Monday, April 30, 2012

Beltaine, May Eve or May 1st.

At Beltaine the seeds are sprouting and it is finally warm enough to go out without a jacket.  Best known for the Maypole dances, this is the major fertility festival in neopaganism. It is common to joke about going a'Mayin' in the woods because of old traditions of singles meeting up outdoors to celebrate and fornicate during the festival before the men took the cattle to pasture for the summer. Another Celtic tradition was lighting a large fire and jumping over the hot coals for luck, or driving cattle through the dying embers to purify them of any lingering winter illness. In Ireland, these fires could not be lit until the high King lit the fire at Tara (Farrar 82). Beltaine is said to be named after the Celtic fire god Bel, a cognate of Ba'al. In Wicca, it is the wedding of the Lord and Lady (Cunningham 118). It can be celebrated by solitaries with weaving projects in lieu of a maypole dance. (Cunningham 119). The love chase and 'obby oss' are also traditional according to the Farrars (85). On the first of May, Romans honoured their household gods (Farrar 87). In the past I have washed my face in the morning dew on Beltaine for beauty and youth.

Works Cited

Cunningham, Scott. Living Wicca. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 2002.

Farrar, Janet and Stuart. A Witches' Bible. Blaine, WA: Janet and Stuart Farrar, 1984.