Topic for 1st week of APR

This something new that we are gonna try out. Once a week I will post a topic. People can ask questions or give their views on said topic. This will be topics on witchcraft, as well as herbs and Witchy News.

This Week to kick everything off We'll talk about Beltane.
Beltane (May Day)
April 30 (beginning at sundown)
Theme: Growth; Fertility; Passion; Creativity
Type: Seasonal Holiday ~ Final Spring Festival
Beltane is the last of three Spring festivals, a celebration of Spring in its fullest expression. At this time, the Earth pulses with the energies of growth and vitality. Fertility and life are all around us. The vitality and passion of Beltane expresses itself through the flowering and pollination of plants, the fertility of animals and the loving sexual embrace of human beings. Traditionally this was a time for blessing fields and animals for fertility and abundance.

Fertility rites such as leaping the fire and dancing the maypole (an ancient fertility symbol with the pole as phallus and the woven ribbons representing the embrace of the vulva) are still performed to honor this holiday. In ancient times, lovers found each other by the glow of the bonfires and made love on the hillsides. Through these rites the passion of the Earth is made manifest and the fertility of the Earth is stimulated. Beltane is still a popular time for handfastings (a non-legal bonding ceremony) or marriages.

Irrepressibly, the creative imperative bursts forth into new forms and expression. We can ride Earth's passionate wave, tapping into this powerful surge of creative energy.Joy, celebration and creativity are the hallmarks of Beltane.It is not a time for deep contemplation or meditation, but rather a time to be immediately and passionately present in the moment as we dance with the energy and rhythms of the Earth, and celebrate life and growth in all its forms -- within and without. At this time of year, we can energize projects and new life directions and honor the growing fullness of our lives.
http://www.healinghappens.com/wheel.htm


What are some of your personal practices or ways of celebrating Beltane? What does Beltane mean to you personally?



I like to celebrate beltane with a small ritual that has a channeling session within it to gain deeper knowledge of myself and the world around me. I find that I really get in tune with nature at this time and I feel the earths energy just moving through me. I will dance, sing, or play my flute (when it's not out of commission), to raise energy. I find it's a great time to spend with my husband as well, romantically as well intimately (it is a fertility holiday after all)

Beltane has become a traditional holiday off work for my husband and myself as we were handfasted on April the 28th. We usually take the whole week in which beltane falls off and go away for a few days, usually to a sacred site in the UK.

Last year we had a small private ritual at Stanton Drew stone circle, near Bristol, and the year before that we went to Uffington near Oxford to tie another knot in our handfasting cord on the White Horse, an ancient chalk horse cut out into the landscape and representation of Epona.

Another tradition is that we watch The Wicker Man every year and engage in some May folk songs such as "Hal-en-tow" and "The Fith Fath Song". This year we're off to the Merry Maidens stone circle in Cornwall and have some ritual planned with some druid friends. Interfaith!

I also celebrate with a small ritual. I place fresh flowers on my alter and things of that nature as way of reminding me of how precious new life is. I also sometimes place an egg on it for the same purpose. Sadly I can't build a large fire in my location so I start a small fire in a heat proof bowl which I often use for scrying at the end of my ritual. I also use a dowel rod in my rituals. I place it on my alter and use it as a focal point in my ritual. I visualize and will energy to circle around it and then at the peak of energy gathering and drawing I release it into the earth to aid her in her maturing for the following seasons. This may seem odd to some, but I don't have a maypole so I use this as an alternative. I also like to take long walks in the woods at this time of year, just so that I can marvel at how the life living there grows and blossoms. I'm hoping that I can get my spouse involved in the celebration this year, as he is the first person that I've trusted enough to reveal my religious beliefs too.

Beltane.....
I really am not a wiccan. But what I have said to people is most wiccan's follow holidays from the celtic's

So it is now counted as a Wiccan holy day. 1 of the 8 Wiccan Sabbats. Traditionally the bale fire is lit without the use of metal on this day.
The 9 woods traditionally placed in the traditional Druid balefire are: apple, cedar, dogwood, elder, holly, juniper, oak, poplar, and rowan.

The 9 woods traditionally placed in the traditional Wiccan Witchcraft balefire: birch, oak, rowan, willows, hawthorn, hazel, apple, grape, and fir.

Elder is never burned by a Wiccan. Instead, a hollow elder tube is used to blow on the embers to start the balefire.

Traditionally elder referred to European elder, but many Witches in North America use American elder instead.

You should never burn elder.

Some Witches celebrate Beltane on April 30th or May 1st. Some recomondation i think will be great is hawthorn berries for the Beltane altar.

So uhmm have a merry/feliz/happy Beltane