A Note on Timing

From time to time, we receive inquiries concerning how the date of the Wesak Festival is calculated. The following extract, adapted from our publication ‘The Wesak Festival: A Technique of Spiritual Contact’ explains the astrological basis for this.

The Wesak Festival occurs at the full moon of Taurus, and the Festival of Humanity takes place one month later, at the full moon of Gemini. In the same way, the Festival of Easter is determined by the Full Moon occurring in the Zodiacal division of Aries, the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. These three Festivals–of Easter, of Wesak and of Humanity–are the three major spiritual events of the year. It is well to remember that in certain passages of the writings of Alice A. Bailey and the Tibetan that such phrases are frequently used as "May Full Moon" in speaking of the Wesak Festival (the full moon of the Buddha), and the "June Full Moon" in referring to the full moon of the Christ, which is the Festival of Humanity. Generally these two full moons do occur during the months of May and June but this is not always the case, and as explained above the governing factors are the full moon of Taurus and Gemini.