{"id":25796,"date":"2022-04-01T01:10:37","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T05:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/?p=25796"},"modified":"2022-03-30T19:12:56","modified_gmt":"2022-03-30T23:12:56","slug":"notes-from-the-apothecary-75","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2022\/04\/01\/notes-from-the-apothecary-75\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes from the Apothecary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Notes from the Apothecary Special: Flowers for Bealtaine<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

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Bealtaine is an Irish festival traditionally celebrated on May Eve (April 30th<\/sup>), with many modern celebrations taking place on May 1st<\/sup>. The word is pronounced Bee-ell-tun-uh approximately \u2013 at least that\u2019s my best attempt with my very basic Irish! I think it\u2019s important to embrace the correct pronunciation (or as close as you can get) because Irish is a living language and thriving culture, so anglicising Irish words is needless. I pronounced it Bell-tane for many years \u2013 now I know better, I try to do better. I\u2019m an English person whose Pagan path is heavily influenced by Irish Paganism, history, and mythology, so being respectful to the source culture is vital.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Bealtaine means many things to me \u2013 it\u2019s the first breath of summer, a \u201cmore or less\u201d midpoint between spring equinox and summer solstice. Bealtaine speaks to me of bonfires, beacons, and camping out with friends. It\u2019s also about flowers \u2013 all the new blooms bursting from hedgerows at the side of the road in a late spring symphony of smell and colour. Roses, not just red but flame orange and yellow and white. Buddleia tempting the bees and butterflies with its fragrant, sticky spears. And hawthorn, may blossom, sweet and sensual, even dangerous if many stories are to be believed. Here are my favourite Bealtaine flowers and some of their spiritual and magical correspondences.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Buddleia<\/b><\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

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There\u2019s a place where I go camping, and at the entrance to the camping field, is the most enormous buddleia bush. Once the vibrant purple blossoms appear, so do the peacock butterflies \u2013 sometimes so many you can barely see the flowers! This is one of my favourite flowers of summer. We\u2019re lucky enough to have a white variety growing wild near us in a run-down car park, and the fragrance from these paler blossoms is truly heavenly and a striking contrast to the urban grit of its surroundings.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Buddleia Correspondences<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n