Today is May Day, which in itself originates from the pagan festival of Beltane. While most people know about at least one of the day's celebrations, not many people know about the astronomical history of the day.
In neolithic times as farming was just starting to become a true industry, timekeepingwas literally a matter of life and death as the success of the harvest depended on planting and reaping at the right time. To help in their farming efforts, the ancient peoples looked to the stars, specifically the Sun, to determine the length of the solar year which, once found, would allow for more specific divisions. After discovering that the year was roughly 365 days long, the ancients looked again to the Sun, noting how its position of rise/set changed during the year. In dividing up the year, the ancients looked to solar motion, namely its most Northerly and Southerly positions along with its direct East/West rises/sets. Thus the four seasons, or quarters of the year were born.
Taking the concept of dividing up the year further, ancient peoples similarly split each season, or quarter of the year, into halves. The dates on which a mid way point of a season fell came to be called a cross-quarter or mid-quarter day, and it just so happens that may 1 happens to be one of these days.
In ancient times, the beginning of May was the time when, finally, spring was undeniably starting to take hold. For people living at mid-Northern latitudes like the ancient European pagans who initially started Beltane as a sun-worshiping festival that, in time, came to take on an aura of fertility rites where normal sexual restraint was abandoned, mirroring the new life that was rapidly growing in nature. Much later, May Day came into being as a child-focused holiday and then, later, as a workers celebration. In recent decades, Beltane has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity with Wiccans and Neo-Pagans.
So, happy May day or Beltane, whichever you choose to celebrate.
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