Beltaine altar – MoonCourt

The actual Moment of this cross-quarter between Equinox (Spring/Autumn) and Solstice (Summer/Winter) is 17:44 UT (Universal Time) on the 7th November … that’s November 8th 3:44 EST Australia – my place: other global times are available at archaeoastronomy.com.

Samhain altar – MoonCourt

It is the Season of Beltaine/High Spring in the Southern Hemisphere, the season of celebrating sweet desire for being – the “glue” of the Cosmos, the primordial attractive activity that holds all form together and allows the dance of life, the holy composition we participate in. In the Northern Hemisphere it is the Season of Samhain/Deep Autumn, the season of celebrating the falling apart of all form – the holy de-composition we participate in, the magic of the space between the old and the new, the ferment seething with possibility that allows the transformation of death.

Both Seasonal Moments are times when it is said that “the veil is thin that divides the worlds”. These cross-quarter Moments, High Spring and Deep Autumn, just prior to the fullness of light or dark at the Summer or Winter Solstice, have traditionally been times of high revelry celebrating a wild fertile space – one a genetic fertility, the other a trans-genetic/imaginal fertility. And in the evolutionary story the advent of meiotic sex is connected to the advent of death. [1] Beltaine celebrates the Dance of Life – the sweetness of the moment and Holy Desire, and Samhain celebrates the Trans-formation of Death – the passing of the old, and the magic of new possibility seething in the sentient dark moment: they are essential to each other … enjoying the Moment of Now is intimate with a sense of Death. Both are celebrations of the “Event-ual” nature of existence: at this time the seamless connection “of the worlds” is more apparent … thus “the veils are thin”. Beltaine /Samhain @ EarthGaia may be a time for seeing it, for contemplating this Event that we find ourselves in.

For some Beltaine Poetry: PaGaian Beltaine 2009 on YouTube

For some Samhain Poetry: PaGaian Samhain 2009 on YouTube 

Most who celebrate this Beltaine/Samhain Moment will do so on the 31st October – it is the traditional date. Unfortunately many in Australia will think that it is Samhain (Halloween) they are celebrating – having no idea that “Halloween” is supposed to be related to the season! As I have said in the book  PaGaian Cosmology, the children of Judeo-Christian religious heritage in Australia, inherited a poverty of spirit, a deep divorce from Earth that few other religions in the history of Gaia have ever known.

Here in the Blue Mountains of Australia we will celebrate Beltaine ritual on the 7th November, gathering in MoonCourt at 4.30pm. The invitation reads:

Earth tilts us further towards the Sun – the Source of Her pleasure, life and ecstasy

You are invited to celebrate
BELTAINE

This is the time when sweet Desire For Life
is met … the fruiting begins:
the Promise of early Spring exalts in Passion.
This is the celebration of Holy Lust, Allurement, Aphrodite …
Who holds all things in form, Who unites the cosmos,
Who brings forth all things,
Who is the Essence of the Dance of Life.

If you wish to attend, you may email me (Glenys) for an invitation and details

PaGaian Cosmology blogs for Beltaine/High Spring

PaGaian Cosmology blogs for Samhain/Deep Autumn

Beltaine or Samhain preparation e-notes, images and meditations are offered: Celebrating PaGaian Cosmology On-Line .

PaGaian Cosmology Meditations CDs may be helpful in supporting and nurturing a process of individual or group participation in the seasonal transitions.

Some Beltaine and Samhain story are offered in Appendix F of PaGaian Cosmology  or if you have a paper version of the book, there is an Index for references throughout. These Seasonal Moments in relationship to the whole Wheel of the Year may be found in Chapter 5, and ritual/ceremonial scripts are offered in Chapter 7 – the on-line versions are usually a bit different from the paper versions, as they evolve.

For more reflection on the reciprocity of Beltaine and Samhain: Beltaine/Samhain @ EarthGaia.

There is a PaGaian Cosmology Facebook group where all members may initiate discussion and/or respond, and also a Pagaian Cosmology Facebook Page … which you are welcome to “Like”.

fn 1. See Elisabet Sahtouris, Earthdance, NE: iUniverse, 2000, p.134-135, and Ursula Goodenough, The Sacred Depths of Nature, NY: Oxford University Press, 1998, p.143-149. More can be made of this link between these Seasonal Moments: orgasm has been termed “a little death” in French.