Administrator October, 2008

Also known as: May Day, Bealtaine, Beltane, Bhealtainn, Bealtinne, Festival of Tana (Strega), Giamonios, Rudemass, and Walburga (Teutonic), Cetsamhain (opposite Samhain),Fairy Day ,Sacred Thorn Day, Rood Day, Roodmas (the Christian term for Rood Day, Old Beltane, Beltain, Baltane, Walpurgis Night, Floriala (Roman feast of flowers from April 29 to May 1), Walpurgisnacht (Germanic-feast of St. Walpurga), Thrimilce (Anglo-saxon), Bloumaand (Old Dutch)

Animals: Swallow, dove, swan, Cats, lynx, leopard

Deities: Flower Goddesses, Divine Couples, Deities of the Hunt, Aphrodite, Artemis, Bast, Diana, Faunus, Flora, Maia, Pan, the Horned God, Venus, and all Gods and Goddesses who preside over fertility.

Tools: broom, May Pole, cauldron

Stones/Gems: emerald, malachite, amber, orange carnelian, sapphire, rose quartz

Colors: green, soft pink, blue, yellow, red, brown

Herbs and Flowers: almond tree/shrub, ash, broom, cinquefoil, clover, Dittany of Crete, elder, foxglove, frankincense, honeysuckle, rowan, sorrel, hawthorn, ivy, lily of the valley, marigold, meadowsweet, mint, mugwort, thyme, woodruff may be burned; angelica, bluebells, daisy, hawthorn, ivy, lilac, primrose, and rose may be decorations, st. john’s wort, yarrow, basically all flowers.

Incense: frankincense, lilac, rose.

Symbols and Decorations: maypole, strings of beads or flowers, ribbons, spring flowers, fires, fertility, growing things, ploughs, cauldrons of flowers, butterchurn, baskets, eggs

Food: dairy, bread, cereals, oatmeal cakes, cherries, strawberries, wine, green salads.

Activities and Rituals: fertilize, nurture and boost existing goals, games, activities of pleasure, leaping bonfires, making garlands, May Pole dance, planting seeds, walking one’s property, feasting

Wiccan mythology: sexual union and/or marriage of the Goddess and God

It’s association with fire also makes Beltaine a holiday of purification.

Wiccan weddings are frequently held on or around Beltaine.

Tags: Beltaine, holiday, sabbat

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Administrator October, 2008

Beltaine, also called May Day by many Christians. This Sabbat celebrates the fertility and union of the Horned God and the Goddess. At this time, life is renewing itself. Birds and animals are mating. In the fields, newly planted seeds are beginning to grow. Great fires are lit honoring the fertility God Belenos. Some leap the fires to show the exuberance of the season.

A Maypole is erected and bright ribbons are hung on it. The Maypole, a phallic symbol, represents the masculine. The soft colored ribbons are the feminine. The union of the two symbolizes the union of the God and Goddess. This is the time to fertilize your dreams with action. It is legend that children conceived at Beltane were gifted by the Gods. These children became known as Merry-Be-Gots.

The Return of the Sun

Beltaine is an anglicization of the Irish “Bealtaine” or the Scottish “Bealtuinn.” While “tene” clearly means “fire,” nobody really knows whether Bel refers to Belenus, a pastoral god of the Gauls, or is from “bel,” simply meaning “brilliant.” It might even derive from “bil tene” or “lucky fire” because to jump between two Beltane fires was sure to bring good fortune, health to your livestock, and prosperity.

When the Druids and their successors raised the Beltaine fires on hilltops throughout the British Isles on May Eve, they were performing a real act of magic, for the fires were lit in order to bring the sun’s light down to earth. In Scotland, every fire in the household was extinguished, and the great fires were lit from the need-fire which was kindled by 3 times 3 men using wood from the nine sacred trees. When the wood burst into flames, it proclaimed the triumph of the light over the dark half of the year.

Then the whole hillside came alive as people thrust brands into the newly roaring flames and whirled them about their heads in imitation of the circling of the sun. If any man there was planning a long journey or dangerous undertaking, he leaped backwards and forwards three times through the fire for luck. As the fire sunk low, the girls jumped across it to procure good husbands; pregnant women stepped through it to ensure an easy birth, and children were also carried across the smoldering ashes. When the fire died down, the embers were thrown among the sprouting crops to protect them, while each household carried some back to kindle a new fire in their hearth. When the sun rose that dawn, those who had stayed up to watch it might see it whirl three times upon the horizon before leaping up in all its summer glory.

Beltaine was a time of fertility and unbridled merrymaking, when young and old would spend the night making love in the Greenwood. In the morning, they would return to the village bearing huge budding boughs of hawthorn (the may-tree) and other spring flowers with which to bedeck themselves, their families, and their houses. They would process back home, stopping at each house to leave flowers, and enjoy the best of food and drink that the home had to offer. In every village, the maypole—usually a birch or ash pole—was raised, and dancing and feasting began. Festivities were led by the May Queen and her consort, the King who was sometimes Jack-in-the-Green, or the Green Man, the old god of the wildwood. They were borne in state through the village in a cart covered with flowers and enthroned in a leafy arbor as the divine couple whose unity symbolized the sacred marriage of earth and sun.

Tags: Beltaine, holiday, sabbat

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Administrator April, 2006

Bright Blessings to you all,

I am Broom and let me start by introducing myself to you. I live in the USA in the State of Minnesota.I was born and raised in the state of Texas so some times I just feel out of whack do to seasons change here a lot later than down in the southern states of the USA. I have been a Kitchen Witch now for 16 years and just recently discovered I tend to pull to the Hedge Witch by defination.

I seem to have a very weird (laughs out loud) sense of humor as I see the world around me. I use the Wiccan Sabbats in my home, but I am not Wiccan. There is a very strong Irish and Romani (Gypsy) influence of culture in my Craft and I am in hopes to share this with you, as you travel with me in my articles.

Beltane or Beltaine is an ancient Gaelic holiday celebrated around May 1.
It’s impossible to think of Beltane without thinking of the Maypole. This is perhaps one of the most popular symbols of the season, representing the Divine Marriage between the Lord and Lady of the Greenwood. The pole represents the male principle, and the ribbons that wrap around it (and the wreath placed atop the pole) are symbolic of the female principle.

The Maypole represents the phallus of the God. The wreath atop represents the vagina of the Goddess. As the Maypole is danced, the ribbons wind around the pole and the wreath lowers, symbolizing the Divine Marriage, the sexual union of God and Goddess. — Yasmine Galenorn, Dancing with the Sun

Steps:
1.Choose a pole that has plenty of room around its base. The taller, the better.

2.Fasten an even number of streamers to the top of the pole. They should be about 1 1/2 times the height of the pole.

3.Use different-colored streamers. Alternate two different colors or use many.

4.Give each person decorating the maypole the end of a streamer. They may also want to hold a bouquet of flowers.

5.Have every other participant face clockwise, the rest face counterclockwise.( person faces > the next person faces <)

6.Play the selected music and let the dance begin. ( we find traditional irish jigs to be fun in use for the pole dance)

7.Alternate between passing the person coming toward you on the left and on the right.

we use a caller: a person says under ,over, under, over (> first person goes over the first person they meet and under the next person…< first goes under the first person and over the next person

8.When the pole is wrapped, lay the bouquets on the ends of the streamers to hold them in place.

Tips:
Make sure everyone understands the instructions well in advance.

Nylon streamers are great - crepe paper tends to tear too easily for a very tall maypole.

Food:

oatmeal/ barley,
dairy products, including icecream, yum!
red fruits
spring green veg
herbal salads
pork and beef dishes
rich fruit cake
honey
red wine
mead

Meade

1/2 gallon water
1 1/2 cups raw honey
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon allspice

Heat all ingredients together over medium heat in a large pot. As the honey melts, an oily crust forms at the top. DO NOT REMOVE. When in is well blended, remove from the heat, stirring occasionally as it cools. This is the non-alcoholic version.

Beltane Cream Pie

1 cup milk
1 cup cream
1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
Ground nutmeg
Prepared piecrust, already cooked

Melt butter in pan over medium heat. In separate bowl add milk to cornstarch, making sure it is fully dissolved. Add this and all other ingredients to pan, except vanilla and nutmeg. Stir till mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour mixture into piecrust and sprinkle with nutmeg. Serve chilled.

Oatmeal and dairy products. Begin the day with a hearty bowl of Irish oatmeal topped with cream and brown sugar or country butter. Oatmeal brings good fortune and encourages the power and magick . We always have warm oatmeal cookies and vanilla ice cream as a Beltane treat. So I am in hopes you like this article and I shared with you some fun things so my kitchen to yours Keep Sweeping Majik into your life from Broom

***

author bio:

Broom

Tags: Beltaine, beltane, kitchen

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Administrator April, 2006

Beltane and May Celebrations

Merry Meet

Beltane is April 30th – May 1st in the Western Hemisphere. This is one of the 8 Sabbats of the year. This is said to be the beginning of Spring. The Goddess throws off her maiden robes and takes on the robes of the Mother, with her Consort and mate, the Green Man standing by her side. It is also said to be the celebration of Persephone returning from the Underworld to her mother in our world, allowing the re-awakening of the land. It is the historically celebrated half-year mark, the counterpoint of Samhain, which is the end of the year, November 1st.

May is named for Maia, the grandmother, the Goddess of death and fertility. Maia scorns marriage, so it is a good idea to put weddings off until June. It is one of the 3 days of the year when the fairies are said to be able to be seen.

Traditionally, this was a major fertility festival. Great bonfires were lit to assist the sun in returning to heat the fields and increase the harvest. To signify their availability, unattached people, young and old, who were seeking a partner wore green during the festival. They would spend Beltane night in the greenwood (forest) with their chosen one. After the evening’s celebrations, the celebrants would return home bearing armloads of May boughs covered in budding flowers, as well as any other blooming flowers they came across. These were all shared with families in the community. As they shared their May bounty, the homes they visited shared the best in food and drink they had. A child born of this festival was considered especially blessed, and to share in the good fortune, the entire community would care for the mother and child. The May Pole was also raised during this celebration and people danced and made merry around it. There is a tradition that if the May Pole dancers wove a perfect pattern with the ribbons hung from the May Pole then the coming harvest would be an excellent one. But, if the ribbons became entangled during the dancing then the upcoming harvest was not expected to be as bountiful as it could be. The May Pole dancers trained and practiced to try to ensure their weaving of the ribbons did not tangle.

The Hawthorn was known as the May and bringing May blossoms into the home was considered very unlucky. This could have been due to the increasing Christian influence. Bringing Mayflowers into the home could reveal the Pagan beliefs of the family and put the entire household at risk for persecution. Another theory as to the unluckiness of bringing May flowers into the home is said to refer to the Beltane night celebrations, and the flowers in the home could reference the unattached not finding a partner that eve.

If you are lucky enough to have a May bush; beneath it is a wonderful place to lie back and contemplate the coming growing season. You can gather the beautiful flowers and weave them into a circlet to wear, or to give to your ladylove. If you have a Goddess statue you may want to make a circlet for her as well.

Another traditional activity for this eve is lighting the Beltane fire. Young lovers would jump through the smoke and low flames to bring luck to their union. Farmers led their herds and flocks through the smoke from the fires for increased productivity in the coming season. Pregnant women are said to have stepped over the coals to help with an easy and successful birth. Small children, and even infants, were carried across the coals and through the smoke for luck and health throughout the year.

If you don’t have access to a May Day celebration, you can light a small fire and add green boughs to it to encourage the smoke. Jumping through the flames and smoke (with any long skirts kept out of the flames) can be done to celebrate the new season and to bring luck to your endeavors. If a bonfire is not possible, due to apartment living, living with non-Pagans, etc, you can also do the ‘jumping through the flame’ ritual using candles or even tea light candles. Please be careful and hold any long skirts or other pieces of clothing that might catch fire out of the way, and make sure to have the candles placed on non-flammable material, in case you knock them over.

Flowers can also be gathered for May baskets. Filling your home with the newest blooms will help brighten your day as well as bring the joy of the coming together of the Goddess and her Consort, the Green Man, into your world. May baskets make wonderful gifts for shut-ins and elderly friends and neighbors.

A wonderful, and very simple spell for this day is an increase spell. Take 5 new, shiny, and cleansed pennies. Place them under your front steps, heads up. Then say the following, or something you come up with on your own:

Penny Penny, Shining Bright
Bring to my door what I need that is right
Guide my steps to help me find
Help for my home and peace of mind
As I will so mote it be.

While this spell does not specify money or property, it asks for what you ‘need’ to be brought to you, and for your steps to be guided as well. If you don’t have traditional ‘front steps’ you can place the pennies under your front doormat or even plant them, face up, in a flower bed near your front door. This little spell has helped me when I thought there was nothing I could do to meet my home or my families needs. I hope it helps you as well.

Here is a poem by Sir Thomas Malory, written for the May celebrations of the time.

The month of May was come,

when every lusty heart beginneth to blossom,
and to bring forth fruit; for like as herbs and trees bring
forth fruit and flourish in May, in likewise every lusty heart that

is in any manner a lover, springeth and flourisheth in lusty deeds.
For it giveth unto all lovers courage, that lusty month of May.
Sir Thomas Malory, 1485

Blessed Be and brightest blessings.

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author bio:

Blessed Be
Lady Ana
AuntiesMagick@AOL.com

Lady Ana can be found deep in the bible belt, peeking out of her broom closet occasionally when her cats deign to give her the all clear.

Tags: Beltaine, beltane, holiday, lady ana, may day

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