Beltane is the last of the three Spring fertility festivals. Most commonly it is held on April 30 but sometimes on May 01. Beltane is a fire festival that represents the peak of Spring and the beginning of Summer. It celebrates fertility of the coming year. Celtic festivals often tied in with the needs of the community. In spring time, at the beginning of the farming calendar, everybody would be hoping for a fruitful year for their families and fields.
Beltane and Samhain are the two greatest festivals of the solar year. They both are celebrations of life and death… at Samhain emphasis on death and at Beltane the emphasis is on LIFE. LOVE is in the Air! Earth energies are at their strongest and most active. All of life is bursting with potent fertility and at this point in the Wheel of the Year, the potential becomes conception. On May Eve the sexuality of life and the earth is at its peak. Abundant fertility, on all levels, is the central theme. It is about sexuality and sensuality, passion, vitality and joy. And about conception. A brilliant moment in the Wheel of the Year to bring ideas, hopes and dreams into action. And have some fun…..Being a fertility festival sexual pleasures were common often occurring outside on the Land to bless fields, herds, and homes. May Bowl was the beverage of choice, a punch (wine or non-alcoholic) made of Sweet Woodruff blossoms.
The Maypole is an important element to Beltane festivities, it is a tall pole decorated with long brightly colored ribbons, leaves, flowers and wreaths. Young maidens and lads each hold the end of a ribbon, and dance revolving around the base of the pole, interweaving the ribbons. The circle of dancers should begin, as far out from the pole as the length of ribbon allows, so the ribbons are pulled tight. There should be an even number of boys & girls. Boys should be facing clockwise and girls counterclockwise. They each move in the direction that they are facing, weaving with the next, around to braid the ribbons over-and-under around the pole. Those passing on the inside will have to duck, those passing on the outside raise their ribbons to slide over. As the dances revolve around the pole the ribbons will weave creating a pattern, it is said that the pattern will indicate the abundance of harvest year.
The Maypole dance is an important aspect of encouraging the return of fertility to the earth….it’s symbolism. It’s not just an insinuation of sex (the union of male and female which creates new life) but also is the connector of the three worlds. Dancing the Maypole during Beltane is magical experience as it is a conduit of energy, connecting all three worlds at a time when these gateways are more easily penetrable. As people happily dance around and around the pole holding the brightly colored ribbons, the energy it raises is sent down into the earth’s womb, bringing about Her full awakening and fruitfulness.
Fire is still the most important element of most Beltane celebrations and there are many traditions associated with it. It is seen to have purifying qualities which cleanse and revitalize. People leap over the Beltane fire to bring good fortune, fertility (of mind, body and spirit) and happiness through the coming year. Beltane rituals would often include courting: for example, young men and women collecting blossoms in the woods and lighting fires in the evening. These rituals would often lead to matches and marriages, either immediately in the coming summer or autumn. Other festivities involved fire which was thought to cleanse, purify and increase fertility. Cattle were often passed between two fires and the properties of the flame and the smoke were seen to ensure the fertility of the herd.
The three days before and the three days after Beltane are super powerful times for healing work, psychic meditation, and setting intentions/affirmations into motion. Beltane is a time of divination and communion with Fairy Folk/Nature Spirits. Long ago the indigenous people saw how the energy that runs through the “ley lines” of the Earth (power points or meridians) gets stronger and more intense at the equinox and solstice and mini-equinox or mini-solstice times. The electromagnetic field of the Earth is intensified, creating a rich atmosphere for tapping into the energy part of your being. . .the spiritual side or psychic side. This aspect of you is more readily available during the three days leading into one of these times and for the three days afterwards.
The May waters were also seen to have magickal influence. A common Beltane tradition included Rolling in May Eve dew or washing your face in pre-dawn May Day dew for health, luck, beauty. Also, getting your head and hair wet in Beltane rain to bless the head. A common practice was Blessing springs, ponds, other sacred waters with flowers, garlands, ribbons, and other offerings. People would collect sacred waters and scry in sacred springs, wells, ponds, and other waters.
There would be gatherings and exchanges of Flowers and Greens on May Eve, pre-dawn May Day, Beltane. People would decorate their homes, barns, and other buildings with Green budding branches, including Hawthorn. Yellow flowers such as primrose, rowan, hawthorn, gorse, hazel and marsh marigold were set at doorways and windows. Making and wearing of garland wreaths of Flowers and/or Greens. May Baskets were given or placed secretly on doorsteps to friends, shut-ins, lovers, others. Oatmeal and dairy products was the food of choice during this time also used for offerings to nature spirits or faeries.
Beltane is a popular time for pagan weddings or Handfastings, a traditional betrothal for ‘a year and a day’ after which the couple would either choose to stay together or part without recrimination. Today, the length of commitment is a matter of choice for the couple, and can often be for life. Handfasting ceremonies are often unique to the couple, but include common elements, most importantly the exchange of vows and rings (or a token of their choice). The act of handfasting always involves tying the hands Handfasting (‘tying the knot’) of the two people involved, in a figure of eight, at some point in the ceremony and later unbinding. This is done with a red cord or ribbon. Tying the hands together symbolizes that the two people have come together and the untying means that they remain together of their own free will.
However, in addition to sexual fertility, Beltane is also about abundance, in many forms. Don’t just focus on material gains… it’s about the growth of the earth and its bounty, and it’s about increasing your own spiritual and emotional wealth. Overall, it is a good time for celebration, play, creative activity, and real “magic.”
This meditation was inspired by Spring and the death and rebirth process of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly. We all have, are, or will go through our own personal transformation. I believe that for us humans, it’s not just a one time thing as we continue to evolve in our lives. For some of us we will undergo several life changing transformations. For some, we were sort of pushed in that process, and now we are here and we kinda have to see it through all the way. While other times, we may have been desiring it are ready for it and can celebrate it. Regardless of where you are, at this particular moment, let it be a moment of much hope, love, and compassion for you and on your journey.
Sunhealers 