Hallowe’en or Beltane?

Hallowe’en or Beltane?

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The cross-quarter days, the half-way points between the solstices and the equinoxes, are significant in the Celtic calendar. Traditionally they marked the beginning of the seasons, and were celebrated in a big way.

Because the seasons are reversed across North and South hemispheres, the festival you’ll be celebrating will depend on which hemisphere you live in.

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Tues 31 Oct is a cross-quarter day.  In the northern hemisphere it’s the festival of Samhain or Hallowe’en, the night before All Saints’ Day (ie All Hallows’ Eve), when the spirits of the dead are said to come round and the veils between the worlds are at their thinnest.  This day falls half-way between the Autumn Equinox and Midwinter Solstice in the Northern hemisphere and so marks the beginning of Winter.  Hallowe’en was traditionally celebrated by bonfires, turnip or pumpkin lanterns, and wearing costumes to disguise oneself from the spirits around.  It marked the end of the harvest period as people went into the darkness of Winter.

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In the Southern hemisphere, where the seasons are reversed, this is the Celtic festival of Beltane, a fertility festival celebrated with flowers in full bloom, which marks the beginning of Summer.  Beltane was traditionally celebrated by dancing round the maypole, well-dressing, Morris dancers and other forms of fertility celebrations, including crowning a young woman the Queen of the May.