Our Beltane

Our Feast

I made fruit braids, since one of the traditional foods is a fertility bread with spices or sweetmeats (fruit and nuts) inside. I had meant to just make one loaf, but, shall we say, errors were made! So I ended up making a huge batch with three loaves. One had my (homemade) apricot marmalade, and it was too runny and as you can see the braid opened up in the oven. The second one had a cranberry filling, and the third was chopped almonds with butter and cinnamon.

The Feast Table

Bottom center are the fruit braid slices, to the right are the oatcakes, and in the center is a fruit plate. Barely visible in the bowl at the top left is cottage cheese with tomatoes and chives in it--that was our 'dairy' and also 'fresh herbs' from the official holiday foods list. On the other side of the fruit plate is fried zucchini and steamed artichokes (which aren't traditional, but they sounded good). In the crockpot was beef chuck, which also just sounded good to us.
My 4 year old wound ribbons around our candle wreath, and we got some potted flowers but had to take them off the table for dinner because there wasn't room.

The Blutkake "bluht-ka-ka" (Norwegian for "moist cake")

It is a dense cake, sliced into at least three layers with sweetened whipped cream and fruit between each one. The bottom layer also has fruit syrup poured in it to make it extra moist.

I had a ribbon wreath in my hair all day, and also I wore green with a floral skirt

The Battle between Winter and Summer

The "Winter" team, with snowflakes taped to them

The "Summer" team, with flowers taped to them

A moment from the battle...
(we make swords with foam swim noodles, they're great for having all out battles without hurting anyone!)

Some thoughts on the Three Fertility Festivals

Imbolc, Ostara, and Beltane are all fertility festivals. I've been thinking for the last few days about whether this is redundant, but I have concluded that it is not. Obviously sex is significant (and should be!), so it seems to warrant multiple celebrations in the year. But I think that these three sabbats honor different aspects of sexuality. To explain what I mean by that, I'll go back and briefly review some of the mythology of the God and Goddess in the wheel of the year.

At Imbolc is the wedding between the God and Goddess, and of course it includes the consummation of that marriage. On Ostara their union results in conception (of the Son God, who will be born at Yule, after the Father God dies at Samhain...of course that Son will then become the Father at the following Imbolc when he marries the Goddess...).

So here is what I see as the differences between the three sexual celebrations:

• Imbolc is a celebration of marriage, of consummation, and of the sacred, vow-renewing, side of sex.
• Ostara is a celebration of procreation, of conception, of birth; another awesome side of sexuality, yet also not all it can be.
• And what is left for Beltane? Sex just for the fun of it! Because the pleasures of sexuality are also important. 

What do you think?

Beltane/May Day

Beltane is traditionally celebrated on April 30 or May 1 (or most traditionally, overnight from April 30-May 1). Some of us may be familiar with pop culture representations of Beltane, which focus on the celebration of the union between the Great Mother and her young Horned God. Their coupling brings fresh new life on Earth. Some form of this Great Rite is enacted on this sabbat in nearly every modern pagan circle. The Great Rite symbolizes the sacred marriage, or sexual union, of the the Lord and Lady [you can read what I wrote about the Great Rite here at MotherWheel]. Often the rite is performed symbolically by a male and female who place a knife (a phallic symbol) into a chalice (a female or yonic symbol). In Old Europe, whole villages would celebrate May Day by slipping away into the woods for indiscriminate sexual encounters. [source]. But Beltane is about more than sex.

Background
Beltane is the last of the three spring fertility festivals, the others being Imbolc and Ostara. It traditionally marked the arrival of summer in ancient times. Beltane, and its counterpart Samhain, divide the year into its two primary seasons, winter (Dark Part) and summer (Light Part). As Samhain is about honoring Death, Beltane, its counter part, is about honoring Life. It is the time when the sun is fully released from his bondage of winter and able to rule over summer and life once again.
Beltane, like Samhain, is a time of "no time" when the veils between the two worlds are at their thinnest. No time is when the two worlds intermingle and unite and the magic abounds! It is the time when the Faeries return from their winter respite, carefree and full of faery mischief and faery delight...When the veils are so thin it is an extremely magical time, it is said that the Queen of the Faeries rides out on her white horse. Roving about on Beltane eve She will try to entice people away to the Faeryland.
Beltane translated means "fire of Bel" or "bright fire" - the "bale-fire". Bel is the known as the bright and shinning one, a Celtic Sun God. Beli is the father, protector, and the husband of the Mother Goddess.
Beltane is the time of the yearly battle between the Welsh God of death and the hero Gwythur for the hand of Creudylad [the beautiful maiden]. A myth of the battle of winter and summer for the magnificent blossoming earth.
The Bel fire is a sacred fire with healing and purifying powers. The fires further celebrate the return of life, fruitfulness to the earth and the burning away of winter. The ashes of the Beltane fires were smudged on faces and scattered in the fields.
Celebration includes frolicking throughout the countryside, maypole dancing, leaping over fires to ensure fertility, circling the fire three times (sun-wise) for good luck in the coming year, athletic tournaments feasting, music, drinking, children collecting the May: gathering flowers. children gathering flowers, hobby horses, May birching and folks go a maying". Flowers, flower wreaths and garlands are typical decorations for this holiday, as well as ribbons and streamers.
[source]


Symbols

• Sexual symbols, such as the maypole, or the dagger and chalice.
• The color green
• "Flowers are a crucial symbol of Beltane, they signal the victory of Summer over Winter and the blossoming of sensuality in all of nature and the bounty it will bring"[source].
• "Water is another important association of Beltane, water is refreshing and rejuvenating, it is also imperative to life. It is said that if you bathe in the dew gathered before dawn on Beltane morn, your beauty will flourish throughout the year. Those who are sprinkled with May dew are insured of health and happiness. There are other folk customs such as drinking from the well before sunrise on Beltane Morn to insure good health and fortune" [source].

a Green Man cake

Food

• Bannock, or oat scones (this isn't a traditional Beltane recipe, but it's one we like. Here is a more traditional recipe)
• Make a Green Man cake (a cake decorated to look like the Green Man)
• Serve punch or water with ice cubes that have flowers frozen into them
• Spring salad
• Sweet breads, usually with sweetmeat or spices in the center
• Colorful fruit
• Dairy foods
• Honey

Activities

leaping the bonfire (source link)

• Wear bright colors
• Wear flowers in your hair
• Have a bonfire! If you're daring, make it a low narrow one (or not!), and jump over it
• Raise a May Pole, and dance the ribbons around it (here are directions, you can use a branch or a tetherball or volleyball post for your pole)
  

  

  winding the ribbons around the may pole

• Gather flowers, and decorate the house with them
• Take flowers to your friends and neighbors
• Gather the first herbs of the season
• Go on a picnic
• Wash your face in the dew at sunrise on Mayday (or in the evening dew on Beltane evening)
• If it rains, go out and get your face and hair wet in it, feeling the blessing of the life-giving water
• Hold a mock battle between Winter and Summer (they did this in ancient Scandinavia)
• Make love with your spouse outdoors (in the woods, or in the privacy of your own backyard) (If you didn't follow the link before, check out my post about the Great Rite)
• Go on a walk in nature. 
• Look for fairies! 
• Read fairy stories
• Decorate your yard with ribbons, flowers and shiny things to attract fairies
• Build little fairy homes in your yard with rocks, leaves, sticks, ribbons, buttons, etc
• Say a blessing over your garden (the space or the new starts growing)
• Read in the scriptures about when God put plants on the Earth

It is the child's unrestrained expression of bliss and delight that is what Beltane is all about. It is the sheer joy of running through fields, picking flowers, rapturing in the sunlight, delighting in the fragrance of spring, dancing in the fresh dew covered grass. Our children guide us through the natural abandonment of our adult sensibilities and show us how to take grand pleasure, warmth and bliss from the gift of Beltane.
[source]

Resources

• http://www.earthwitchery.com/beltane.html
• Ayla's post here at MotherWheel about how her family celebrates Beltane
• http://www.circlesanctuary.org/pholidays/beltane.htm
• http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usma&c=holidays&id=2765 
• http://www.earthwitchery.com/beltane.html

Preparing for Beltane

 

Our Beltane table top adornment cut from study card stock.

May Day, also called Beltane, is an ancient Scottish Gaelic spring celebration. It marks the mid point in the sun's journey from Spring Equinox to Summer Solstice. It is the time when we travel from winter into the fullness of spring. This is when we sew our crops and pray for a good harvest come fall.

The date for the holiday varies from May 1st, to the full moon falling nearest to the 1st of May, which is called Lunar Beltane. Traditions from Beltane include dancing around the May Pole (which was often made from the past year's Winter Solstice tree) and wreaths of flowers adorning one's hair. 

Bonfires are often lit at this festival and jumping over them is a cleansing ritual for the upcoming year. Beltane is also when the veil between the world of the faeries and our world is at it's thinnest so this is a time for faerie sightings, faeries hunts, and other such merriment.

 

 A somewhat cross or puzzled Avington stands near our blooming onion patch.

For those of us who live close to the land we are seeing the return of some of our crops and we are planting others, watching the nightly freeze reports to see when we may finally put our starts into the ground.

 The children's chalk art on one of our gates.

Much outside decoration takes place this year. Bright colors, paints, ribbons and flowers all mark the return of bright blue skies after winter's long greyness.

 The Faerie Queen

Some ideas for celebrating Beltane include:

- A trip to your local plant shop to purchases starts for the new year

- Saying a blessing over your starts or over your garden space. Thanking our Heavenly Father for His blessings and asking for an abundant year.

- Tying ribbon, buttons, and other pretty things to trees and bushes in hopes of attracting faeries.

- Building faerie homes in your garden from sticks, rocks, mud etc.

- Erecting a May Pole, here's how.

- Making a flower garland, here's how.

- Attending your local Farmer's Market which usually hosts it's opening day around the first of May

- Having a family camp out in your backyard with a camp fire if possible and a greeting of the rising sun in the morning.

-Reading faerie stories, I recommend this one and this one.

- Reading or reciting this Christian liturgy for Beltane.

- Reading Genesis and discussing how God created all the plants and fruit trees.

Dancing the May Pole

Relevant Scriptures for Beltane:  

 

Isaiah 61:11  For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. 

 

Isaiah 60:21  Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.

 

 Matthew 15: 12-13  Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.

 

 

This Beltane article is cross posted on my personal blog, A Wise and Glorious Purpose.