happy 9 Oc.....Happy Beltane....what is Beltane?

12.19.12.4.10 9 Oc 8 Uo

Oc is the dog, loyal friend, guide & protecter. Metaphysically Oc can also refer to spirit guides, guardian angels & the like (even your higher self).

I once had a friend whose birthday was 9 Oc. He was not loyal or faithful, nor a protector, and not even a very good friend. Astrology is not infalliable; it is just an archetype (maybe to others, he was all those Oc things that he wasn't with me!)--he was also a Gemini, and he was a very good Gemini!

Beltane, May 2nd, is today. You were supposed to go out and wash your face in the morning dew, and dream of your lover tonight. Sorry I forgot to warn you. Beltane was also a time to start a trial marriage (when did living together without being married become a "trial marriage" --the media is so funny)--called a Handfasting (confusing because now many people who are pagan get handfasted as a marriage ceremony). The couple handfasted at Beltane would stay together for a year and a day. (Which I suspect was so that the next Beltane they couldn't go hopping off with another person-that extra day prevented that!) If they got along, they could get married on the Summer Solstice (in June). If not, they went on their merry way, and children resulting from the union were legitimate. (That might be another reason for the "and a day" --to know a child's paternity).
I am not sure if during the 364 days until the next Beltane if people were celibate if they weren't handfasted/married or not. And I can't remember at the moment if Beltane was the holiday where married people could sleep with those they weren't married to for fertility reasons--a woman who got pregnant on this night from someone other than her husband was considered to be carrying the god's child (no, not Jesus, these are pagans we're talking about). All I can think of is, these villages must have been FULL of idiots with all the mixed parentages going on. Actually, I am pretty sure Beltane is the festival of sleeping around (my name for it).