Wickfordbard's Beltaine & Taurus New Moon Newsletter 2008

[wickfordbard]

Happy Beltaine!

May 1st is the Celtic festival of Beltaine, the beginning of Summer. It's my favorite seasonal festival, especially since my birthday is in the next few days. This year, I have a birthday special for all of you. You'll find it at the end of the newsletter. :)

Beltaine is one of those festival's everyone loves. It's all about re-birth and beauty, music and dance, nurturence and ecstasy , abundance and magic, fun and naughtiness, the ideal and the real. Masculine and Feminine Spirit come together in the Hieros Gamos (Sacred Marriage) so that life gets renewed again. During Beltaine's season, our sexuality becomes a sacred source of learning, of pleasure, of sensuality, of life, of creativity. And yet so many of us pass it by without participating in the celebration!

Rituals are always important, but even more so -

Go out and sense the winds of Spring, strong and potent in many places right now. Listen to the sounds and silences of birdsong, wind through new leaves, rain drumming on everything, ocean's murmurs and roars, river's leaping and tumbling and flowing! Everything in nature calls out to your body to come alive. Go out into Nature. You are awake.

That's Beltaine!

This year I'm out in the western deserts instead of in Rhode Island for Beltaine. My visceral memories of Betaine are of the chilly damp of early May, surprising sudden warmth, greens, colors returning – awakenings. So this year, I let myself see Beltaine from the desert's perspective - through canyons, rivers, stars and wildflowers.

In the week leading up to Beltaine, I spent time by two rivers, the Virgin River in Zion's canyons and the Colorado River. The River goddesses were out in force, singing and dancing, gliding and tumbling, one kicking up her heels and the other sparkling like translucent sapphires. Like Goldenberry, the River's daughter, there's a strength, a gentleness, and a beauty to the rivers at this time of year. The flowing watery energy of the rivers spoke to me of other aspects of Beltaine - breaking the forces of Winter, melting snows transformed to rushing water, wildflowers defiantly splashing colors over parched soil, winds roaring through the canyons – these strengths shape the energies of Beltaine. Sharp desire, beautiful strengths - all part of the mystery and magic of Beltaine as well.

The ancient Celts would light bonfires and dance around the Maypole, and perhaps chose a partner for the night to create sex magic to fertilize the fields. If this isn't part of your celebration plans, at least go out into the night and feel the new life that has returned once again. The dance of the Maypole is the weaving of the energies of life, male and female. Go out and feel the life moving through you, moving through the world. It's magical. And it's yours.

So take time today and through the new moon to connect to the Earth, to go out and be part of Earth's energy. Breathe it in (through all your senses), center it, and then breathe out that centeredness to re balance the world toward growth – Beltaine's purpose. Earth's seasons are energetic shifts, and if we place ourselves in those energies consciously, we learn how to use them to sustain our life and those of others. Look to see how Gaia is coming alive again and value how She sustains us. Become Wise. The world needs us to be.

Newsletter continued at:
<http://www.wisdom-of-astrology.com-a.googlepages.com/beltaine&taurusnewmoon2008>

Some Astrological happenings:

May 1 – Beltaine – go and let your wild child out. It needs the exercise!

May 2 – Mercury enters Gemini – our mental processes quicken with new ideas.

May 2 – Saturn turns direct at 2 Virgo. We can finally get our acts together this summer!

May 4 – Neptune conjoins with the North Node at 24 Aquarius. We can align with our destiny now. Make it mystical and magical.

May 5 – Taurus New Moon. Plant seeds that are worthy of you – of your talents and your values.

May 9 – Mars finally gets out of Cancer and goes into Leo. You know what you need from Mars' long stay (including retrograde) in Cancer. Now you have the energy to make things happen.

May 11 – Happy Mother's Day. Appreciate your mother – the most undervalued job in the world. Appreciate Mother Earth – where else can we live?
May 14 – Sun square Neptune, Chiron & the North Node – we care challenged to live our life's purpose.

Now for my birthday present.

It's been a tradition in my family that we picked up from the Hobbits. On our birthdays, we give those we love presents.

So my present to all my great clients is this. Since this is such an important time to open up to a new vision – after such a long time of hardships – I'd like to offer you a check-up reading for the price of my age this year. Yes, for $59.00 you can have a dream session or an astrological check-up session (only for those of you who have had readings before with me).

If you'd like your present, you have to let me know before the next full moon – May 20th. We can schedule our appointment for after that time, but you need to get in touch with me in the next few weeks.

Blessed Be!

Cathy Pagano


310-741-7013

[I Have A Dream]

1. As always, beautifully written!

I was listening to the following video as I was reading it, and it really fit. There's a bit of snow in the video, but I imagine that there's still snow around on May 1st in the area where they are shooting. I'd like to celebrating Beltane (Beltaine) doing what they're doing in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDdokE1rAMw

(I love Rusted Root. :))

Thanks for posting this!

[glowing]

2. There's a bit of mischief in the air... Could be naught or nice or just silly..

Mischief is how it feels...all tingly.. it gives me a visual of running through fields with wild hair and bair feet... jumping into a lake with no clothes on, and then lounging on the grass letting the sun dry you off... mischief...