Facebook2.2kTweet0Pin380 Looking for a charming, simple Beltane craft to do with the kids (or an especially playful coven)? These easy, … More
Tomorrow is Beltane, and my mom and I made a miniature Maypole for our altar. It turned out really well, and was simple, inexpensive, and fun to make! (We listened to my Beltane music playlist whil…
Facebook2.2kTweet0Pin380 Looking for a charming, simple Beltane craft to do with the kids (or an especially playful coven)? These easy, … More
It's May Day! Are you gonna light your fire? Here's a snippet from my book The Natural Year, now available for Kindle. The lessons of May are about freedom, about energy and about determination. It's a dynamic time - not just of growth but of destruction too. An old friend of mine, Shan - a pagan priestess and therapist - says, "Freedom is stressful - it means making decisions, balancing opportunities, it means the freedom to break." She points out that many marriages and partnerships cannot take the sheer scrutiny of May and break up around this time. It's also a season when many people choose to die. "It's a natural time to end things," she says. "It's like new energy being put into an old vessel. If the vessel isn't strong enough to take the energy, it will break." Of course, this all ties in with the principal festival of May which is May Day. Forget all that Labour Day nonsense, in the ancient calendar this was Beltane. No point in being coy about it, Beltane is the great sex festival of the pagan year. The maypole is a blatant phallic symbol plunging down into the fertile (female) Earth. It is said that the pole also stands for the movement of energy between heaven and earth, the vital energy of the sky coming down to combine with the growing Earth which brings about the fresh new upsurge of spring. As an interesting aside, it appears dowsers can detect spiral energy patterns in the places where may poles used to stand. My pal, Vivienne Tuffnell, points out that many maypoles were erected over underground springs and water sources, which usually give a spiral reading when dowsed. All kinds of greenery were used to celebrate this vibrant festival. Houses were decked with the fresh branches and leaves of spring - why not revive the custom and decorate the house with garlands and wreaths or, if that seems a bit embarrassing to explain to the neighbours, make sure you have plenty of flowers around using masses of greenery and leaves. You could even follow the old custom of going "a-Maying", bringing in armfuls of the freshly flowering hawthorn. However be sure to obey the old rule that the blossoms only stay in the house for the one day. Branches of rowan can be picked too and placed over your front door as a protection. Or twist a wreath from birch twigs and give it to your beloved - a traditional gift at this time. In the old days Beltane was also a great fire festival - like Halloween. Our ancestors had a practical use for the fire - they burned magical and medicinal herbs in it and drove their livestock through the smoke to fumigate them against illness. But fire is exciting as well as purifying and, above all, Beltane is an exciting time, almost a dangerous time. People jumped through the fire - not necessarily a custom I would advise you reinstate unless you are pretty agile. If you don't have access to anywhere to enjoy a large bonfire then light a festive fire in your grate. No grate? Light a candle. Traditionally the Beltane fire was lit with a bundle containing three pieces each of nine different types of wood - birch (for fertility and the Goddess); oak (for the male principle or God); rowan (for life and protection against evil); willow (to represent death); hawthorn (for purity and purification); hazel (for wisdom); applewood (for love); vine (for joy) and fir (for rebirth, the symbol of immortality). While you watch the fire burn, toast the fresh new year with a May bowl - simply place a few flowering sprigs of woodruff in a bowl and pour over a bottle of white wine and a wineglass of strawberry wine or strawberry liqueur. Mix and sweeten if necessary. Happy May Day! You can buy The Natural Year here - it's only a couple of quid!
"BELTANE" by Julia Jeffrey http://www.etsy.com/shop/juliajeffrey Tonight is the Eve of Beltane, one of the two most important Celtic festivals of the year, or, as we Americans know it, May Day. It is properly observed from sunset April 30 to sunset May 1. I am so bummed out this Eve of Beltane. First, because we are having a blizzard here! Yes, a ton of snow and wind are combining to make for a nasty spring snowstorm in Bismarck. Will spring ever arrive here? The second reason is that I have lost something near and very dear to me. It was a blog, of all things, a blog I shared with another person. It was called Ancestral Sisters, and it was about two young women in Britannia (Great Britain) in ancient Celtic times; two kindred spirits who could scry each other through fire (my character) and water (the other character). "BELTANE" by Ric Kemp The two of us took turns writing posts in character. My character, Aine (Anya), was a herbalist and healer who lived in Southern England. The other young woman was the keeper of a well in Ireland. For my part, I did a lot of research on the daily life of the Ancient Celts and I scoured the web for dozens and dozens of paintings to accompany my posts. I wrote about Aine's life - her village, her hut and her companion animals; the preparations for and the celebrations of the major Celtic holidays; her work in growing plants and in making medicines; her visits to a trade fair, a solo trip to the shore to gather seaside plants and a sacred trip with others across southern England to Stonehenge and the sacred tor at Glastonbury. Fairy Ring Oracle Illustrator Paul Mason - Have I impressed upon you how hard I worked on the research and the writing, and how much this was a labor of love? There was enough there for a short book. And now it is gone, "disappeared" by the other writer. Granted, I had not written on the blog for quite a while, but I expected it to be there forever and that I could draw upon it at anytime. And now it is lost to me forever. This was a bitter truth for me to learn, and for for all you bloggers to take a lesson from, especially those of you who share a blog. If you love something you've written or artwork or photos, save it somewhere else as a backup. "BELTANE LORD AND LADY", Margaret Harwood I had intended to use Aine's Beltane celebration for today's post, but now I will have to share with you a post I wrote at Beltane a couple of years ago: On Beltane (or Beltaine) Eve and its counterpart, Samhain Eve (or Halloween), the veil between the two worlds is at its thinnest. But unlike Samhain, when spirits of the dead roam the world, on Beltane Eve it is the fairies who are returning from their winter respite, carefree and full of fairy delight and mischief. Beware, tonight the Queen of the Fairies will ride out on her white steed to entice humans away to fairyland. If you hear the bells on her horse, turn your face away, or she may choose you! Beltane is a Gaelic festival, celebrated by those in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. (Other Celts, like those in Wales and Gaul, had similar spring celebrations). The name Beltane means bright fire, bale fire, or Fire of Bel (Bel or Belinos being the Sun God). Halfway between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice, this day marks the beginning of the bright half of the year. "BELTANE GROVE" by Mickie Mueller http://www.mickiemuellerart.com/ Preparations for Beltane began with gathering flowers for the Maypole and for wearing on the body and in the hair. Young men went May boughing or May birching, gathering garlands of hawthorn (Mayflower) and rowan (mountain ash) to hang over doorways and windows. On the Isle of Man, the youngest child of a family would gather primroses to throw against the door of the house for protection. From the woods, villagers gathered nine different types of sacred wood. From this wood, two giant bonfires, or need fires, were built on top of a hill. The villagers drove domestic animals between the two fires to purify and protect themselves and the animals, insure their fertility, and bring luck. People also jumped over the bonfires (hopefully after they had died down a bit) in a fertility ritual. In Scotland, boughs of juniper were added to the fire for purification and blessing. The Beltane celebration honored life over death and celebrated the rebirth of the world. Above all, it was a fertility festival, a symbolic union of the God and Goddess, of the divine masculine and the divine feminine. A young virgin, often dressed in white with a crown of flowers, was chosen to be the Queen of the May. Her consort went by many names, including the Green Man, the May Groom, the May King, and Jack-of-the-Green, often dressed in green and decorated with leaves. "THE MAY QUEEN" by Emily Balivet www.emilybalivet.com In Scotland, bannocks (or oatcakes), were passed around in a bonnet. One bannock had been blackened by the fire, and the person choosing the blackened bannock became The Fool. It was the hope that all misfortune would henceforth fall on The Fool and no one else. Poor Fool, he also had to jump over the bonfire three times. After the fires died down, the youth of the village would slip into the woods to go "A-Maying", to act out in reality the symbolic joining of the God and Goddess. No wonder they sing about "The Lusty Month of May" in "Camelot". May Day morning, the young people would emerge from the woods, perhaps mussed and disheveled, to dance around the Maypole, gaily decorated with colorful ribbons, flowers, leaves and garlands. Flowers were put in baskets and left on doorsteps for those who were too ill or too old to participate in the festival. From that, we get our modern day May baskets. "BELTANE" by Wendy Andrew http://www.paintingdreams.co.uk/ Beltane was serious business for the Celts. They believed that the wheel of the sky would not turn without their intervention, and they did everything in their power - with their fires, celebrations and rituals - to ensure that summer returned each year. Beltane was celebrated in English villages up into the 1950s. The festivities came to include mummers' plays, Morris dancing, riding the hobby horse, feasting and drinking. Beltane is still celebrated in some areas. My dear English blogging friend Leanne (Dorset Days/Somerset Seasons) went to Glastonbury today, lucky, lucky lady. Tonight, the Beltane Fire Festival on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, Scotland, will attract 12,000 to 15,000 people. Because of the blizzard (and city regulations, ha!), there will be no May bonfires for me tonight here in Bismarck, and certainly no creeping into the woods to go "A-Maying." Instead, I will play "Huron Beltane Fire Dance" by Loreena McKennitt a number of times. Since I can never listen to this music without dancing, I'll do a little springtime dance of my own, and maybe that will improve my spirits a bit. "DANCING THE CIRCLE" by Mickie Mueller
Räuchern im Jahreskreis – was bedeutet das überhaupt? Zu einem Leben im Rhythmus der Jahreszeiten gehören Pflanzen für mich unbedingt dazu.
Looking for a DIY Beltane incense idea? In honor of the upcoming Sabbat next week, I through together a little seasonal blend especially for Beltane festivities. Check out the recipe below for a quick, easy festival project to welcome the next turn on the Wheel of the Year.
Explore secondsister's 2163 photos on Flickr!
Vom 30. April auf den 1. Mai wird die Walpurgisnacht gefeiert. Die magische Nacht der Hexen geht ursprünglich auf das keltische Jahreskreisf
Please give a big, Springtime welcome to our Beltane Ritual Cords! Each cord is infused with high-vibe intentions and wrapped with the traditional colors and symbols of Beltane! Each cord comes with a removable crystal prism and an easy-hang loop, adding to the versatility of this piece and making it a beautiful tradi
Beltane is a beautiful and joyful turn of the wheel! Click through for 41 simple and satisfying ways to celebrate this year.
Are you ready for some oooos and ahhhs?! Natalie Norton did an amazing job at capturing A Midsummer Mingle and I’ve been dying to share the pics with you. If you’re just joining me, I threw a garden party with Sarah Jane Studios, Mer Mag, One More Mushroom, Sycamore Street Press, Caravan Shoppe. It was a […]
Neo-paganism is one of the fastest growing religions in the world. Its focus is on a nature-based relationship between people and the environment. Pagan traditions are earth-based. Pagan rituals remind people they a part of the natural environment not apart from it. During a pagan ritual, the participants call on the ancient deities and reconnect with the changing of the seasons.
Crafting Beltane spell jars can be a wonderful addition to your celebrations! Click through for three magical jars to create this year!
Tomorrow is Beltane, and my mom and I made a miniature Maypole for our altar. It turned out really well, and was simple, inexpensive, and fun to make! (We listened to my Beltane music playlist whil…
Tanz in den Mai - Was feiern wir dabei eigentlich! Informiere dich über die Ursprünge von Beltane über die Walpurgisnacht bis heute!
Was es mit Beltane und der Walpurgisnacht auf sich hat und wie du Beltane im Frauenkreis oder als Ode an das Leben ganz für dich feiern kannst.
Beltane is a time to celebrate the fertility of the earth. Celebrate the sabbat with these seven seasonally themed recipe ideas!
