Moon Mondays: Beltane burn notice

Taurus season, despite the pleasure seeking, can be challenging. It’s hard to drop into our bodies, especially for those of us with physical trauma in our histories. Spring brings constantly changing weather, unpredictability, fluctuating temperatures and flustering wind. We’re ready for heat, but there’s frost on the grass again. It’s unsettling. Is winter going or coming? 

I know firsthand. It’s been a rough spring for me, these past few weeks. I’ve been triggered, anxious, angry, confused, stressed out and hurt. Miraculously, I’ve also been able to stay more present with myself, grounded, aware and conscious than I ever have been before, in these kinds of situations. I’ll take the win. 

My goal isn’t to never get triggered or spin out. That’s not realistic. The aim is to improve how we react in these off-center, unbalanced, screwy moments. Make the spin a little smaller, last a shorter amount of time, and rise to what it’s showing us.  

This week provides some agreeable energy to touch grass.  

The sun arrives at the midpoint of spring tomorrow. When our star reaches 15 degrees of Taurus, we’re at the halfway mark between the equinox and the solstice. For the ancient Celts, this was the holy day of Beltane. We still celebrate it on May 1 because that’s when the sun used to reach this cross-quarter point of the season, but in our times, it’s actually tomorrow.  

Beltane is a celebration of fertility, vitality and the full awakening of life. The earth is no longer just stirring, starting to wake up, like it was at the equinox. Now, nature is actively bursting forth with growth. Flowers are blooming. Trees are leafing out. Animals (and humans) are reproducing.  

Hiking with a friend recently, we saw two turkey vultures getting it on. We rudely interrupted their festivities. The male eyed us for a bit. I could feel his “move along, nothing to see here” vibes waiting for us to stop watching, so he could get back to business. 

Seasonally, we plant seeds at the vernal equinox (our timing is a bit later than the Celts), and now they are sprouting. New life is taking shape and flourishing. Time to bring our fresh creative ideas into full bloom, following the earth’s lead. Potential turns to expression. 

We’re in a very alive time of the year. Winter solstice is about stillness. Spring equinox is about awakening. Beltane is about going full throttle. 

If we were Celts, we’d traditionally build bonfires and ceremonially walk between them for purification, protection, renewal and blessing. The fires symbolize the destruction of the old and the ignition of the new emerging.  

No matter the struggles we’re facing personally, we, too, can walk through our internalized Beltane fires for purification and renewal as well. 

I’ve been letting go of emotional baggage I’ve buried under the frozen surface of the winter’s snow. Issues I’ve let fester, obscured by my unconscious, have been silently rotting. Ignoring them, I’ve focused on what I need to do instead of feel. Classic distraction.  

Spring is thawing my lack of awareness, albeit abruptly and harshly. But I’m on the job now.  

That’s how life goes. We heal and become more conscious. We cruise along and then go unconscious again. Only to have some fire ignite beneath us that forces us, from its burn, to go spelunking in the watery caves of our submerged awareness once again. The Ferris wheel of life we’re riding. Our unconscious is always trying to spring forth, to help us grow, change and transform. Freud and Jung taught us that.  

Beltane is a celebration of the aliveness that comes from the vibrant changes occurring within the earth and ourselves. Taurus loves this stuff. Like Scorpio, its opposite sign, they both desire to clear whatever blocks their vitality. They desire the deepest feeling experiences that ultimately bring our joy and bliss back into the fold. 

I know that by dealing with my stuffed grievances, I feel acutely alive and aware, even in the hurt. I realize that joy and bliss are waiting for me on the other side of the portal if I just keep putting one foot in front of the other and walk through the fire. 

Sheridan Semple is life coach who uses astrology to help midlife women untangle old conditioning, recognize unconscious patterns, and take practical steps to reclaim their lives. Explore her work at sheridansemple.com.