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Beltane is one of the Greater Wiccan Sabbats and is usually celebrated on May 1st, but can be on the night of April 30th, depending on your tradition.Beltane is the time of the sacred marriage which honors the fertility of the Earth; it represents the divine union of the Lord and Lady.This sabbath is primarily a fertility festival with Nature enchantments and offerings to wildlings and Elementals.
It celebrates the height of Spring and the flowering of life.
Beltane is a Celtic festival which signals the beginning of the bright half of the year. Beltane may be translated as "fires of Bel" or "brilliant fire" and is name after the god Belenus.
The festival begins on Beltane Eve with two bonfires started from nine different woods. Domestic animals and people pass between the bonfires to eliminate disease and misfortune. In the days before electricity, the bonfire was used to light brands which rekindled lights throughout households in the village. Ancient Beltane festivals customarily included sexuality, dancing around the maypole, and singing.
Modern pagan celebrations include maypole dances and jumping the cauldron for fertility purposes. Fertility in this sense is extended beyond reproduction and includes fertility of imagination and other similar concepts.
Dance the May Pole
During the Maypole dance, think about what you wish to weave into, or out of, your spirit. The Maypole is an ancient symbol of the male aspect of the Divine, while the ribbons are strands of life. Weave, spin, dance your cares away,
A spirit fire's alive to your entrancing,
Weave, spin, dance into the May,
The earth and sky are wed as you are dancing,
Weave now
Invocation Feathered winds come dance with me Lift me from the ground. Join my waltz, my spirit, freed As we're upward bound.Tongues of flame come jump with me Ye purifying fires, Join my joy, my playful glee As we move yet higher.Tears from seas, come sing with me Roll from out the caves, Join my verse, my body cleansed In your healing waves.Mother Earth come laugh with me Set aside your toils, Join my chant of forests green Secure me in rich soil.Earth and Air, Fire and Sea I call you all, come dance with me! Grant me now a sacred space While working magic in this place. from A Victorian Grimoire by Trish Telesco
Correspondences: Deities: Aphrodite, Artemis, Bast, Diana, Faunus, Flora, Maia, Pan, the Horned God, Venus, and all Gods and Goddesses who preside over fertility.
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
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
Activities of Beltane:
Prepare a May basket by filling it with flowers and goodwill and then give it to someone in need of healing and caring, such as a shut-in or elderly friend. Form a wreath of freshly picked flowers, wear it in your hair, and feel yourself radiating joy and beauty. Dress in bright colors. Dance the Maypole and feel yourself balancing the Divine Female and Male within. Bless your garden in the old way by making love with your lover in it. Make a wish as you jump a bonfire or candle flame for good luck. Welcome in the May at dawn with singing and dancing Walk the circuit of your property repairing fences and boundary markers Maidens should bathe their faces in the dew of May morning to retain their youthful beauty. Enact the Great Rite
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