From Beltane to Solstice
by Eric Francis
May 5, 2006 (with two charts and a picture)
http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/may5.html
Dear Friends Around the World:
If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
Don't be alarmed now
It's just a spring clean for the May Queen
Yes there are two paths you can go by
but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on.
-- Jimmy Page & Robert Plant
May 5 is Beltane, the Pagan holiday that celebrates the
birth of spring. Of course this applies to the Northern Hemisphere, since
autumn is beginning in the southern regions. At the time of Beltane's creation,
the southern hemisphere had not quite been 'discovered' by Europeans. Still,
wherever one is in the world, and whatever tradition one follows, this is a
power point, celebrated many places in the Latin world (for example) as Cinco
de Mayo, May Day and other holidays.
Most of us are familiar with the equinoxes and solstices,
when the Sun makes a 90-degree angle to either the tropics (Tropic of Cancer or
Tropic of Capricorn) or the equator. Those are the changes of the season,
called the 'quarter days'. What is less known is that midway between each of
the seasons is another holiday or Sabbat dedicated to a special purpose, called
the 'cross quarter days'. These eight points make up one version of the cycle
of the year, which "is celebrated as the natural cycle of the seasons,
commemorated by the eight Sabbats," according to Wikipedia's excellent
article on the Wheel of the Year. "In Paganism all of nature is cyclical,
the passing of time is a cycle, represented by a circle or wheel. The course of
birth, life, decline, and death that we see in our human lives is echoed in the
seasons."
There are many, many myths devoted to telling this story.
You can probably find several in every culture you look at, from ancient
Yule, on the winter solstice (Christmas)
Imbolc, on Feb. 2 (Candlemas or Ground Hog Day)
Ostara, on the spring equinox (Easter)
Beltane/May Day on May 1 or May 5 (The May)
Litha, on the summer solstice
Lughnasadh or Lammas, Aug. 1 and sometimes Aug. 5
Mabon, the autumnal equinox
Samhain, Nov. 1, and Halloween on October 31
Isn't it cool that the equinoxes and solstices have names?
You may notice that some of these have Christian names, as Christianity is
essentially a repackaging of Paganism, given a local flavor and authority from
This is why so many of the holidays are the same in the old
religion and the new one. For example, Yule is also Christmas (celebrated about
three days after the exact solstice), which is the birth of the "son"
and also the time when the Sun is "reborn" and the days begin to get
longer. (This is a very old story and is pilfered from other religious
traditions long predating Christianity.) Easter is celebrated near the spring
equinox, often in late March (it is held the first Sunday after the first Full
Moon after March 20). Candlemas, the early February holiday, is also the
Christian renaming of an earlier holiday; Lammas, the early August holiday
(though rarely acknowledged), is the same situation.
In today's shortest ever edition of Astrology Secrets Revealed,
I'd like to look at the charts for two of these Sabbats, the one where we are
today (Beltane), as well as for the Cancer ingress of the Sun or summer
solstice (Litha). This covers a span of one-eighth of the year, a little over
six weeks or about 46 days. I will do less interpreting and more pointing out
salient features. Let's remember that in the background of these charts is the
(northern hemisphere) spring equinox chart as well as the 3/29 eclipse, which
is still fully in effect (see archive, the 3/29 cluster).
I've calculated the chart for Beltane using the standard
astrological formula of the Sun at the midpoint of Taurus. Note that when
festivals happen that formula is not always used, but at least from the
standpoint of celestial measurement, that is the moment, which this year falls
on Friday, May 5.
Here is the chart, set for
This is an exceptionally rich chart. Leaving out for a
moment the local angles, and looking only at the aspects, we find:
1. A grand water trine. Mars in Cancer, Jupiter in Scorpio
and Uranus in Pisces form a tight grand trine. Note how close the degree
numbers are between Mars, Jupiter and Uranus and that tells you how exact the
trine is. The fastest moving of the three is Mars, which is applying to both
Jupiter and Uranus. You can tell it's the fastest moving because of those three
planets, it's the closest to the Sun, and it's not anywhere near a retrograde.
2. The Sun makes a 'kite' pattern. Notice that Mars, Jupiter
and Uranus form a triangle in the watery signs, and then the Sun in Taurus is
close to the midpoint of Mars and Uranus. If you print the chart and draw lines
making the connection, you'll see this is in the shape of a kite. Without
interrupting the constructive effects of the grand trine, this tends to lessen
the more sinister ones (in particular, getting stuck in patterns).
3. There is a grand cross aspect, too. Lo and behold. But
these days the sky is a grand cross waiting to happen, and it does keep
happening. The reason for this is that two slow movers, Jupiter and Neptune,
are in a long square (in mid-Scorpio and Aquarius, respectively), and when you
have one slow moving square, you're halfway to a grand cross. In this chart,
the Sun shows up in mid-Taurus, you get a T-square and then Beltane happens at
the first quarter Moon. Poof, there is your grand square. We saw other
expressions of this earlier this year and late last year, which were covered in
a few different editions, including the Fixed French Cross. Note, the French
did not invent the Fixed Cross, but should have. Here is another article on a
similar topic.
4. The Saturn-Chiron opposition is still brewing. This has
been existing as Saturn has gone through both Cancer and Leo and we are
approaching what I think is part seven of this aspect. In other words, when all
is said and done, Saturn and Chiron will have opposed one another seven times,
which finally wraps up at the end of this year, spanning a long and sordid
phase of history.
5. Mercury is in the first degree of Taurus. Mercury is also
applying in a square aspect to Saturn.
6. Venus is on the North Node and is quite close to the
Aries Point. As we have discovered somewhat unexpectedly in the course of this
column's 92 editions, the Aries Point is a very big factor in current history.
Here is more on the Aries Point for those who are curious, or who like reading
it over and over again.
7. Pluto is still very close to the Galactic Core. And there
are of course dozens of other interesting bits and bobs you can name in this
chart -- these are the big ones.
The Solstice Chart
Again this chart is set for
Some of the themes that exist in the Beltane chart repeat
six weeks later at the solstice chart, but it's a bit more fiery and explosive
of a horoscope. Note that the Cancer Solstice is the solar return of a potent
total solar eclipse that happened the first day of summer 2001 and preceded the
Sept. 11 attacks. This also links to many other charts in the past four years
that have drawn some power or influence from the Aries Point. Here is the chart
for the Cancer ingress of the Sun, also known as the summer solstice:
1. Fixed grand cross, new version. We have seen this cross
light up several times in the past six months, going back to November 2005. The
four fixed signs are again covered, and the center of the action is now in Leo.
Chiron is involved. Note the grand conjunction in Leo -- which is in the 1st
house, very close to the ascendant. The fixed cross now involves the Moon in
Taurus, Mars and Saturn in Leo, Jupiter in Scorpio and Chiron in Aquarius. This
is an impressive fixed cross, particularly given how tight everything is and
that it involves a Mars-Saturn conjunction in Leo. We might say that because
the Moon is involved and it's just there for a few hours, it's not such an
important fixed cross. However, this is the chart for the moment of the
solstice, the Moon is very strong in Taurus, and the Moon has the earliest
degree of all the planets involved, applying to the rest of the [major]
planets. It feels like it's leaning into the rest of the cross.
2. Something big and fiery and somewhat complicated is
'rising' literally in this chart. The Leo stellium rises over
3. The Saturn Chiron opposition is extremely tight, and in
the
4. Mars is in a close conjunction to Saturn and happens to
be opposite Chiron. We are seeing some exact manifestation of Saturn opposite
Chiron that has followed us since the summer of 2003, when the
5. The lunar nodes are extremely close to the Aries Point.
Notice, they are four arc minutes from being at exactly 00 Aries and 00 Libra.
The Sun squares them at the same time. The Lunar Nodes reach these degrees once
every nine years, but it's extremely rare to have an equinox or solstice that
exactly squares the nodes. Looking at this chart, I cannot help but be reminded
of all the numerous Aries Point charts stacked beneath this one. One thing we
need to remember is that working in the background of both these charts is the
3/29 total solar eclipse, which was just over five weeks ago, which was an
Aries Point event to the max.
6. Leo stellium makes a bunch of sesquiquadrates to Pluto. I
don't know if I've used the word 'sesquiquadrate' in this column before. It's a
135 degree aspect, which is essentially three semi-squares (3 x 45 degrees) or
a square plus a semisquare (90 + 45). It's sometimes called a 'sesquisquare',
and as you can see is closely related to the square aspect, which has keywords
like tension, action, and internal integration. Technicalities aside, this is not
an aspect that gets a lot of airplay in mainstream astrology, though many
astrologers use it. However, it's very highly regarded by Uranian astrology
(the
I would like to conclude with a little note on fixed signs
-- Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius. They are symbolized by the bull, the lion,
the eagle and a person. These are symbols that keep popping up everywhere. For
example, have a look at this ordinary tarot card:
These critters also appear in the Book of Revelation, which
is a treasure trove of occult symbolism (but following the advice of Kabbala
teachers, I don't suggest you read it at night).
The Fixed Cross is also the home of the four 'cross quarter
days' or High Sabbats of which we are now visiting the first: Beltane takes
place in Taurus; Lughnasadh in Leo; Samhain in Scorpio and Imbolc in Aquarius.
The fixed cross made a stunning appearance in 1999, with a
grand cross and total solar eclipse on Aug. 11, covered in my article Thinking
of You on Judgment Day. This is still remembered in
And wot have we got these days? I guess we shall soon enough
see.
Eric Francis
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