Celtic Wisdom T - transformation of the lover

Jannelientje

This week I am meditating on two very interesting cards of CWT. The Lover Card and Judgement fo SKill. In Judgement of skill, we see a woman who is fought over. Two men - one light, onse shadowy, symbolizing summer and winter - fight over the feminine on the day of Beltane. The card according to the book is about reconsaliation, about a rational and fair solution/ mediation. "Completion of projects, rest after work, Concord, peace and harmony".

However what I see is a woman whose fate is to wait, patiently or in fair I do not know. However she has no power, in the Mabinogion her wishes ar not made know. The men decide in the matter. The passionate Gwythyr ap Gredawul and Gwyn ap Nudd are being consoled, or their passion and obsession is limited within boundaries by King Arthur, symbol of the practical and rational king. I like this card more as a symbol for the power of nature, and how they change during the course of the year, rather than as a social lesson. Because this card shows me fate, powerlessness.

The card is in strong contrast with the Card of the Lover, where we again wath a woman with two men who are coutring her. Only this time the power lies with the women. The card is not so much about lover as it is about choice, the right to choose your own lover. The power is in the feminine. While the wishes of Creiddelad are not even mentioned, an certainly not considered, this card shows the power of free will, or at least the ideal of free will. Nemetona herself chooses who will be the object of her love and support.

Judgement of Skill appears to me therefore a far more negative card. Or at least a card about the unconsious, perhaps about the will to be conquered, pr wuite to the contrary the unfulfilled wish to be a man, to choose and to follow one's own passionate ambitions. Form a Jungian perspective the womanCreidellad might percieve her animus wishes, her desire to be as the man who fight for her. The card is strongly contrasted with the Lover, who very much makes conscious choice while Creiddellad might not even have discouvered what her wishes are. The crown of flowers is exchanged for a crown and a torque of brons, she has gained authority. It is she who gives away her love, her passion in the form of the rowan berries (red = colour of passsion), or who might even decide to keep them to herself. She tests who is worthy of her.

Creiddelad might be transofmed, may grow into the figure of Nemetona, who takes the reigns of power. Who becomes conscious of her choice and is no longer subjected to the overwhelming power of fate.

Or is there some positive message in Judgement of skill as an individual card as well?
What lesson do you find hidden in this card (4 of air)?