BEALTAINE WINDS

Last night the winds began blowing here in Los Angeles. It is not just romance or fancy that makes one hear the wind whispering with the leaves-- spring winds are what wake up trees from their winter hibernation. Strong gusts get sleepy limbs limbered up and circulation active from root to tip, and remove any remaining dead twigs and debris.

The Celts celebrated only two major fire festivals a year: Samhain, when the sun is at 15 degrees of Scorpio, and Bealtaine, when the sun reaches 15 degrees of Taurus. Samhain and Beltaine divided the year into halves: waning and waxing. So strong were these divisions that they are still the names for November and May in Irish, respectively.

The Celts (like another nomadic, pastoral people, the Jews) found meaning in a day that began in darkness- that is, the new day was born when the sun set on the old one. The same with the year. Samhain was the twilight of the year. A new year, true, but with a fallow period until the sun was re-born strong again at the Winter Solstice, or Yule.

So if Yule is the daybreak of the year, the promise that each dawn brings, then Bealtaine is perhaps the commencement of the day's work. The first weeding of the greening fields or the first fertilizer, the first breeding of the cattle, the first glimpse of the harvest to come in fall.

It is the most scandalous of Pagan holidays because it encourages sex in the fields. It was often the second or the last day of a trial marriage (marriage of a year and a day), and so signaled freedom to indulge in a new partner, or satisfy new love's appetite. (It is the holiday that is made sinister in the original Wicker Man movie.)

Is it just because I am witch that everywhere today I was surrounded by lovers kissing and holding hands? Were the men I encountered more aggressive in their pursuit because of the fertility spirits crowding the air around them, unseen to most humans? And what about the crazy woman on the train that shouted in Spanish about Jesus Christ, and church and God. No one paid her any attention, except for me, when she began talking about devils and witches (brujos) and the evil of this city.

I took her as a sign that witchcraft is gaining acceptance, and that as more and more people understand what it really means to be a witch, those that find us evil will be speaking another language and won't be listened to, anyhow.

The winds are here, and they bring strong magick, and strong warnings, too. Whatever it is, get it done. Do not leave loose ends any longer. Do not procrastinate those things you must take care of. This year will not go kindly for many people. There will have to be room in your awareness for misery without allowing it to encompass your life.

This will be a year, too, when being able to call a wind to you, or ask one to stop, will be of utmost importance. Being able to ask deadly things that come through the air, like the spirits and germs of illness, to change their course and travel away from you, that could be a lifesaver.

Having a few birds that you feed and water, a circle of earth you watch change with the seasons, a breeze you know as a friend, an old tree that knows your name--these will be the allies we will need to face the changes ahead. "Big changes are coming/ here they come."

Begin to pay attention to the shifts in consciousness the earth and nature go through. Sunrise and sunset are daily transformations, and very obvious, as are the seasons. Pay a little closer attention and you will feel the more subtle shifts.

Bealtaine is birth: new spirits entering the world. Samhain is death: spirits leaving the earth. And both are times when the veil between the worlds is thin. If ghosts are going to visit en masse (without birth, death, or anniversary passports), it will be during these two times of the year.

One thing I truly believe is that we are all becoming more aware of each other, and in turn, more aware of ourselves. The Internet, television, radio, cell phones, and all of these mass "instant" communication devices are simply preparing us for mass telepathy and psychic powers.

I do believe that we are on the brink of a new age- an Age of Avatars. Each person will move to a higher level of being equaled in the past only by avatars like Jesus and Buddha. This will be painful to the stubborn, the inflexible, and the judgemental.

I believe that every person is growing in power right now. And growing in the only true power: power of Self. By focusing on our own behaviour, growth, and development we can truly change the world. We must all have faith (in whatever we have faith in) that whatever comes to us is ours, and that we will be guided to our best choices and opportunities.

And we must give up what is not ours, or the belief that anyone else can have our portion of life. Only what is yours can come to you. No one can take anything that is yours away from you. And no one can give you anything that does not belong to you. Each person lives under the rules of his own consciousness, karma, and choices.

The winds that came with Bealtaine are the winds of change. Bend, don't break. Shake off that which no longer serves you, and debris of all kinds. Get outdoors and get the circulation going from root to tip. Let the winds speak to you, and carry your messages to the spirits of new growth.

One last thought: In regards to Mercury intersolar and tonight's "retrograde". This is a Wednesday (ruled by Mercury), and Mercury had just entered its home sign of Gemini. There is also the Scorpio full moon on Friday night. This week is a powerhouse!

I think that many old debts are going to be settled, and many resolutions to long standing issues. Even those that may have started centuries ago. As I said earlier, this is a good thing, but it may not feel good to those that are too firmly entrenched in one opinion. And especially if there is an overriding need to be right.

Many people would rather be right than happy. This is not the year to want to be "right". This is a year to be happy, and to take happiness anywhere you find it. Think of all the things it would be nice to be wrong about: global warming, clean water shortages, other people's inability to change, your inability to change, that humans can't find solutions to poverty, hunger, war, and illness.

These are all things that the winds spoke to me about today, a truly beautiful and spectacular day- and "holy" day- for me. Not so wonderful for the people hit by wildfires in Santa Barbara.

Take happiness where you can find it.

Happy Bealtaine!!!

PRAISES, THANKS, & BLESSINGS!!!
conjurewoman1@yahoo.com