We are officially halfway through the first half of 2023 and this also represents the midway point between our two main yearly polarities: winter & summer.

The spring is always my favorite season; there’s hope in the air, blossoms everywhere and a strong sense of personal perseverance for having made it through the cold winter.

I thought I’d do an Equinox reading with my oldest deck: The Fairy Ring Oracle deck.

I feel (and quite a few of my friends agree!) that the fairies are very active presently – and also, in spring generally, so I thought it was the perfect deck for the Vernal Equinox reading.

The Fairy Festival card and ancient tradition of Ostara is the current celebration taking place and so I’d like to just give you all a quick reference to the themes and frequencies of this time which are represented by the fairy oracle card within my deck:

Once I sat down with my crystals and singing bowl, I decided on the 8 card circular spread with the same name as the deck – ‘The Fairy Ring’.

This spread is helpful as a check in to see where the energies are at and what could be presenting itself soon in your world, and so I thought it was perfect for this collective reading on the Spring Equinox.

As I was settled and prepared to shuffle, I asked the cards, as I always do, to offer any advice, guidance or support during this present Equinox for the collective as well as myself. I offered them gratitude and appreciation for their audience and began to shuffle…

For a specific spread type of readings, sometimes, I prefer to shuffle then fan the deck out in front of me and choose, by intuition, all the cards. I keep them in the order/orientation they were picked as and lay out the spread once I put away the rest of the deck.

But, as I was wrapping up my shuffling, a single card popped out. I always pay attention to these kinds of messages and so this ended up being the 9th card for the spread.

I put it right in the center of the spread. I thought I would allow the message of that card to be interpreted as an overall theme or marker of sorts so I flipped that card initially to get a feel for what the cards felt most pressing to speak on. I felt it was a frame to hold the whole 8 card Fairy Ring within – the center of the spokes, perhaps?

Individual breakdown of the spread:

The Overall Interpretation

Since we’ve first received the card of Samhain for an overall theme, message or center focus – I’ll be reiterating this through this interpretation but I’d also like to draw attention to the idea that this center spoke for our Fairy Ring reading could be a timeline or point of guidance in one way or another. The cards could be affirming to us that these potent Equinox energies will be staying with us through Halloween or perhaps we’ll see loose ends wrapping up by this time.

There’s so many possibilities when you do collective readings, I like to leave room for different angles of thought – so keep in mind, for your own reference, of all these different options of reading that 9th card.

It’s clear that the spring equinox is ushering in deeper connections for each of us to tie into our ancestors, astral guides, personal intuition as well as the collective consciousness. More and more people are feeling that call to awaken and plug into their purpose here – and I think this reading confirms to us that this is in fact happening and will continue to occur over the next 6-9 months.

Our current phase card reflects the friendly Tiddy Mun reversed, and this clicks perfectly with our world today – and especially concerning those of us awake to the spiritual battle taking place. It’s clear that many people out there in the collective are ignoring an unpleasant situation (or many perhaps) right now, and even more of us still are feeling those pressures that come from dealing with cruel, ungrateful, deceitful and/or selfish people – whether in your direct life with family and friends or out in the world with bosses or businesses. There are so many examples of these kinds of situations happening currently.

The cards seek to inspire us by reminding us of our strength, common sense, and practicality with the second card, denoting how far we’ve come. Behind us is the shining figure of Queen Oonagh, supporting our current phase with the hard earned lessons we worked our way through in the past. The cards want us to know our skills will not go unused, our muscles will be tested and our troubleshooting skills put to good use. They offer us a pat on the back, to congratulate us for coming to class prepared.

Before us, in the present moment, awaits the glorious gifts of the Cro Sith, or fairy cow. The current moment is infused with unconditional love, acceptance, support and comfort. If you’re facing a time that does not feel so great, or seems to be maligned with this joyous message then this card could be a gentle reminder that in order to find true solutions you’ll need to embody these emotionally supportive frequencies or offer up unselfish love to the person in order to help them through a tough time.

It is clear that for this new cycle will call forth opportunities to overcome some lower, more negative emotions like resentment, bias, inequality and injustices. It’s important that we see these obstacles as meaningful and choose to assert ourselves in responsible and sovereign ways. Aine asks us to stand up for sacred innocence and purity, so these weakness to overcome will most likely center around some variety of victimization or victim-hood, whether your own or that of another – be mindful of the trap and seek to release from any cycles of negative, self fulfilling prophecies or states of self pity. If you find yourself locked into the negative spirals, remind yourself of where you’ve been, what practical lessons you learned from those experiences and how far you’ve come to date.

As we navigate through this Equinox time, we will be called to develop our diplomatic skills and strengthen our intuition in regards to those around us. The Boggart card appears reversed reminding us that we will be tested, and so we must remember to be clever and tactful when dealing with others. If you’d like to get what you want out of any situation, you must be cunning, smart and reasonable.

When we take into account the previous cards, we start to gain an idea of the collective outlook our fairies are presenting us with. We have been and will continue to be faced with difficult interactions and circumstances, due to unpleasant, unhappy people who seek to manipulate us through lies, but we are well equipped with the tools to combat their distortions & control mechanisms. We must choose unconditional love as the meeting ground and seek solutions from that point only – like a mother between her children.

The sixth placement of the Fairy Ring spread provides insights into any obstacles in our way and it’s striking to receive a fairy festival card for this spot because it could denote the January/February time as being particularly rough or perhaps when the first sign of an obstacle will present itself, or any number of other possibilities surrounding the literal time period. There is also the card meaning itself, which signifies purification, resurgence, new beginnings, freshness and originality. The setting for this message is that of obstacles to keep an eye out for, and therefore I think the cards are asking us to remember the hardships and rough edges that are being smoothed over and worked through during renewal and rebirth.

Although Imbolic was portrayed upright, it could also be helpful to look at the reversal side of things – especially where this 6th card is about obstacles. The shadow aspects of this festival are boredom, stagnation, stalemates, or even a seemingly apparent decline in activity or an initial lack of progress. These things are classic roadblocks and to be expected when we venture out on new paths, so remember the key to moving through obstacles is facing them directly with as much clarity and honesty as possible.

The seventh card informed us that help will come in an unlikely form, and may be hard to see as a helping hand at some points. Jack Frost reversed, within this spread and specific to this reading, is showing us that sometimes the “cold“ approach is necessary or even beneficial. Our best bet in these coming days, weeks and months, is to remain slightly detached and to keep your passions under control, especially if you’re usually a hothead. Work to distance yourself emotionally from others and see yourself as free, unattached and independent. This might sound a little off-putting but I don’t see this as a cruel or bitter kind of reservation, I’m seeing it as respecting your own energetic, emotional and spiritual boundaries as well as other’s.

When we understand that this kind of cold approach is a form of tough love and also a balancing practice, we can all see the huge benefits reaped by Jack Frost’s help in this situation. The last bit of this ‘face-card’ within my fairy deck is the more literal interpretation which could suggest help will come in the form of a young male energy who represents the essence of Jack Frost – reversed, however the fairy is rather unpleasant – an attractive young person who is a sly and deceitful liar; the type who enjoys telling lies and making scenes. I don’t want to completely leave out this portion of the card even though it does seem less probable that any honest help would come from such a personality. We can leave it open for chance though!

I always like to say, in regards to the last card in a spread, that the final card is not just the overall outcome but more clearly, it is the single most important card picked. If you were to pick just one card on the topic, then this would be the card you chose – this is the message the fairies feel most strongly about.

Our final card, number 8, is the Pixie and what an amazing message it is! Not only does the suit itself represent the season of spring but the Nine is all about setting sacred boundaries, thresholds, crossing over and completing cycles – so perfect for the Spring Equinox!

The message of the pixies is one of fun, laughter and child-like wonder. They encourage us to loosen up and enjoy the ride. I love that this is the overall outcome for this reading, especially when we tie it back into that very first theme card of Samhain. These two together really speak of breaking those negative karamtic bonds that have kept us chained and bogged down, overly serious, stressed and in the dark.

When we tap into our imaginations, creativity and curiosity for life we release ourselves and also our ancestors. When we radiate out joy, unconditional love and acceptance we heal ourselves, our ancestors, our children and those who will come after us, too.

It’s important to understand the interlinking web that connects us all and see yourself as an active influencer within that web of life. We are constantly impacting the ether space around us, the spirit realm and our human collective and when we actually have fun and enjoy each present moment we impact those layers with such strong positivity and love that it heals our world; past, present & future.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this reading and that you’ll use these words of advice in the coming days, weeks and months to come! The Equinox is the half way point between two great polarities of summer & winter and with all the time references I do believe we will see the influences of this energy spanning out into the 6 to 9 months.