Skip to main content

Beltane Blessings



(Beltane Maypole Dance: Image from the Wayward Wiccan Blog)

Some of you might remember dancing around the Maypole on May 1st. I remember doing that but am not certain of which life this happened in. This is a part of a long-standing tradition, traced back to Greco-Roman times, called by some, Beltane.  I am very fond of this Sabbat because of its focus on fertility.  Beltane marks the moment in the year when Mother Earth opens herself to the fertility god.  This interlude, marking time on the Wheel of the Year, leads to healthy livestock, good crops, renewal and regeneration.  Let’s not mince words here though; Beltane is full of sexual energy.  Many a mating ritual takes place during this holiday, leading to future generations of merrymakers.

I am a spring sort of person.  I love the pastel colors and you can see that in my use of pastels in my drawings and mixed media work.  We are fortunate to have some 80 degree days this week, right around Beltane.  I plan to mark the holiday in a personal Earth Veneration Ritual in my garden and then to attend one of our bigger festivals marking this important point in our year on the weekend.
Will you be celebrating May Day/Beltane this year? If so, then how?

I found some good links for helpful ideas:
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/beltanemayday/p/Beltane_History.htm?nl=1 (Beltane History)
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/beltanemayday/a/AllAboutBeltane.htm (All About Beltane)
Labels:

Comments

  1. RhissannaMay 18, 2013 at 11:41 AM

    Thank you so much for visiting my blog! I miss the May celebrations here and I miss may blossom. Obviously, I never brought a sprig of it into the house (perish the thought) but I have learned it's lucky to lay on a newborn baby's cradle. Just take the cradle outside first!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stephanie FarisMay 1, 2014 at 11:25 AM

    Spring is here, for sure! That is one of the best things about spring--all the great festivals and, of course, the pretty pastel colors we all get to wear!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stephanie BirdMay 1, 2014 at 2:15 PM

      Yes, indeed it finally is! Woo hoo! I see the fruit trees blooming finally.

      Delete
  3. MarsApril 16, 2015 at 12:04 AM

    I love Beltane, we got married on Beltane, although definitely wanted to avoid the fertility side... it's now 10 years later and we're planning to celebrate with camping back in the same spot with a nice big fire :)

    Mars xx
    Curling Stones for Lego People

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Go ahead. Make my day by leaving a comment.

Popular posts from this blog

Gran Bwa

Gran Bwa is a lwa that helps you connect to ancestral roots or the spiritual home of Vodou. A friend of mine, who is an expert on Haitian Vodou, who has spent a lot of time in Haiti with the artists there, told me I had painted Gran Bwa when I made this spontaneous work out of walnut ink and sumi-ink on handmade paper. I had considered this painting a self-portrait. She now holds this piece in her private collection: Quite a few people are afraid of Vodou but it is an awe-inspiring tradition of bringing together plant energy with divinity, spiritual and personal energy. My friend who is very involved with Vodou, especially the art that surrounds it, is from European ancestry. She is light in spirit and bubbly, with a close relationship to nature and her garden.  Vodou affirms the relationships between cycles of life, trees of knowledge and spirit.  The Vodou vision of lwa , understands them as the intelligence of energy present in humans, nature and thoughts.  ...
5 comments
Read more

Tree Whispers

Tree Whispers Shinrin-yoku is a complementary medicine modality, designed to up-lift sub-par health conditions, through lifestyle changes that involve immersion in nature, specifically the wildness, we call a forest, where the senses, including our intuitive sense and ability to heal ourselves through it, is ignited. Forest bathing, as Shinrin-yoku is popularly called, has come to our attention, at a time when the scientific community is abuzz about the ability of trees - be it in stands, groves, or forests, to build community. This, at a time, when we as humans, struggle hard to build and sustain healthy in-person communities, in the face of Online communications. Books like “The Hidden Life of Trees: What they Feel, How they Communicate Discoveries from a Secret World,” (Wohlleben 2016) by Peter Wohlleben is a Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post bestseller. It makes readers privy to trees’ communication skills and social networks, that is, it helps us entertain...
Post a Comment
Read more

Xochitl--Flower

                                     (Winter Poinsettia by Stephanie Rose Bird, oil on wood) One of my Facebook friends does daily posts and shares called "I love Flowers." I love flowers too, in real life, in my garden, in paintings and as they are related to the gods and goddesses, in healing, as well as their use in folklore like Hoodoo. Not long ago I posted about Xochipelli (Sho-CHEE-pee-lee) prince of flowers and Xochiquetzal (Sho-CHEE-ket-zul) goddess of flowers in anticipation of April's blooming season.  The Goddess and Prince of Flowers post  is here. Today, I want to focus in on the root word of their names and it's symbolism. This word is Xochitl (Show-CHEE-tul) in the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs. This word means flower.                                         ...
20 comments
Read more