Beltane is one of the most important festivals of the pagan year
traditionally marking the arrival of summer in ancient times.

With its counterpart Samhain, Beltane divides the year into its two
primary seasons, Winter the Dark and Summer the Light.

It’s the festival of fertility, celebrating beginnings and
reproduction, the height of Spring and the flowering of life.
Beltane is also known as May Eve, May Day, and Walpurgis Night.
Sacred woods are kindled, (make sure you jump over the Beltane Fire,
move through it, or dance clockwise around it).

In ancient Rome, the Floralia from April 27-May 3 was the festival
of the Flower Goddess Flora and on May 1 offerings were made to Bona
Dea, Mother Earth, the Lares household guardian spirits, and Maia,
Goddess of Increase, from whom May gets its name. In Scandinavia,
mock battles between Winter and Summer were enacted at this time. In
the twentieth century, May Day has been a workers’ holiday in many
places

It’s a time of “between time” when the veils between the two worlds
are at their thinnest and most fragile. The two worlds intersect at
the crossroads of Beltane where they intermingle and unite and
anything may happen. It’s the time when the Faeries return from
their winter respite, and people placed rowan branches at their
windows and doors for protection from the otherworld. It’s a time of
divination and communion with Faery Folk and all Nature Spirits

It is said that the Queen of the Faeries rides out on her white
horse on Beltane Eve . If you sit quietly beneath a tree on that
night, you may hear the sound of her horse’s bells as she rides by.
Turn away quickly and hide your face for if you look upon her she
may choose you ! The Scots tell of Thomas the Rhymer who looked on
the Queen and has not been seen since.

May is the month of sensuality and sexuality, the reawakening of the
earth in vivid colours, vibrant scents, fresh greenery and the sheer
joy of summer after a long dormant winter.

In a woodland clearing, spread a clean green cloth. On it place
small cakes and flowers, especially primroses, in a circle. Imagine
the magic around you and say:

“O Fairy Queen,
Upon your white steed,
Within me plant
A magic seed.
From you may spring
Many new beginnings.
Great Queen,
Accept these offerings.”

Leave the items and walk around the altar three times, then slowly
walk the path back to your home. Listen for the sound of laughter
and bells and know you are blessed. Beltane is the time when fairies
return from their winter rest, carefree and full of mischief and
delight. On the night before Beltane, in times past, folks would
place rowan branches at their windows and doors for protection. If
you do not wish the fairies to visit, do the same! This is also a
perfect time for night or predawn rituals to draw down power to
promote fertility in body and mind. At Beltane, the Pleiades star
cluster rises just before sunrise on the morning horizon. The
Pleiades is known as the seven sisters, and resembles a tiny dipper-
shaped pattern of six moderately bright stars in the constellation
of Taurus, near the shoulder. Watch for it low in the east-northeast
sky, just a few minutes before sunrise.

By: Nancy Bennett

At Beltane celebrations and rituals, male and female witches should
wear crowns,(Green is the color for robes if worn too.)
The men have a oak leaf crown and ladies a floral head garland.
but, a simple design of the chaplet(twinning ivy twisted together to
form the base ring) can just be worn.
These crowns, which take about an hour to make, are made both the
same way….
First, you make the base chaplet of ivy ,or, males can use
honeysuckle including the flower. then, select the flowers or the
oak leaves you wish to use…(hawthorn or white may flowers are
traditional if you are making your garland just before wearing, as
they will not keep. otherwise, use any white flowers or include
color. Keep in fridge when made and spray with water to keep fresh.
(Oak leaves if rare can be replaced with any tree leaf assosiated to
the god such as ash.)
Remove any thorns from stems and trim, then tie into small posies of
flowers or leaves, use green gardening twine.
Starting at the front of your headress begin to tie your posies in
place useing the best looking bunches first or a special arrangment.
work backwards cover the stems with the next bunch of posy heads,
this way it will hide all stems and string when finished, continue
till back to the front tidy and re-arange for a finished look .
After the rites and celebrations leave the crowns as offerings in
the woods.

Beltane or May Eve is the last Sabbat of the waxing year. The next holiday is Summer Solstice, the zenith of the light, from which the year begins to wane. Beltane is the approaching height of fertility and is a feast of fires and flowers; women’s passion is its theme, and the Goddess’s passion, and the earth’s passion to bloom and bear fruit. Brightness and abundance are present everywhere at Beltane, in the greening and blooming of the land, the colors of the May pole and the candles, and brightness of the women’s clothes. Where Spring Equinox colors were pastels, Beltane’s are rose for new love or primary colors that emphasize brightness and fertility.

Persephone has come of age and reached menarche, she is no longer the child/Maiden. Her body changes and she discovers the fires of sexuality, of physical love and self love, and learns what passion means. She begins, experiments, and changes partners as she learns. The custom of making love in the fields on May Eve was done in wiccan England to enhance their fertility of the growing crops. It may also have been a remnant of the days when women menstruating bled in the fields, for the same reason.

In the Motherpeace tarot, a card for Beltane is the Four of Wands, which is a menarche celebration for a young woman coming of age. Other of the Wands, signifying sexuality, passion and life force energy, are also appropriate for both Beltane and Summer Solsitce. The Lovers is a Beltane card, the coming together of two Be-ings. At Beltane love is new and just beginning, still trying out committed relationships. Persephone at Beltane discovers love and passion for the first time, and the earth blooms with her sexuality. “All acts of love and pleasure are the Goddess’s rituals.” Flowers are female sexual symbols and the symbol of the season, as are the Maypole and the May Eve fire.

The Maypole is a European custom, brought to this country from wiccan England. Decked with flowers and danced/woven by women, it is a female Goddess and fertility totem, the moontree of the Great Mother. Fertility in this Sabbat can be sexual or celibate, procreative or creative in any form. To make a Maypole where a handy tall tree without lover branches is unavailable, use a pole such as a clothesline pole. Ideally the pole should be twice as tall as the dancers, and the ribbons are half again as long as the pole, attached at the top. Have each women in the coven bring a roll of wide giftwrap ribbon or crepe paper in all colors. To make the pole stand up unassisted, dig a hole for it a food deep or more (depending on height of pole), and wedge the base with rocks. Steadying it at the top by crossing two clotheslines also helps. While weaving it in the ritual, remember the weaving of the universe by Spider Woman.

Indoors, this type of Maypole is harder to manage, but a Maypole is still possible. Fasten the lines to a high lighting fixture, if someone can get up there, and don’t pull too hard. Or make a weaving frame instead. To do this, take tow horizontal poles and string a warp between them vertically. In the ritual, the women use this as a frame for Spider Woman type weaving. The effect is not the same as dancing a vertical Maypole, but is still creative and appropriate. In this horizontal May weaving frame, use a variety of materials: yarn, ribbon, fabric, lace, beads, bells, shells, etc. to make an interesting tapestry. The indoor weaving frame is also and alternative when women are doing Beltane rituals alone.

Goddess of flowers and blooming, love, fertility, and the moontree/Maypole are the Goddess of Beltane. Some of them are: Flora (Rome), Bloddeuwedd (Wales), Bona Dea (Italy), Freya (Norway), Oshun (Africa), Aphrodite (Phoenicia/Greece), Ishtar (Semitic), Asherah (Hebrew), Tonantzin (Mexico), Danu (Celtic), Gwenhwayvar (Wales), Mary (Christian), Mawu (Africa), Ostara (Germany), Belili (Mesopotamia), Kwan Yin (China), Spider Woman (Native American), and Hina (Polynesia). Use rose colored candles or passion, new love, and first blood. Foods for the Sabbat are sensual ones, strawberries and vanilla ice cream, lady locks, cream puffs, whipped cream and red cherries, red fruit juices and cherry sodas.

The other Beltane custom is the May fire or Bel-fire jumped over for fertility, health and good luck for the year. use a candle in a cauldron for this, a hibachi or small charcoal grill, or a real outdoors Beltane fire. Step over it, jump over it or even walk around it, focusing on wishes to come true.

From: Casting the Circle; A women’s Book of Ritual by Diane Stein

The festival of Beltane marks the onset of summer; the Hawthorn is in blossom , as are many other plants; wild animals and birds are busy raising their young.

All around us we can see the life of the land. This is the time to welcome the Mother Goddess in all her bounty, and the God her Consort as they come to bring fertility to the land and the crops.

Take a little wine or fruit juice, honey and fruit out into the woods. Find a well grown, mature tree and make your offering under its branches. Then sit down, resting your back on the tree, and take several deep breaths to center yourself. Look slowly and carefully all around you and observe all the signs of the season. Now close your eyes and visualize the Mother Goddess walking toward you. As you watch her approaching you become aware that walking towards you from the other direction is the God, a young man in the prime of life. Watch as they greet each other an then turn to smile at you. If you have a question for them you may ask it now. Wait until they say farewell and walk away together. Once they have gone, you can open your eyes. Once again look all around you and take in all the sights, sounds, and scents of the season. Look carefully to see if there is anything special which catches you eye; a piece of wood, stone or whatever. If there is, you may take it with you as a reminder of the festival.

“History is always written by the winner.”

From The Real Witches’ Year by Kate West

Merry Meet,

I hope you all celebrate a very blessed beltane this year.

Blessed Be
Thaleia

Celebrated:
starts on the evening of April 30th, concluding at
sunset of May 1st, actual: the date on which the sun is at 15 degrees Taurus.

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

Colors:
Red, White, Brown, Pink, Green

Tools:
Broom, May Pole, cauldron

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

Symbols & Decorations:
May Pole, fires, fertility, flowers, growing things, ploughs, cauldrons of flowers

Foods:
Dairy, bread, cereals
Oatmeal cakes
May Day bread
Cherries
Strawberries
Wine punches
Green salads
Ice cream
Red fruit

Flowers, Herbs:
Lily of the valley, foxglove, rose, broom, Hawthorne,
Dittany of Crete, elder, mint, mugwort, thyme, yarrow, almond tree/shrub,
clover, ivy, marigold, meadowsweet, rowan, sorrel, woodruff

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

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

Other Names:
Cetsamhain (opposite Samhain),May Day, Fairy Day,Sacred Thorn
Day, Rood Day, Roodmas (the Christian term for Rood Day, Old Beltane,
Beltaine, 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)

Beltane Night, the time is right,
The ancient powers awake.
So dance and sing, around the ring,
And Beltane magick make.
Beltane Night, Fires be bright,
Upon the eve of May,
We will merry meet, and summer greet,
Forever and a day.
New life we see, in flower and tree,
And summer comes again.
Be free and fair, like earth and air,
The sunshine and the rain.
As magick fire be our desire
To tread the Pagan way,
And our true will find and fulfill,
As dawns a brighter day.
The pagan powers this night be ours,
Let all the world be free,
And sorrow cast into the past,
And future Blessed Be!

The Beltane Sabbat is celebrated by Wiccans and Witches throughout the world annually on this date. Beltane (which is also known as May Day, Rood Day, Rudemas, and Walpurgisnacht) is derived from an ancient Druid fire festival celebrating the union of the Goddess and the Horned God. It also celebrates the rebirth of the Sun, marking the “death” of Winter and the “birth” of Spring. At dawn, morning dew is gathered from grass and wildflowers to be used in mystical potions for good luck. Throughout the day, Nature is celebrated by feasts, games, poetry readings, and clockwise dancing around a brightly decorated Maypole.
In ancient Rome, the deity worshipped on this day was the Spring goddess Maia, whose divine powers encouraged the crops to grow. The month of May is named after her.
On this date in the year 1776, the Order of the Illuminati (an occult sect and secret order dedicated to the study of forbidden books, Tantric mysticism, and ceremonial magick) was founded in Bavaria by Adam Weishaupt.

Fairy Kisses
These little cookies are perfect for Beltane – they’re so pure in color,
airy and sweet.

3 egg whites 1 cup sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
6 Tablespoons flour 1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 325 F.

Beat the egg whites into soft mounds, then gradually add the sugar and
continue beating til stiff peaks form. Add the coconut, flour, vanilla and
salt; fold these in til well blended.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake
10 to 12 minutes (don’t let them brown) Leave them on the cookie sheet to
cool.
(makes about 3 dozen Kisses)

serve your Fairy Kisses with :
Elsie’s Light and Airy Strawberry Pudding

Put 1 cup of smashed strawberry pulp, 1 egg white and 1/4 cup of powdered
sugar in a bowl and beat it with a mixer for 10 to 15 minutes until it’s
stiff. Pile it into pretty glass serving dishes and chill.
Just before serving, top each portion with a good dollop of whipped cream
and a teaspoon of strawberry preserves.

Note:
Strawberries are in season right now where Elsie lives, but you can
also use frozen strawberries.
(makes 4 servings)