365 Tarot Spreads: Revealing the Magic in Each Day - Sasha Graham 2014

Bona Dea’s Female Power Spread

On This Day

Bona Dea’s temple, near the Circus Maximus, was an important center for healing. Harmless snakes roamed the premise, and stores of valuable medicinal herbs were dispensed as needed by its priestesses.

Today was the Roman festival of Bona Dea, associated with females, fertility, healing, and protection. Bona Dea’s rites allowed women the use of wine and blood sacrifice on this night, normally off-limits in their male-centric Roman tradition.

Summation of Spread

The Queen of Cups is perhaps the most feminine queen in the deck due to her breadth of empathy. Dreamy, a sincere friend, honest, and loyal, the Queen of Cups revels in the softer aspects of womanhood.

Bona Dea’s winter festival excluded men. Conducted in the home, ritually cleansed of all males—even male animals and male portraits—vines and flowers were used as decorations, and a banquet was prepared. Females gathered, female musicians performed, and all normal customs were suspended. For a male to even glimpse at this festival was punishable by blinding. This ultimate girls’ night inspires the female questions in this spread.

Cast Your Cards

Cast the cards in a lemniscate, the shape of a female reclining:

1. What is the essence of womanhood?

2. What does being a woman mean to me?

3. What do female relationships mean to me?

4. What is my relationship to my mother?

5. How can I support the women I know?

6. How can I cultivate strength from the strong females in my life?

7. How can I nurture my female relationships?

8. What message do young girls need to hear?