It has been a damp squib this early Spring season here in the UK, with scant chance for the insects and other wildlife to enjoy the bounty of the early flowers and tree blossoms that are now gifting us their yearly fashion parade. Colours from white to vivid pink adorn the trees and hedgerows, though mainly set against a murky, wet, grey sky. Let us explore the plant medicine of Beltane and see what the inception chart has to offer! – Saffron
Heather Marie Morse once again offers an insightful tarot spread for Beltane. It's a poignant way to navigate this fertile time of year! For paid subscribers only.
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HAWTHORNE
In Northern Europe and North America, the Common Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, and its cousin, the Midland Hawthorn, Crataegus laevigata, is a veritable wildlife banquet in the early spring. Find a Hawthorn bush on a rare, warm sunny day and witness the abundance of pollinating insects, bees, beetles, and butterflies feasting around the flowers.
The Hawthorn is one of the most fabled plants in British Folklore, and it has inspired many customs and stories over the years. One very famous ballad that has steeped itself in British fable is that of Thomas the Rhymer, who met the Fairie Queen under a Hawthorn tree.
Read the ballad by Sir Walter Scott to follow the encounter of True Thomas and the Queen of Elfland, who takes him to her realm for seven years. The poem explores themes of the supernatural, the power of prophecy, and the dangers of forbidden knowledge.
Hence, it is deemed particularly unlucky to bring the blooms into the house. Though pretty, keep the garlands in your garden and admire them from your window! Both the Common and especially the Midland Hawthorn are sources of the chemical trimethylamine. The potent odour emitted from the flower has a distinct smell of decay due to this chemical and is associated with death and disease. Therefore, bringing the bloom indoors is like welcoming the Grim Reaper themselves!
The Hawthorn by Victor James Daley
By the road, near her father’s dwelling,
There groweth a hawthorn tree:
Its blossoms are fair and fragrant
As the love that I cast from me.
It is all a-bloom this morning
In the sunny silentness,
And grows by the roadside, radiant
As a bride in her bridal dress.
But ah me! at sight of its blossoms
No pleasant memories start:
I see but the thorns beneath them—
And the thorns they pierce my heart.
Glastonbury, the keeper of so many of the old stories from the British Isles, held a sacred Hawthorn that was the site of Pagan and Christian pilgrimage for centuries. It is believed to be a child of the original tree that grew from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea, the uncle of the Virgin Mary, after arriving in this land weary from travel. Unfortunately, like so many religious sites, Wearyall Hill, where the tree stood, has been vandalised many times over, the last being in 2010 and then in 2019, when the tree was completely cut down.
THE ASTROLOGY OF BELTANE // MAY 5, 1:10 AM (GMT)
At this fertile time, Capricorn rises in our UK chart with Saturn as the domicile ruler in watery Pisces. Wedged in the third house, sextile to the Ascendant, and overcoming the Sun in Taurus, the Ole Devil relishes the opportunity to hold us in the cold, damp, murky weather a little longer. Record-low temperatures in April affirm Saturn’s tight grip. Are we now looking at another couple of months of cool, wet weather here in the UK?
Our world environment is experiencing many extremes, both record highs and lows. As the traditional ruler of extremities, it is no wonder that Saturn, co-present with Neptune, is using water as its weapon of power, withholding the bounty in one part of the world only to drop a deluge on another.
The Moon, closely applying to the conjunction to Mars in the foundation of the chart in the fourth house and sextile Pluto in the second house, is like the seed breaking through its outer husk. Desperately trying to push forth into the warmth of spring, our roots are eager to dig deep to help the budding fruit develop and ripen. For flowers to grow into bounty, the plant needs to be healthy, fed, and watered, and pests kept at bay. Pluto, in the second house, may expose some new wealth of external or internal resources that can assist the development of that juvenile fruit. That is one possibility, but sudden eruptions can also come from digging too hard or too deep into one's resources. Be mindful of what is in your pocket and bank account, you may just hit a water pipe.
Our Beltane chart hosts a jam-packed Taurus fifth house, with all planets having escaped the pull of the Pluto square. Venus, the Lady of the Manor, is at home and joyful here. Hosting a cornucopia of all Her favourite sensual pleasures, no wonder the Sun is feeling a little lazy, far too comfortable tucked up in the realms of Venus. It won’t be long, however, until the Sun bumps up to Uranus and is thrust back into action. A corpulent Jupiter has already had that meeting and is having to pick up his running shoes as he moves swiftly on His way out of Venus’ sign—a new adventure awaits in Gemini on the 26th of May!
As a fire festival that traditionally brings communities together to celebrate the abundance of life blooming all around, I hope that wherever you are and however you are celebrating the peak of spring and the start of summer, you are kept, warm, fed, and safe. Until our next meeting at the Summer Solstice! – Saffron
Saffron Dennis is an astrologer, crystal therapist, horticulturalist and tarot reader based in the East Anglia region of the UK. You can book her for a reading or as a speaker at your local or online event at divinebaytree.com
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Blessed Beltane!