Beltane or beltaine
In Irish Gaelic, the month of May is known as Mí Bhealtaine or Bealtaine, and the festival as Lá Bealtaine ('day of Bealtaine' or, 'May Day'). In Scottish Gaelic, the month is known as either (An) Cèitean or a' Mhàigh, and the festival is known as Latha Bealltainn or simply Bealltainn. The feast was also known as Céad Shamhain or Cétshamhainin from which the word Céitean derives.
As an ancient Gaelic festival, Bealtaine was celebrated in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, though there were similar festivals held at the same time in the other Celtic countries of Wales, Cornovii areas of England, Brittany and Cornwall. Bealtaine and Samhain were the leading terminal dates of the civil year in Ireland though the latter festival was the more important. The festival survives in folkloric practices in the Celtic Nations and the Irish diaspora, and has experienced a degree of revival in recent decades. (from wikipedia)
Northern Hemisphere this holiday is Celebrated on May 1st, in the southern November 1st. This is a Cross Quarter day, and is the another time when the veil is thin (like Samhain aka halloween).
Some will celebrate Beltane at the setting sun on April 30th, and go into the setting sun on May 1st (which was the old traditional way of celebrating the holidays).
Beltane has long been celebrated with feasts and rituals. Beltane means fire of Bel; Belinos being one name for the Sun God, whose coronation feast we now celebrate. As summer begins, weather becomes warmer, and the plant world blossoms, an exuberant mood prevails. In old Celtic traditions it was a time of unabashed sexuality and promiscuity where marriages of a year and a day could be undertaken.
The Christian religion had only a poor substitute for the life-affirming Maypole -- namely, the death-affirming cross. Hence, in the Christian calendar, this was celebrated as 'Roodmas'. In Germany, it was the feast of Saint Walpurga, or 'Walpurgisnacht'. An alternative date around May 5 (Old Beltane), when the sun reaches 15 degrees Taurus, is sometimes employed by Covens. (Both 'Lady Day' and 'Ostara' are names incorrectly assigned to this holiday by some modern traditions of Wicca.)
Think of the May pole as a focal point of the old English village rituals. Many people would rise at the first light of dawn to go outdoors and gather flowers and branches to decorate their homes. Women traditionally would braid flowers into their hair. Men and women alike would decorate their bodies. Beltane marks the return of vitality, of passion. Ancient Pagan traditions say that Beltane marks the emergence of the young God into manhood. Stirred by the energies at work in nature, he desires the Goddess. They fall in love, lie among the grasses and blossoms, and unite. The Goddess becomes pregnant of the God. To celebrate, a wedding feast, for the God and Goddess must be prepared. Let Them guide you! Breads and cereals are popular. Try oatmeal cakes or cookies sweetened with a dab of honey. Dairy foods are again appropriate...just make a lovely wedding feast and you are sure to enjoy yourself! An early morning walk through a local park or forest could be fun for everyone. Gather up some plants or flowers to display in your home. Mom and daughter could braid their hair, and weave in a few tender blossoms. ( http://www.wicca.com/celtic/akasha/beltane.htm)
10 ways to Celebrate Beltane
1. Have a bonfire! Invite your friends and neighbors, and build a bonfire in your backyard. Roast marshmallows. Talk, sing, even dance. This is a great way to reconnect with those who have been hibernating all winter.
2. Make May baskets. Get some construction paper and roll it into cones fastening each one with a piece of tape or a staple. Make handles with strips of paper or pieces of ribbon. Gather early wildflowers like violets and fill each basket. Early in the morning, leave a basket hanging on each of your neighbors' doors. This is an excellent project to enlist your children's help with.
3. Go camping. During your trip, take the time to look for signs of spring. Enjoy the warmer weather and the longer days!
4. Watch the sunrise. Pack a picnic breakfast, a blanket, and some sweaters; and head out before dawn. Unpack your picnic on a hill with an unobstructed view and enjoy the early morning rays as the sun peaks over the horizon.
5. Make a flower feast! What better way to celebrate spring than with flowers? Freeze edible flowers in your ice cubes. Add edible flowers to your salad. Candy flowers to decorate your dessert.
6. Create your own maypole. This isn't as difficult as you might think. Purchase a twenty foot wood pole from your local hardware store. Set it up in your backyard. Ask your guests to each bring a 2 inch by 20 foot ribbon and attach them when they arrive. Everyone grabs their ribbon, and the dancing begins. (Make sure to have extra ribbons just in case!)
7. Have your own fertility ritual. This can just be simple. After dinner, go around the table and have everyone in your family list things they want to grow in the new season. This could be a good garden or a better job or more patience. Anything goes.
8. Decorate your house. If your spring cleaning is done, Beltaine is an excellent time to decorate. Whether you lavish your rooms with fresh flowers, create a new spring themed center piece, or paint a room a new color, decorating is a wonderful way to celebrate spring.
9. Bake an oatmeal cake. Mix together one cup of oatmeal, ½ cup softened butter, ½ teaspoon of baking soda, and ½ cup of brown sugar. Add ½ cup of sour cream and mix until a dough forms. Press dough into a large circle on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. Cut the cake into wedges to serve. Oatmeal cake is a traditional Beltaine food.
10. Weave a basket. Weaving is a craft traditionally associated with Beltane. Simple weaving kits are available at most craft stores, or if you want more of a challenge, find basket patterns online or in books at the library. Don't forget to fill your basket with those early spring flowers!
(http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/702699/ten_ways_to_celebrate_beltaine_beltane.html?cat=24)
A Solitary Beltane Ritual from Rae Beth's 'The Wiccan Path'
Preparation
Prior to this rite you should have made ready a wooden wand. This should be a branch from an Oak or Hazel tree. Remember, do not take the wood from a living tree!
The wood can be cut into the rough shape of a phallus in which case it should be of the appropriate size and shape. On the other hand, a simple branch, peeled of its bark, and about 13 inches long and half an inch thick is also acceptable. Place the wand upon your alter within the Circle.
Prepare a dish of earth and place it upon the alter beside the wand.
The Rite
Cast the Circle and invoke the Lady and the Lord. After the invocation, dance and chant to raise power for magical activities and then earth the power into an unlit candle, placed inside the cauldron, at the center of the circle. Chant the following (or make up your own!):
Beltane!
I dance with delight
on Beltane's night.
All senses freeing,
I dance for being.
The flower and the flame
of love's own rite
shall blossom. Sun
embrace Earth, bright.
Light the candle to the Sun. This is the Beltane fire, our modern substitute for the hilltop bonfires of our ancestors. The Bel fire is an invocation to the Sun God to bring blessing and protection for the coming year. This is sacred fire with healing and purifying properties. As you light the candle, be aware of its power and significance. Say:
I light this candle to the Sun.
Now take up a dish of earth. Bless it in the name of the Goddess.
Lay your hands upon it and say:
I bless, consecrate, and set apart this earth,
in the name of the Triple Goddess. May this
be sacred earth, set apart for magic. For
earth is of the Goddess, being her sacred body.
Remember that the Goddess is not only of the Moon, but of the Earth and of the farthest stars. She is the Triple Goddess of the Circle of Rebirth, the Mother of All Life. Decorate the dish of earth with flowers.
Now, take a wooden wand and oil it with vegetable oil. Bless it in the name of the Lord of the Day, the youthful, ardent one, the Lord of Life, the God of the greenwood. Pass it swiftly through the candle flame, the Bel fire, so that it becomes magically imbued, 'charged', with power. Place the wand upon the dish of earth, saying as you hold it there:
As the wand is to the earth,
so the male is to the female
and the Sun to our blossoming world.
Joined, they bring happiness.
May the God of Life give ___ (something you want, for example, peace on Earth)
May the Goddess bring it forth!
Sit quietly for a while, and picture the blossoming of what you have desired in life. The spells and invocations of all of us, all working on themes like these, must eventually bear fruit, because life is on the side of peace. Leave the earth and wand upon the alter.
Walk deosil three times around the circle, then spiral into the center. Go evenly, with grace, meditatively. Sit beside the candle flame, allowing yourself to feel peaceful. Gaze into the flame.
The next part is different depending on whether you are man or woman.
For a Woman: visualize a red rosebud in your womb. Always your womb is the source of your creative power, whether you are pregnant with a child, an idea, a work of art or an intention. Close your eyes and picture the light from the candle streaming into your womb so that the rosebud blooms, unfolds. Hold the image for a while, feeling the silkiness, smelling the scent, the freshness, seeing the color of the fully open rose within you. Feel the strength and power of your own fully blossomed capabilities. Say:
I am woman,
strong to conceive and to create,
to give birth and to tend.
As I am daughter of the Goddess,
and blessed by the God, may I ___
(here name what you wish to bring forth in life. For example bring healing to others or write my book whatever matters to you)
Feel the strength and creative force within your womb, the center of your being. See the power being channeled, flowing into the desire you have just voiced. Open your eyes. Always, the rose is within you.
For a Man: Visualize a bright flame. This burns within your sexual center, a point at the base of the stomach, just above the pubic hairline. It is your own male strength and energy which may rise through your body to be released as giving, fertilizing power, in any form, or may be the potency which impregnates, creating a physical child. It is the force which blesses and bestows, a healing and creative energy, like the shining Sun. Visualize also that you are sitting in a garden and that a rose tree is in front of you, the roses in bud. Say:
I am man,
and in my passion is beauty,
in my warmth is life.
As I am son of the Goddess,
and blessed by the God,
I offer my strength and vitality to ____
(name the area of life, the place, activity, or committment you choose)
Visualize the light streaming from you to a rose upon the tree causing it to unfold, to blossom. Your flame is lowered by this effort. Much has gone out of you, the flame sinks down. Wait and watch, until a pink light streams from the rose towards your body. At its touch, just above the pubic hairline the flame resurges. It burns highter and stronger than before. Open your eyes. The flame is always within you.
Last Week of April
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