What an exciting week we have ahead of us. Tonight is Beltane Eve, or Walpurgisnacht. Bonfires are kindled on the hill to welcome and encourage the burgeoning sunlight. Tomorrow is May Day, typically celebrated with a lusty dance weaving ribbons around the phallic Maypole. There is also the very sweet custom of hanging a May basket on your friend's door. In times past couples spent the night celebrating the return of fertility to the land by making love outdoors and bringing boughs of flowering Hawthorn back home with them. Maidens bathed in the morning dew on the first of May to preserve their beauty and stay forever young. The dew on Lady's Mantle leaves in perfect for this!
Beltane is celebrated on April 30-May 1st, or astrologically when the Sun reaches 15 degrees of Taurus (May 5, 2007)
Also called: May Eve, May Day, Walpurgisnacht, Cyntefyn, Roodmass and Cetshamain, Fairy Day, Floralia
Moon phase equivalent: Waxing Gibbous Moon
Direction: South East Time of Day: Mid Morning
Colors: Red, Pink, White, Green
Herbs: Almond, Apple Blossom, Elder, Hawthorn, Lilac, Patchouli, Red Clover, Spicebush, Woodruff
Gemstones: Emerald, Malachite, Amber, Carnelian, Sapphire, Rose Quartz
Themes: fertilize the soil, bless the garden, nurture and boost existing goals, games, activities of pleasure, leaping bonfires, making garlands, May Pole dance, planting seeds, walking one's property and checking boundaries, wildflower walks, celebrating the first flowers, feasting, interactions with the fairy realm
Don't forget the Full Moon in Scorpio coming up at 6:09am EDT on May 2nd. It is the first of two full moons occurring in May this year, making the Full Moon in Sagittarius on the 31st a so-called "Blue Moon".