42 At the Gate of the Year

I was on the road last week when I recorded this episode. I was hoping to post this on Friday May 1st, but I couldn't make it happen. So it's a few days late and that's okay, because we've arrived at the great Celtic gate — Beltane, the fire festival that opens the light half of the year.

May 1st, with the sun newly in Taurus, Uranus freshly in Gemini, and the hawthorn just beginning to bloom, I will walk you through the old threshold of the year and the gentle rituals that carry us across it.

In this episode, we explore:

• Beltane as one of the two great doorways of the Celtic year (with Samhain as its mirror)
• The old bonfire tradition of the Bel-tene — the bright fire — and what it means for us now
• How the daily rhythms of April ripen into the rituals of Beltane
• Hawthorn as the Beltane tree and the plant of the heart's threshold
• Red Clover as a Venus plant, a Taurus herb, and a gentle ally for women in midlife crossings
• The Sun in Taurus, the First Quarter Moon, and the historic ingress of Uranus into Gemini
• The Scottish and Irish May Dew ritual — how women on Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh greeted May morning for centuries, and how you can practice this old blessing yourself
• The kinship between the May Dew, Bach Flower Remedies, and modern moon water — all descending from the same ancient intuition

Source acknowledgment: Thank you to Scarlett McQuillan of Linked Magazine for her lovely piece on the Celtic May Dew ritual at Arthur's Seat, which reminded me of this beautiful tradition. You can find her article at http://linkedmagazine.co.uk/celtic-ritual-may-dew/

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Herbs featured in this Show:

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BAYKA French Press Coffee Maker,

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Heat-proof wide-mouth mason jars

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🎶 Music Credits

A heartfelt thank you to Alexander Nakarada for the beautiful music featured in this episode. Alexander is a gifted musician whose work I have long admired — and I am proud to support him as a Patreon member.

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