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Beltane: (Bealtaine, May Eve, Valpurgis) - April 30th/May 1st
Incense: Lilac, Frankincense
Decorations: Maypole, Flowers, Ribbons
Colours: Green
The Fire Festival of Beltane
This festival is also known as Beltane, the Celtic May Day. It officially begins at moonrise on May Day Eve, and marks the beginning of
the third quarter or second half of the ancient Celtic year. It is celebrated as an early pastoral festival accompanying the first turning
of the herds out to wild pasture. The rituals were held to promote fertility. The cattle were driven between the Belfires to protect
them from ills. Contact with the fire was interpreted as symbolic contact with the sun. In early Celtic times, the druids kindled the
Beltane fires with specific incantations. Later the Christian church took over the Beltane observances, a service was held in the church,
followed by a procession to the fields or hills, where the priest kindled the fire. The rowan branch is hung over the house fire on May
Day to preserve the fire itself from bewitchment (the house fire being symbolic of the luck of the house).
This is a holiday of Union--both between the Goddess and the God and between man and woman. Handfastings (Pagan marriages) are traditional
at this time. It is a time of fertility and harvest, the time for reaping the wealth from the seeds that we have sown. Celebrations
include braiding of one's hair (to honour the union of man and woman and Goddess and God), circling the Maypole for fertility and
jumping the Beltane fire for luck. Beltane is one of the Major Sabbats of the Wiccan religion. We celebrate sexuality (something we see
as holy and intrinsic to us as holy beings), we celebrate life and the unity which fosters it. The myths of Beltane state that the young
God has blossomed into manhood, and the Goddess takes him on as her lover. Together, they learn the secrets of the sexual and the sensual,
and through their union, all life begins.
Beltane is the season of maturing life and deep found love. This is the time of vows, handfastings and commitment. The Lord and his Lady,
having reached maturity, come together in Perfect Love and Perfect Trust to celebrate the joy of their union. This is a time to celebrate
the coming together of the masculine and feminine creative energies. Beltane marks the emergence of the young God into manhood. Stirred
by the energies at work in nature, he desired the Goddess. They fall in love, lie among the grasses and blossoms and unite.
The flowers and greenery symbolise the Goddess and the Maypole represents the God. Beltane marks the return of vitality and passion of
summer. Another common focal point of the Beltane rituals is the cauldron, which represents the Goddess. The Welsh goddess Creiddylad is
connected with Beltane, often called the May Queen, she was a Goddess of summer flowers and love.
May Day
May Day has long been marked with feasts and rituals. May poles, supremely phallic symbols, were the focal point of old English village
rituals. Many people arose at dawn to gather flowers and green branches from the fields and gardens, using them to decorate the village
Maypoles.
The May Queen (and often King) is chosen from among the young people, and they go singing from door to door throughout the town carrying
flowers or the May tree, soliciting donations for merrymaking in return for the "blessing of May". This is symbolic of bestowing and
sharing of the new creative power that is stirring in the world. As the kids go from door to door, the May Bride often sings to the effect
that those who give will get of nature's bounty through the year.
In parts of France, some jilted youth will lie in a field on May Day and pretend to sleep. If any village girl is willing to marry him,
she goes and wakes him with a kiss; the pair then goes to the village inn together and lead the dance which announces their engagement.
The boy is called "the betrothed of May."
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