Merry Month of May: Sparking the Summer

The blessings of Beltane to one and all! :)

This is one of the eight Sabbats of Pagan traditions. It was the start of summer in the Celtic calendar, featuring the kindling of the "Bel Fires" to renew the hearth fire of the home and to purify oneself and one's flocks. With the arrival of stable warm weather, it was an excellent excuse for folks to get out, dance around Maypoles (to invoke fertility for the coming year), jump the fire (for said purification), and pair up and head for the woods to make some whoopie - okay, a lot of whoopie.

In modern practice, most Pagans still treat this day as the start of Summer, and for whoopie-making in many cases. Summer is the season of Fire (as the days in the global north get longer and warmer), Creativity, and Transformation, sometimes of the Radical variety. This is certainly the case as we kick off May with a pair of "sparking" Astro events...

First, Pluto starts its retrograde journey on this very day (May 1st). Unfinished Business is the flavor of this particular retrograde, as Pluto returns to Capricorn for its last big hurrah. Pluto in Capricorn has shown us where our social structures are failing us, and where decay has set in. When it finally stations direct, it will be in the same degree, though not at the exact same point, where it was when the United States was sparked in 1776. Expect the socio-political rhetoric to heat up between now and when it stations direct, roughly mid-October, and to cool slowly through the end of the year. Break out the hip-waders, because we'll need them in a few months!

Second, there's a Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio on May 5th. This is the other end of the Eclipse Sandwich that we were served a few weeks ago. Whereas the focus of the first eclipse was on our Passion Projects, now the focus is on what cutting loose we need to do before our deep dive of Commitment. We articulated our significant desires leading up to this full moon; now we see what we need to Release in order to make room for their fulfillment. As Mercury is still retrograde, this is more of a time of planning and less of a time for action. Come Mercury stationing direct on the 14th, and the Taurus new moon on the 19th, that will be the time to take the first steps in our bold new directions. (More to be revealed around those events as well.)

A final note: my schedule became unexpectedly busy to kick off the week, so the Intuitive Reading for this month will be slightly delayed. It will, however, be up by the Eclipse, so watch this space!