eyes open

My son is a Beltane baby, and as such, he’s amazed me with his magical gifts.In the last week I realized with a start that I am a child of Beltane too, and so is my beloved friend Reya. Reya and I are both born in early Feburary, meaning that our conception was in early May. My ex’s birthday is the same as my son’s, January 30^th, and my son was conceived on May 1^st. Sharing the birthday was somthiing that was problematic in our relationship, but now in retrospect explains some of why I have had such a deep connection to her. She was born smack dab in the middle of nine kids in a Mormon family, and her birthday was one day when she got special attention. To share her birthday with her lover’s son, whew…talk about triggering. Nevertheless, thinking about this now, of course they have the same birthday; of course I would not only have a child of Beltane, but fall in love with one.

Conceived at the height of spring, when the earth is luminous with the life force, when the lusty current is almost visible, when the veil is thin between the worlds, and the fey are meddling in our affairs, we all are ecstatics, lovers of this green world, . Reya, Casey, Denise and I share a similar spirit, are all blessed by the fey and their kind. And we all are a bit touched. We are touched by the current, by the intoxication of the life force, by the incredible bender that nature goes on in May. Knowing about this connection makes me understand on another level why I’ve felt such pain, anguish, and confusion over my break-up with my ex. We have an affinity in the spirit world of May, riding into this world on the same energetic wave.

Reya and my friend Fern are both astrologers, and I recognized long ago my affinity for other Aquarians. Breathing in this strong spring air, with my house full of flowers, I’m realizing it’s so much more than just the stars we were born under; it’s also the scent of the earth at our conception. Being a therapist and a witch more interested in the green earth than the starry heavens, I realize I resonate more with understanding people’s natures by thinking of where they began, and what the earth was like as they took spark.

My friend Jill, when I was talking about this, figured out that she was conceived at Samhain. She is born under the sign of Cancer. It makes much more sense to me is to think of her as that small spark of life that decided to catch right when the dead were swirling. I’ve had two lovers who were Cancers, and with them too, there was a puzzling affinity that went beyond mundane interests. The dead and the fey get along, and both have pacts with the living. They give a eccentric jolt to those conceptions which take place when the veil is thin, working thru us in mysterious ways.

Conceived in May, conceiving my child on Beltane, breaking up with my husband on Beltane five years ago, my heart getting broken a year ago in May, and this May filling out the divorce papers, filling out the new mortgage papers with my friend Ilyse, and looking Denise in the eyes again, clearly May is a banner month for me, a magic month. I’m still mulling on my Brigid challenge. For me, it’s clear that in May, what is dead, what is alive, and what lives in between does come into sharp focus. My eyes are open.