to better know and accept ourselves.
Internal exploration is often the first step to feeling more secure and confident and Beltane is all about confidently exploring all we encounter without judgment.
- What earth based action can I take right now to feel more like myself?
- What is my soil -my life fuel?
- Petals (looks) fade, what are the very roots of me?
- What do I value about myself?
- What parts of myself do I need to water and tend?
- How can I love my thorns, my shadow?
- What can others see in me that I currently don't?
- What is my Sun, my guide?
2. Pleasure Seeking In Beltane Tarot Spread
This spread gives us permission to explore pleasure in our lives. Whether this is delicious food, consensual sex or taking time to notice the small and profound experiences in our lives we often hold back and forget to partake in these.
This spread gives us a jolt back into centering our lives around thriving.
- In what ways do I deny myself pleasure?
- What is the root cause of this?
- How can I give myself permission to make time for simple pleasures?
- What activity can I utilize to find more pleasure I my life?
- What are my fears or insecurities around seeking pleasure?
- What does my relationship with pleasure tell me about myself?
3. Beltane’s Fire And Shadows Tarot Spread
This spread highlights our dreams and then showcases the shadows we have around them. Wherever there is fire shadow will inevitably be cast.
By understanding our shadows better we can support ourselves more fully and manifest our dreams more easily with a well-rounded plan.
- What is my fire? (My dream) take a card that symbolizes your dream most closely and place it face up here.
- What shadows are created by my fire?
- What lack or absence do they reveal to me?
- How can I fill in this lack?
- Knowing these shadows how can I support myself in a way that accepts and works on them?
- How can I incorporate these shadows into myself and even use them to manifest?
- How can I stoke my fire (stay motivated) even when the shadows crowd in?
4. MayDay Play Beltane Tarot Spread
This spread gives us the chance to create a special day just to explore creativity and joy in sacred space. It doesn’t have to be performed on the exact day of Beltane but it does work best when incorporated into a yearly tradition around this time.
This is so we always have at least one day of the year reserved especially for creativity. This is a great tool for artists and creative people as it gives them space for reconnecting with their craft simply for the love of it and not for profit or practicality.
- What first attracted me to this particular creative activity or hobby?
- How has my relationship with this activity changed overtime?
- What do I notice now about this activity?
- How can I inject more fun back into my activity?
- How can I continue to learn and grow within my craft?
- What resources or support am I lacking?
- How do I provide these/make these resources available?
- What important life lessons has met craft taught me? (For example the importance of patience.)
5. Beltane Manifestation Tarot Spread
This spread uses the fast-paced exciting energy of Beltane to unlock our power to manifest. Beltane is a wonderful time of the year to manifest as all of nature is buzzing with blooming and pollinating.
So we can easily take inspiration from the activity around us and manifest what we desire.
- What is step 1 to manifest ___? (Fill in the blanks with your own dream.)
- What is step 2 to manifest ___?
- What is step 3 to manifest ___?
- What is step 4 to manifest ___?
