Tag: Beltane

Beltane Rites and Rituals

April’s showers have given way to rich and fertile earth, and as the land greens, there are few celebrations as representative of fertility as Beltane. Observed on May 1st (or October 31 – November 1 for our Southern Hemisphere readers), festivities typically begin the evening before, on the last night of April. It’s a time to welcome the abundance of the fertile earth, and a day that has a long (and sometimes scandalous) history. Try some of these rituals and ceremonies for your Beltane sabbat celebration.

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Set Up Your Beltane Altar

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Okay, so we know that Beltane is a fertility festival… but how do you translate that into altar setup? Here are some tips on how to set up your altar to celebrate the Beltane sabbat.

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Beltane Prayers

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For Patti Wigington’s other seven suggestions for different things to do for Beltane please click on this link: https://www.thoughtco.com/beltane-rites-and-rituals-2561678?utm_campaign=list_paganwiccan&utm_content=20170427&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exp_nl&utm_term=list_paganwiccan

 

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The Magic of Beltane

Beltane is a season of fertility and fire, and we often find this reflected in the magic of the season. Let’s look at some of that spring magic, from ritual sex to fertility magic, along with the magic found in gardens and nature.

Ritual Sex and the Great Rite: Beltane is a time of passion and fertility, so for many people, it’s a time for ritual sex. Here’s what you need to know.
Fertility Magic and Customs: There’s a lot of folklore surrounding fertility. Let’s look at some beliefs from around the world.
Chocolate and Sex: Chocolate as an aphrodisiac? You bet! In fact, it’s scientifically proven.
Make Magic in Your Garden
Sacred Plants of the Beltane Season: Let’s look at some of the plants that are considered sacred to the Beltane season.
Plant a Magical Moon Garden: If you’re a night owl, consider planting a moon garden, full of fragrant plants that open and bloom at night.
Magical Spring Flowers
Spring Garden Folklore
Forsythia Magic and Legends
Lilac Magic & Folklore
The Magic of Dandelions: Dandelions are everywhere in the spring, so let’s look at some of the magic and folklore behind them.
Magical Herbal Correspondences
Magical Prosperity Soap
Horse Magic, Folkore and Legends
Butterfly Myth and Magic
Graveyard Dirt: Do you use graveyard dirt in magic? You can – here’s how

please click on this link for the rest of the article: https://www.thoughtco.com/guide-to-beltane-magic-2561638?utm_campaign=list_paganwiccan&utm_content=20170427&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exp_nl&utm_term=list_paganwiccan

All About Beltane – Celebrating the Fertility of Spring

April’s showers have given way to rich and fertile earth, and as the land greens, there are few celebrations as representative of fertility as Beltane. Observed on May 1st (or October 31 – November 1 for our Southern Hemisphere readers), festivities typically begin the evening before, on the last night of April. It’s a time to welcome the abundance of the fertile earth, and a day that has a long (and sometimes scandalous) history.

Depending on your tradition, there are a number of ways you can celebrate this Sabbat.

RITUALS AND CEREMONIES

There are many different ways you can celebrate Beltane, but the focus is nearly always on fertility. It’s the time when the earth mother opens up to the fertility god, and their union brings about healthy livestock, strong crops, and new life all around.

Here are a few rituals you may want to think about trying—and remember, any of them can be adapted for either a solitary practitioner or a small group, with just a little planning ahead.

By Patti Wigington for more on Beltane please click on this link: https://www.thoughtco.com/guide-to-the-beltane-celebration-2561640?utm_campaign=list_paganwiccan&utm_content=20170427&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exp_nl&utm_term=list_paganwiccan

Faeries in the Garden

Faeries in the Garden

In some NeoPagan traditions, the Fae are often welcomed and celebrated. In particular, the Beltane season is believed to be a time when the veil between our world and that of the Fae is thin.

It is important to note that the Fae are typically considered mischievous and tricky, and should not be interacted with unless one knows exactly what one is up against. Don’t make offerings or promises that you can’t follow through on, and don’t enter into any bargains with the Fae unless you know exactly what you’re getting – and what is expected of you in return.

If your tradition is one that celebrates the magical link between mortals and Faeries, you may want to take advantage of the fertile Beltane season to invite the Fae into your garden. Here are some ways you can make your outdoor space welcoming to the Fae.

  • Build small houses or caves out of stones in your yard. Tuck them into hidden places under bushes, or in your flower garden.
  • Craft small wooden chairs and tables to place outside. Paint them in bright colors, and wrap them in ivy or other vining plants.
  • Some people believe the Fae are attracted to water. Place a birdbath or a small wishing well as an inviting spot for Faeries.
  • Create a circle of stones as a magical place for the Fae.
  • Faeries are often associated with the sound of bells. Make a bell wand and place it in a spot where the breeze with catch it and draw the Fae in, or hang tiny bells from your tree branches.

Some gardeners believe that certain types of flowers are practically magnets for the faerie folk. If you’d like to attract them to your flower garden, plant things like sunflowers, tulips, heliotrope and other flowers that typically draw butterflies. Your herb garden can be a good place for faeries as well, if you include plants such as rosemary, thyme, mugwort, and members of the mint family.

If you’re partial to trees, in addition to your flower and herb gardens, you might want to consider planting tree that are associated with the Fae. Oak trees, in particular, are often linked to faeries, and in some areas it is believed that a great oak is the home of the Faerie King. Another tree to plant for the fae is the hawthorn, which is seen as a portal to the faerie realm. Along with the ash tree, known as a home for faerie clans, the oak and hawthorn form a perfect trifecta of fae-attracting trees.

To see beautiful image incuded in this article by Patti Wigington please click on this link: https://www.thoughtco.com/welcoming-the-fae-at-beltane-2561634

Beltane History – Celebrating May Day by Patti Wigington

THE FIRES OF TARA

Beltane kicks off the merry month of May, and has a long history. This fire festival is celebrated on May 1 with bonfires, Maypoles, dancing, and lots of good old fashioned sexual energy. The Celts honored the fertility of the gods with gifts and offerings, sometimes including animal or human sacrifice. Cattle were driven through the smoke of the balefires, and blessed with health and fertility for the coming year.

In Ireland, the fires of Tara were the first ones lit every year at Beltane, and all other fires were lit with a flame from Tara.

ROMAN INFLUENCES

The Romans, always known for celebrating holidays in a big way, spent the first day of May paying tribute to their Lares, the gods of their household. They also celebrated the Floralia, or festival of flowers, which consisted of three days of unbridled sexual activity. Participants wore flowers in their hair (much like May Day celebrants later on), and there were plays, songs, and dances. At the end of the festivities, animals were set loose inside the Circus Maximus, and beans were scattered around to ensure fertility. The fire festival of Bona Dea was also celebrated on May 2nd.

A PAGAN MARTYR…

To read the rest of this article please click on the following link:

https://www.thoughtco.com/the-history-of-beltane-and-may-day-2561657?utm_campaign=list_paganwiccan&utm_content=20170411&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exp_nl&utm_term=list_paganwiccan

Beltaine Lore History, Customs, Myths and More

Celtic Mythology

Beltaine is the time of the yearly battle between Gwyn ap Nudd and Gwythur ap Greidawl for Creudylad in Welsh mythology. Gwyn ap Nudd, the Wild Huntsman of Wales, is a God of death and the Annwn. Creudylad is the daughter of Llew of the Silver Hand (son of Beli). She is the most beautiful maiden on the Island of Mighty. This is a myth of the battle of winter and summer for the magnificent blossoming earth.

In the myth of Rhiannon and Pwyll, it is the evening of Beltaine, that Rhiannon gives birth to their son. The midwives all fell asleep at the same time, as they were watching over Rhiannon and her new baby, during which he was taken. In order to protect themselves, they smeared blood (from a pup) all over Rhiannon, to which they claim she had eaten her son. The midwives were believed, and Rhiannon was forced to pay penance for seven years. She had to carrying people on her back from the outside of the gate to the palace, although rarely would any allow her to do so. The baby’s whereabouts were a mystery. Oddly, every Beltaine night, one of Pwyll’s vassals, Teirnyon Twryv Vliant, had a mare that gave birth but the colt disappeared. One Beltaine night Teirnyon Twryv Vliant awaited in the barn for the mare to foaled, when she did, he heard a tremendous noise and a clawed arm came through the window and grabbed the colt. Teirnyon cut off the arm with his sword, and then heard a wailing. He opened the door and found a baby, he brought it to his wife and they adopted Gwri Wallt Euryn (Gwri of the Golden Hair). As he grew he looked like Pwyll and they remembered they found him on the night Rhiannon’s baby became lost. Teirnyon brought Gwri of the Golden Hair to the castle, told the story, and he was adopted back to his parents, Rhiannon and Pwyll, and named by the head druid, Pryderi (trouble) from the first word his mother had said when he was restored to her. “Trouble is, indeed, at an end for me, if this be true”.

This myth illustrates the precariousness of the Beltaine season, at the threshold of Summer, the earth awakening, winter can still reach its long arm in and snatch the Sun away (Gwri of the Golden hair). “Ne’er cast a clout ’til May be out” (clout: Old English for cloth/clothing). If indeed the return of summer is true than the trouble (winter) is certainly over, however one must be vigilant.

Wiccan Lore

For the rest of this article please click on this  link: http://www.angelfire.com/wa3/angelline/beltaine_lore.htm

Beltane Rite Poem

Beltane plate

 

“The pole stands straight and true,

As the dancers grab their brightly colored ribbons,

They begin to dance,

They weave the wisdom passed down through the ages.

The fires burn bright all through the night,

The vibrational frequency that your Heart feels and your Soul knows.

The music notes are carried on the wind, to start again.

A glance across the crowded hall,

With none to fear he comes near.

Maiden’s laughter rings in his ear,

Her eyes gaze into his,

He knows she is dear.

They wait their turn,

To dance together as ONE,

Forsaking none.

Bells rings,

Announcing the feast,

They sit side by side,

Knowing this is right.

They pay homage to their Lord and Lady,

That they may be blessed as ONE tonight.

The Maypole had worked its magic once again,

For the couple found their bliss

By the simple act of a kiss under the star strewn sky.

Their fingers are laced together tight,

For they know this is their night.

They hold each other in their arms

Throughout the starry night.

They are awakened by dawn’s early light.

Grateful to have found each other,

They begin their journey together as ONE

Through this Beltane Rite.”

© 04272016 Wolf Woman Ways

The Goddess and The Greenman

Sunset to Sunset.

Beltane honours Life. It represents the peak of Spring and the beginning of Summer. Earth energies are at their strongest and most active. All of life is bursting with potent fertility and at this point in the Wheel of the Year, the potential becomes conception. On May Eve the sexuality of life and the earth is at its peak. Abundant fertility, on all levels, is the central theme. The Maiden goddess has reached her fullness. She is the manifestation of growth and renewal, Flora, the Goddess of Spring, the May Queen, the May Bride. The Young Oak King, as Jack-In-The-Green, as the Green Man, falls in love with her and wins her hand. The union is consummated and the May Queen becomes pregnant. Together the May Queen and the May King are symbols of the Sacred Marriage (or Heiros Gamos), the union of Earth and Sky, and this union has merrily been re-enacted by humans throughout the centuries. For this is the night of the Greenwood Marriage. It is about sexuality and sensuality, passion, vitality and joy. And about conception. A brilliant moment in the Wheel of the Year to bring ideas, hopes and dreams into action. And have some fun…..

Traditions of Beltane

Beltane is a Fire Festival. The word ‘Beltane’ originates from the Celtic God ‘Bel’, meaning ‘the bright one’ and the Gaelic word ‘teine’ meaning fire. Together they make ‘Bright Fire’, or ‘Goodly Fire’ and traditionally bonfires were lit to honour the Sun and encourage the support of Bel and the Sun’s light to nurture the emerging future harvest and protect the community. Bel had to be won over through human effort. Traditionally all fires in the community were put out and a special fire was kindled for Beltane. “This was the Tein-eigen, the need fire. People jumped the fire to purify, cleanse and to bring fertility. Couples jumped the fire together to pledge themselves to each other. Cattle and other animals were driven through the smoke as a protection from disease and to bring fertility. At the end of the evening, the villagers would take some of the Teineigen to start their fires anew.” (From Sacred Celebrations by Glennie Kindred) Green Man – Beltane

To read the rest of this article please click on this link: https://www.goddessandgreenman.co.uk/beltane

Beltane by Herne

April 30th / May 1 – Beltane
Also known as Roodmas or May Day

Many Wiccans and Pagans celebrate Beltane.  It is one of eight solar Sabbats.  This holiday incorporates traditions from the Gaelic Bealtaine, such as the bonfire, but it bears more relation to the Germanic May Day festival, both in its significance (focusing on fertility) and its rituals (such as May pole dancing).  Some traditions celebrate this holiday on May 1 or May day, whiles others begin their celebration the eve before or April 30th.

Beltane has long been celebrated with feasts and rituals. The name 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 but it is rarely observed in that manner in modern times

To read the rest of this article please click on this link: https://wicca.com/celtic/akasha/beltane.htm