Many will be celebrating what we now call May Day on 1st May, associating it with Beltane. Others may be celebrating on 5th May this year, in 2026.
There is nothing wrong with celebrating on 1st May, but it is important to know that May Day is a much later tradition, adopted from the original Wheel of the Year celebration we know as Beltane.
Before the Romans enforced their calendar changes, the year was based on the relationship between the Earth and the Sun. We were part of nature and felt the same effects of the great seasonal markers: the Equinoxes and Solstices, which form the Solar Cross. Much later, this cross was given different meanings that corresponded with the new religion of Christianity.
Christianity is a hotchpotch of carefully selected beliefs that were nabbed from belief systems that came before it. I am certain belief systems have been adopted and adapted throughout history to suit cultures, as well as those with power and authority.
Between the Equinoxes and Solstices, the halfway points were also recognised. These were called the cross-quarter days, making eight points of the year that were held in esteem and regarded as times when our ancestors felt a spiritual connection to the Earth and the Cosmos.
Beltane was one of them. It is the halfway point between the Aries Equinox and the Cancer Solstice, which means it does not always fall exactly on 1st May.
The zodiac is composed of 360 degrees and there are 12 signs, although that is another debate. Each of the twelve signs contains 30 degrees. The Aries Equinox occurs when the Sun is positioned at 0 degrees of Aries, and the Cancer Solstice occurs when the Sun is positioned at 0 degrees of Cancer.
In the Northern Hemisphere, these are the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. The halfway point is therefore always 15 degrees of Taurus, if we follow this more Earth-and-Sun-based system.
The four cross-quarter days are always found at 15 degrees of the fixed signs in astrology. Beltane is in fixed Earth Taurus, Lammas is in fixed Fire Leo, Samhain is in fixed Water Scorpio, and Imbolc is in fixed Air Aquarius. We could therefore surmise that the four elements, when expressed through the fixed signs, exhibit greater resilience and potency.
In astrology, Cardinal signs begin seasons, Mutable signs dissolve and transition them, and Fixed signs sit between the Cardinal and Mutable signs, holding the season at full intensity. The cross-quarter days occur near those fixed-sign zones, which makes them feel like the four “power points” of the year.
To our ancestors, they were not simply abstract astronomical points. They were important agricultural markers. Imbolc is the first pulse after winter. Beltane is open fertility. Lammas, or Lughnasadh, is the first cutting of grain. Samhain is the closing of the growing year and the opening of the dark half. This makes them more visceral than the Equinoxes and Solstices for many traditions.
In occult terms, they are liminal gates. They are times when one mode of life gives way to another: winter to awakening, spring to fertility, summer to harvest, and autumn to death and spirit. That liminality is why they attract rites of fire, divination, initiation, purification, sex and fertility, sacrifice, ancestor contact, and protection.
In pagan systems, Samhain and Beltane are often treated as especially charged opposites. Samhain opens the dark half, along with the ancestral and spirit current, while Beltane opens the light half and the erotic and fertile current. Some see Samhain as a time when the boundary with the afterlife is especially thin, while Beltane is its opposite pole of light, highlighting fertility.
So, in relation to Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, the cross-quarter days can be experienced and acknowledged within us and around us in nature as seasonal portals governed by elemental fixed powers.
Taurus/Beltane: life incarnates and forms.
Leo/Lughnasadh: life blazes and is offered.
Scorpio/Samhain: life dies and transforms.
Aquarius/Imbolc: life is purified and envisioned before rebirth.
The true astronomical Beltane point in 2026, using the common occult and astrological definition of the Sun at 15° Taurus, is Tuesday 5th May 2026 at about 12:48 pm BST in the UK.
A good ritual window would be the evening of 4th May through to 5th May, with the exact solar midpoint at lunchtime on 5th May. Alternatively, you can use our calendar, which means the ritual period would be May Day Eve on 30th April through to May Day on 1st May.
Arguably, we know time doesn’t really exist. However, we are connecting to fixed elemental power points, and we can connect with and integrate them through intention at any old or new time.
So, when will you be celebrating?
With love and beltane blessings,
Kelly Peacey