Hail to Thalia, Grace of Flowering and Mirth!
Hail to blessed Flora and Aglaia, Who bring blossoming glory and health!
Welcome this happy day beloved Maia Majestas!
We bow in gladness to The Lord and The Lady!
We merrily welcome the King and Queen of Faery!
Song of Beltane
I am the calm, I am the quickening,
I am the intoxication and the force,
I am the silence, I am the singer,
I am the stallion galloping to its source.
I am the bright pavilion and the feasting,
I am the wedding couple and the bed,
I am the morning chorus and the heartbeat,
I am the goal to which all paths are led.
While in the Southern Hemisphere, our brothers and sisters observe Samhain today, here in the northern lands, we are celebrating Beltane, Beltainne (pronounced Bel-tinna), Cetsamhain (‘opposite Samhain’), and Walpurgis (German).
The medieval Church tried to rename this celebration Roodmas in an attempt to shift the common people’s allegiance from the Maypole (an obvious phallus and symbol of life) to the Holy Rood (the Cross – symbol of their God’s death and resurrection). Somehow, it just didn’t quite catch on.
Similarly in more modern times, in countries that have attempted to completely eradicate all folk traditions and spirituality, such as in the former Soviet Union, where May Day was changed to a day for military and workforce demonstrations.
In both instances, when those in power are not forcing the people to obey, these appropriations have not been as popular.
Dancing with the Flame
Beltane is a reference to ‘Bel-fire’, the fire of the Celtic God of light (Bel, Beli or Belinos). He, in turn, may be traced to the Middle Eastern God Baal.
Whatever you choose to call it, this is a Fire Festival celebrating the beginning of Summer, when the breezes are scented and the evenings are getting warm.
Today we celebrate Life’s creative ecstasy. The veil is thin as we dance the mysteries of fertility, beauty, and Nature’s flowering.
This is our great festival of love, lust, and fertility. This Sabbat honors the great creative life force in all things. The young Oak King has won the hand of the Maiden Goddess and with their union, She becomes pregnant.
We honor and emulate the divine union of the Lord and Lady. Celebrations include the obvious pleasures of sexual coupling, like most all of Nature is doing everywhere right now!
And in times before social distancing (and hopefully after) we observe this magical time by weaving a web of life around the Maypole and leaping the Beltane fires for luck.
Lilacs, roses, lily-of-the-valley, and other blossoms can be brought inside on this day to represent the fertility of the sweet Earth. And I especially adore May wine – made with white wine infused with (pesticide-free!) sweet woodruff blossoms, with strawberries adding a lovely flavor and magic.
But it’s best not to cut hawthorn without clear permission, and any specimens that are specifically inhabited by the Good Folk are best left outdoors, else grave misfortune befall you. Also, you’ll want to think twice about bringing honeysuckle into the house unless you want a wedding soon!
For many generations in my family, cut flowers have been bred and tended as gifts of love, hospitality, and grace. However, I am learning to think twice about cutting blossoms. That’s because living blooms are Earth’s laughter (as Emerson noted), but a cut flower is but a smile.
But every once in a rare while, when I ask permission to snip a few of my own blossoms on special occasions, which one should unfailingly do, it is sometimes granted to me. Respect and honor are essential when communing with any of our Green kindred, and particularly when you are removing some of their potential for regeneration.
Speaking of which, this is a time of focusing on our own fertile possibilities! You might make a wish today and plant the seeds of your own desires.
And I certainly hope you remembered to wash your face in the dew first thing this morning, ensuring youth and beauty forever.
Magical Trysts
Wiccan handfastings are common at Beltane, however the wise grandmothers knew very well that most lusty trysts formed in the merry month of May were not likely to last, so actual marriages were avoided and considered bad luck during this month.
Instead, the smitten couples were encouraged to enjoy their pleasures, but wait at least one lunation before the serious business of marriage.
That’s why June is considered a much more favorable time for a lasting union and to this day is the most popular wedding month.
And if a pregnancy resulted after the Beltane revelries, well, so what? The mother was considered blessed and the child was sure to be magical. Both were supported and welcomed by the whole village, and all was well.
Don’t you just love this wise way to work with our sexy nature, rather than to condemn it, and forbid it to take its course?
The Fair Ones
At Beltane, we remember the arrival of the Tuatha de Danann in Ireland, and we honor on this day the Great Mother-Goddess Danu (or Danann). The Tuatha de Danann (meaning, “the people of Danann”) were the fourth invading culture to arrive in Ireland, many centuries before the Christian era.
They were quite beautiful and astonishingly advanced, being highly skilled in science and metalworking. They came to be understood as a race apart from humans.
They inhabited Ireland for about two hundred years, until the fifth and last invaders, the Milesians (Gaels), conquered them. When the Tuatha de Danann had been finally defeated, they withdrew to the hollow hills, where they reside to this day.
Now known as the Sidhe (pronounced “shee”), they are the source of much of our lore about the Celtic Gods, Goddesses, and our communion with the Faery races.
So this is an important time to give offerings to our Cousins and co-walkers. The activities of the People of Peace are now growing and will reach their height at Summer Solstice.
Now then, my dears — enough talk! Get yourself outside!
Light the Bel-fires, sing to the trees, dance with the Wild Ones, surrender to this most ancient enchantment.
Revel in the sensuous delights of life and love.
May your magickal rites be most gladly savored!
Blessed Be!
