Beltane

The Pagan wheel of the year is observed by many, it is a celebration of the seasons broken down in to eight Sabbats. Four of these Sabbaths are known as the Greater Sabbaths and four are known as the Lesser Sabbaths. The eight Sabbaths are Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lammas, Mabon, Samhain and Yule. The Lesser Sabbaths are the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes and the Summer and Winter Solstice, the rest are known as the Greater Sabbaths.

Today is the 1st of May, also known as May day, and it marks two of my favourite Sabbaths on the wheel of the year, Beltane in the Northern Hemisphere and Samhain in the Southern Hemisphere. Beltane and Samhain are both Greater Sabbaths. Beltane is traditionally celebrated from night fall on 30th April until sunrise on 2nd May in The Northern Hemisphere, and at the same time Samhain is also celebrated in the Southern Hemisphere.

During both Samhain and Beltane, the veil between our world and the other realms is at its thinnest, but whereas Samhain opens us up to deeper, inner realms, a time when communication with our ancestors and other spirits is closer to the surface. Beltane opens us up to closer, outer realms, connecting us with the nature spirits, and the Fae as they come out of hibernation.

I currently live in the UK which is in the Northern Hemisphere, so today I will be celebrating Beltane, and in honour of the Sabbat, over the next few paragraphs I am going to talk about all things Beltane. I will go over what this beautiful festival is all about, some of its history, its traditions, Handfasting, some activities you could do to celebrate, and I will also be sharing one of my personal traditions with you as well.

So what is Beltane

Beltane is a Pagan festival that's celebrated halfway between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice. It is a celebration of the union of the Goddess and the Green Man, the coming together of male and female energies to create new life, and the emergence of the Goddess as May Queen and of the God / Green Man as May King.

The word 'Beltane' originates from the Celtic God 'Bel', meaning 'the bright one' and the Gaelic word 'teine' meaning fire. Together they make 'Bright Fire', or 'Goodly Fire' during this festival it’s tradition to light bonfires to honour the Sun, and encourage the support of Bel and the Sun's light to nurture the emerging future harvest, and protect the community.

Beltane honours Life. It represents the peak of Spring and the beginning of Summer, it’s all about sexuality, sensuality, passion, vitality joy and conception, it is both a fire festival and a festival of fertility. It is a time of giving thanks for the fertility of the Earth, and the miraculous ability of humans and animals to create new life within.

Historically, Beltane was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, as well as other Celtic lands, and it is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature.

Also known as "first of summer" for many ancient people Beltane marked the beginning of summer when cattle were driven out to the summer pastures. To mark and bless the occasion, during this time, many Rituals were performed to protect the cattle, crops and people, as well as to encourage growth.

Some of these rituals are still being carried out today, and involve Special bonfires, deemed to have protective powers in their flames, smoke and ashes.

Historically speaking, many Celtic and Pagan festivals often tied in with the needs of the community throughout the year, and Beltane was no different. As Spring marks at the beginning of the farming calendar, it was traditionally a time when people would hope for a fruitful year for their families and fields, so many Beltane rituals would often include courting, other festivities also involved fire which was thought to cleanse, purify and increase fertility, so Cattle were often passed between two fires as it was believed that the properties of the flame and the smoke would ensure the fertility of the herd.

Today many believe that at Beltane the God (to whom the Goddess gave birth at the Winter Solstice) achieves the strength and maturity to court and become lover to the Goddess. So although what happens in the fields today has lost a lot of its significance, as our needs are no longer the same as the needs of our ancestors, for most, the creation of fertility is still an important issue.

The largest Beltane celebrations in the UK are held in Edinburgh (sadly due to the Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic, the celebrations will not be happening this year) Traditionally fires are lit at night and festivities carry on until dawn. All around the UK fires are lit and private celebrations are held amongst covens, groves (groups of Pagans) and individuals to mark the start of the summer.

Celebrations and traditions.

Even today fire is still the most important element of most Beltane celebrations and there are many traditions associated with it. Fire is seen to have purifying qualities which cleanse and revitalise, and one tradition that is still regularly practised is leaping over fire. This involves People literally leaping over Beltane fire to bring good fortune, fertility (of mind, body and spirit) and happiness through the coming year.

Although Beltane is the most overtly sexual festival, sex is rarely used in rituals (although rituals often imply sex and fertility) that said, there is one celebration that is still wildly practised today, that does involve sex, and that tradition it is known as the The Great Rite or going A-Maying. The Great Rite is the sexual union of God and Goddess, the coming together of both masculine and feminine energy, combining power and bringing forth life force, throughout Beltane, couples in love especially those who are hopping to conceive a child would traditionally perform the Great Rite and go A-Maying, by using their male and female energies to embody the God and Goddess, then use that energy to make love outside under the Beltane sky.

The Maypole is a very popular and familiar image of May Day and Beltane, as is the tradition of dancing round the Maypole, historically Maypoles were made out of striped down Yule trees kept from the Winter Solstice, but today, any pole can be turned into a Maypole. Remember this is a fertility festival, so the Maypole, with its phallic structure, is also a symbol of the fertile energy of the season. Inserted into the Earth it represents the potency of the God. The ring of flowers at the top represents the fertile Goddess, and it’s many coloured ribbons, being woven around it through weaving dancers, symbolise the spiral of Life and the union of the Goddess and God.

Beltane is the Great Wedding of the Goddess and the God, so it is a popular time for pagan weddings known as Handfastings. Traditionally a Handfasting betrothal would be 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 sometimes rings. The act of Handfasting always involves tying the hands of the two people involved in the Handfasting (this is where the term 'tying the knot' comes from) in a figure of eight, which is the symbol of eternity, and later untying the knot. This is traditionally done with a cord or ribbon, often couples would make their own cord from coloured ribbons of their choice. Tying the hands together symbolises that the two people have come together and the untying means that they remain together of their own free will.

Another common element of hand fasting is jumping the broomstick. This goes back to a time when two people who could not afford a large ceremony, would be accepted in the community as a married couple by literally jumped over a broom laid on the floor, as the broom represents a 'threshold', and jumping over it was symbolic of moving from an old life to a new one.

Handfasting or not, throughout Beltane many couples, both young and old go A-Maying and spend the night in the woods and fields, making love and bringing back armfuls blossoms to decorate their homes.

Me and my husband jumping the Broomstick

There are many things you could do to celebrate the Sabbat and today, I am going to share a tradition that I do every year, and that’s making wish boxes.

How to make a Wish Box

Wish boxes are a great way to celebrate the Sabbat and take full advantage of the energy it brings, by bringing dreams and aspirations to life, it’s also a wonderful activity to do with the family, especially children, and its really simple.

You will need:

.A small shallow cardboard box, (you could even make one from a tube of used kitchen/toilet paper roll) .Flower petals (prefably rose) .Earth/soil
.Flower seeds
.Paper .A glass of water
.A piece of bark, or an acorn or a leaf
.Something that represents your wish, for example: Love & Marriage – a sweet treat
New Job – copper coin
Abundance – silver coin
Seeking the Truth – sprig of rosemary Spirituality – Amethyst
Health, Healing, Renewed Strength – clear quartz
Happiness, Good Luck – cinnamon stick
Seeking Knowledge – apple
Protection – key (an old iron key is best if you have one) or black stone

Method:
Take a piece of paper and write your wish on it while visualizing your wish coming to life and growing. You can do this alone, with friends, or as a family. If you want to, decorate your box, with a triple moon, pentacle, heart, or any symbol of your choice. Poke a few holes in it (this will help your wish/plants, to grow) Take your box and sprinkle some earth into it. Put in your paper wishes, wish symbol, and seeds, bark/acorn/leaf. Cover with another layer of earth. Mix the flower petals with the seeds and scatter them on top. Cover with a final layer of earth and close the box, leaving enough of the petal/seed mixture to scatter on top of the box when you are planting it.

Planting Your Wish Box

Dig a hole two inches deeper than your wish box and lower it into the earth carefully while concentrating on your chosen wish, visualizing it coming to fruition. Imagine your wish growing with the flowers reaching skyward. As you cover the box with earth say:

“All the things that I desire, I plant with the power of Butane's Fire, I offer it freely down below and trust the earth to make it grow, with harm to none I make it so.”

Then pour your glass of water over it.

If you don't have a garden you can plant your box in a park, woodland or make a mini wish pot that can live on a window ledge, either option works just as well. Just remember one wish and one symbol per pot following exactly the same instructions as above.

If you want to incorporate Colours associated with Beltane on your wish box, the traditional colours of Beltane are green, red and white/silver.

Green represents growth, abundance and fertility.

Red represents strength, vitality, passion and vibrancy.

White represents cleansing and clearing and the power to disperse negativity

Things to do

There are so many things you can do to celebrate this beautiful Sabbat!

You could light a bonfires, or have a barbecue, to celebrate the fire festival,

As a Spring festival, Beltane is a festival of Flora, so you could make a flower crown to wear or give as a gift.

You could make a traditional flower basket and fill it with seasonal greenery, flowers and herbs, while thinking about, and honouring, the magical and healing properties of everything you place in the baskets while you do so.

You could spend the night outdoors and watch the sunrise.

You could take advantage of the fertile energy and conceive a new project idea.

You could make love, even with just yourself.

You could decorate and celebrate a tree, the tree spirit will welcome you attention whichever kind of tree it is. Sit with it, talk to it, dance around it honour the tree and its fertility. Hang ribbons from its branches, and make a wish or say a prayer with every ribbon you tie.

Or you could dress your home and/or altar with greenery

Whatever you do, remember this is the Great Wedding! So if your not feeling up to much, this is a great opportunity to simply dress in your best, even if you choose to do nothing else.

Beltane represents the peak of Spring and the beginning of Summer, a time when the energies of the earth are at their strongest and most active. All of life is bursting with potent fertility at this point in the Wheel of the Year, and its a great time to use all this potential energy to conceive your wishes, dreams and aspirations for the upcoming months.

The turning of the wheel of the year represents the flow of energy in and out, from rebirth to death and back again. As the wheel turns Beltane will pass and we will soon be welcoming Litha, but today, I celebrate Beltane so until then, I wish you all a blessed Beltane, and for everyone in the Southern Hemisphere, Brightest Samhain Blessings.