Bealtaine at Tara

by Vic - Astro353 Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:29

Have fun anyway .......but know the actual date of the cross quarter day Bealtaine this year is Saturday May 5th. This is when the the sun reaches 15° Taurus, the exact midpoint between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice.

"Bealtaine, Lammas (or Lughnasa), Samhain and Imbolc are Solar festivals occurring half way between the solstices and the equinoxes. The early Christian Church attempting to deny its origins, changed the Winter solstice into Christmas day, the Spring equinox into Easter and other festivals into various saints days on Sundays near to their true dates. This was only partially successful and Halloween (Samhain), May Day (Bealtaine), Lughnasa and Midsummers day( Summer solstice) re-emerged outside the Christian calendar.

Confusion however remained and now only Midsummer is celebrated on the right day. Modern 'Pagans' continue to use dates for their celebrations that are often as much as a week away from the actual solar midpoint. Some take the viewpoint that the quarter days were Lunar festivals but then the dates celebrated still make no sense. Certain standing stones and stone circles are aligned to these solar midpoints.

The quarter points have always been important astrologically as the energy gates of the zodiac. 15 ° Taurus and 15 ° Leo allowed fertility and creativity to flow 'up' from the earth and 15 ° Aquarius and 15 ° Scorpio allowed cosmic and spiritual energy to flow 'down' from above. The early Christian Church recognized they were such powerful symbols that they assigned Saints to the various gates and included in their decorated manuscripts the symbols of the Bull ( Taurus) the Lion (Leo), the Eagle ( Scorpio) and the Angel ( Aquarius) alongside these saints."

Imbolc- 15 ° Aquarius is around the 4th-5th February

Bealtaine - 15 ° Taurus is around the 5th to 7th May

Lammas- 15 ° Leo around the 6th -7th August

Samhain- 15 ° Scorpio is around the 7th -8th November