Beltane 2013! :)
Beltane 2013! :)
Beltane is coming up very soon, May 1st! The land is beginning to warm and the grass and plants are getting green. There is warmth in the air, and at last, winter is melting away. The trees have vibrant, green leaves. Buds are blossoming. The scent of flowers fills the air. Can you feel it? Beltane recharges us with creative, fertile energies. Sexuality can be explored. Romance is in the air. The warmth recharges our spirits. And, most importantly, the Great Rite of the God and Goddess is taking place. Their love for one another can be seen in the abundance and fertility of the Earth itself. The Sun warms the Earth, and the Earth awakens brightly.
Peace cannot be kept by force but can only be achieved through understanding (Albert Einstein) ~coexist~
Re: Beltane 2013! :)
Creative Ways to Celebrate Beltane
Make a Faerie Chair for Spring
By Patti Wigington, About.com Guide
Some people believe that Faeries inhabit their flower gardens. If you think you've got friendly Fae out there, this craft project is a great way to get kids into gardening at the beginning of spring. You'll need the following items:
An old wooden chair
Some primer paint
Exterior paint in your favorite Faerie color(s)
Polyeurethane or sealant
Seeds for a climbing flower, such as morning glory or clematis
A sunny spot in your garden
To make this cute outdoor project, start by applying a coat of primer paint to the chair. It's really easiest if this is in white or another light color. Next, apply a coat of your favorite Fae-attracting color -- pastels look very pretty, such as lavenders or sunny yellows. Decorate the chair with designs in acrylic paints if you like. Once the paint has dried, apply a coat or two of polyeurethane to protect the chair from the elements.
Find a sunny spot in your garden, and loosen the soil a bit. Place the chair where you want it, but be sure that it's the right spot, because it's going to become a permanent fixture. Once the chair is in place, plant seeds around the base of the chair, just a few inches away from the legs.
Water the soil each day, and as your climbing plants appear, twine the vines up through the legs of the chair and around it. Pretty soon, you'll have a chair covered with leafy greens and bright flowers. It's the perfect place for your kids to spot a faerie.
Mini Maypole
This May Day craft makes a fine lawn ornament or table centerpiece for your Beltane holiday. You can make it as small as six inches high, or up to three or four feet tall if you prefer- it's up to you.
You Will Need:
1 fairly straight, sturdy branch (the height you desire)
Flowerpot
Cardboard
Pencil
Scissor
Glue (optional)
Sand
Spanish moss
8 ribbons with wire in them (color and length that you like)
Start with a stick, and break off all smaller branches so it is a single, straight (fairly) stick. If you want, you can peel off bark, sand and even stain and paint it- but you can also leave it as close to natural as you found it. It's a Wiccan craft, there is no right or wrong on how to decorate it; it's up to you. When determining the height of your stick, mind you that 1/3 of it will be buried in the pot for stability.
Get your container, which should be at least 1/3 the height of your pole to ensure the pole is sturdy. So if you have a 2 feet high pole, you'll want an 8 inch high flowerpot.
Place your flower pot on a piece of scrap cardboard and trace around it. Trim to make a cardboard insert that perfectly fits in the bottom of the pot. Glue it down to the bottom, if desired. If you want to keep the mini May pole on a porch or in the house, this will prevent sand from escaping.
Fill the container half-way with sand. Set the pole in the center. Water the sand lightly and tamp it down. Fill it the rest of the way, dampening it lightly and tamping it down around the pole, until the pole stands up straight.
Tie ribbons around the top tip of the pole. Fan them out around the pole and arrange them as you please- twist them, curl them, bend them gently to indicate movement.
Cover the top of the sand with Spanish moss and display for your Beltane holiday
* If you prefer, you can use potting soil and grow grass, chives or flowers around the pole.
** Another variation would be dispensing with the flower pot altogether and sticking the pole straight into the ground.
Beltane Fire Incense Recipe
You'll need:
2 parts Mugwort
1 part dried daffodil petals
1 part Basil
1 part Hawthorn berries
1 part Patchouli
1 part Cinnamon
1/2 part Dragon's Blood resin
Add your ingredients to your mixing bowl one at a time. Measure carefully, and if the leaves or blossoms need to be crushed, use your mortar and pestle to do so. As you blend the herbs together, state your intent. You may find it helpful to charge your incense with an incantation, such as:
Fire blend and fire light,
I celebrate Beltane this warm spring night.
This is the time of most fertile earth,
the greening of the land, and new rebirth.
Fire and passion and labor's toil,
life grows anew out of the soil.
By Beltane's flames, bring fertility to me,
As I will, so it shall be.
Store your incense in a tightly sealed jar. Make sure you label it with its intent and name, as well as the date you created it. Use within three months, so that it remains charged and fresh.
Make a Faerie Chair for Spring
By Patti Wigington, About.com Guide
Some people believe that Faeries inhabit their flower gardens. If you think you've got friendly Fae out there, this craft project is a great way to get kids into gardening at the beginning of spring. You'll need the following items:
An old wooden chair
Some primer paint
Exterior paint in your favorite Faerie color(s)
Polyeurethane or sealant
Seeds for a climbing flower, such as morning glory or clematis
A sunny spot in your garden
To make this cute outdoor project, start by applying a coat of primer paint to the chair. It's really easiest if this is in white or another light color. Next, apply a coat of your favorite Fae-attracting color -- pastels look very pretty, such as lavenders or sunny yellows. Decorate the chair with designs in acrylic paints if you like. Once the paint has dried, apply a coat or two of polyeurethane to protect the chair from the elements.
Find a sunny spot in your garden, and loosen the soil a bit. Place the chair where you want it, but be sure that it's the right spot, because it's going to become a permanent fixture. Once the chair is in place, plant seeds around the base of the chair, just a few inches away from the legs.
Water the soil each day, and as your climbing plants appear, twine the vines up through the legs of the chair and around it. Pretty soon, you'll have a chair covered with leafy greens and bright flowers. It's the perfect place for your kids to spot a faerie.
Mini Maypole
This May Day craft makes a fine lawn ornament or table centerpiece for your Beltane holiday. You can make it as small as six inches high, or up to three or four feet tall if you prefer- it's up to you.
You Will Need:
1 fairly straight, sturdy branch (the height you desire)
Flowerpot
Cardboard
Pencil
Scissor
Glue (optional)
Sand
Spanish moss
8 ribbons with wire in them (color and length that you like)
Start with a stick, and break off all smaller branches so it is a single, straight (fairly) stick. If you want, you can peel off bark, sand and even stain and paint it- but you can also leave it as close to natural as you found it. It's a Wiccan craft, there is no right or wrong on how to decorate it; it's up to you. When determining the height of your stick, mind you that 1/3 of it will be buried in the pot for stability.
Get your container, which should be at least 1/3 the height of your pole to ensure the pole is sturdy. So if you have a 2 feet high pole, you'll want an 8 inch high flowerpot.
Place your flower pot on a piece of scrap cardboard and trace around it. Trim to make a cardboard insert that perfectly fits in the bottom of the pot. Glue it down to the bottom, if desired. If you want to keep the mini May pole on a porch or in the house, this will prevent sand from escaping.
Fill the container half-way with sand. Set the pole in the center. Water the sand lightly and tamp it down. Fill it the rest of the way, dampening it lightly and tamping it down around the pole, until the pole stands up straight.
Tie ribbons around the top tip of the pole. Fan them out around the pole and arrange them as you please- twist them, curl them, bend them gently to indicate movement.
Cover the top of the sand with Spanish moss and display for your Beltane holiday
* If you prefer, you can use potting soil and grow grass, chives or flowers around the pole.
** Another variation would be dispensing with the flower pot altogether and sticking the pole straight into the ground.
Beltane Fire Incense Recipe
You'll need:
2 parts Mugwort
1 part dried daffodil petals
1 part Basil
1 part Hawthorn berries
1 part Patchouli
1 part Cinnamon
1/2 part Dragon's Blood resin
Add your ingredients to your mixing bowl one at a time. Measure carefully, and if the leaves or blossoms need to be crushed, use your mortar and pestle to do so. As you blend the herbs together, state your intent. You may find it helpful to charge your incense with an incantation, such as:
Fire blend and fire light,
I celebrate Beltane this warm spring night.
This is the time of most fertile earth,
the greening of the land, and new rebirth.
Fire and passion and labor's toil,
life grows anew out of the soil.
By Beltane's flames, bring fertility to me,
As I will, so it shall be.
Store your incense in a tightly sealed jar. Make sure you label it with its intent and name, as well as the date you created it. Use within three months, so that it remains charged and fresh.
Peace cannot be kept by force but can only be achieved through understanding (Albert Einstein) ~coexist~
Re: Beltane 2013! :)
Beltane
by Gabrielle Diana Laney
In the ‘Wheel of the Year,’ a concept that is becoming a tradition among neo-pagans, much has been written on the ‘cross-quarter’ days. These are the festivals that fall between the solstices and equinoxes. While the solstices and equinoxes mark the sun’s place in the wheel, the cross-quarter days, which were more important to the ancient peoples, are not merely halfway marks in the sun’s progress through the year.
Beltane is celebrated on May first, (in Scotland May 15th) but sometime around, May5th-11th, the goddess Brigit brought in the fire of rebirth, fertility, courtship, and the opening of Summer.
R.J. Stuart in his book “The Living World of Faery” states: “The rising and setting of the small star group of Pleiades is used worldwide to mark the pivot of the year, when they rise in the Northern Hemisphere they are setting in the southern hemisphere and vise versa. The modern dates for this relativistic event are close to May 1st and November 5th, the Celtic feasts of Beltane and Samhain, or May Day and Halloween, the two portal fire-festivals. These so-called Celtic, but truly pre-Celtic festival dates are not, as is often stated incorrectly, solar events. The Celts did not use solar calendar but a lunar one. Nor did the pre-Celtic and megalithic people base their time patterns on the seasons and the sun, but upon stellar and planetary patterns linked together.”
Samhain marks the tide of death and Beltane the tide of rebirth. At both of these times the veils between the worlds are said to be thin and that otherworldly beings such as faeries or spirits can be seen.
There is disagreement amongst scholars about where the name Beltane comes from. Some say it is named after the Celtic sun deity, Bel or Belenos who was the archetypal lord of life, healing and underworld spirits. Some say that the word ‘Bel’ could mean ‘shining or brilliant’ Perhaps the word described both the deity and the qualities the deity represented. There is agreement that the word ‘Tinne’ or ‘tene’ means fire, so the word means Bel-fire or bright-fire. Beltane is one of the four fire festivals (the others being Samhain, Oct. 31, Imbolc, Feb. 1, and Lugnassadh, Aug. 1)
An ancient tradition required all home fires to be extinguished at this time. A sacred fire or Bel-fire was kindled on behalf of the community by the Druids without flint or steel and was made with nine sacred woods. It was symbolic of the renewal of life after the cold winter. Embers from it were taken by each family to their homes to rekindle their own hearthfires. The people shared in the sacred, a communal blessing for a prosperous and fertile summer with a bountiful harvest to follow which would sustain them through the bleak winter months. Jumping over the fire could ensure health, for travelers, a safe journey or bring conception to a barren woman. Livestock were driven through it or between two fires for purification and fertility blessings. The custom of jumping over bonfires has survived to this day, also used are candles or cauldrons to symbolize the sacred fire.
Throughout the centuries there arose across Celtic Europe many other customs associated with Beltane, the time of year when the earth was most fertile. Beltane is a festival of flowers, fertility, sensuality, and delight. One of the well known symbols associated with Beltane is the maypole. It was made from a tall and straight tree, usually birch or ash, with the branches removed. It would be decked with flowers and ribbons. Dancers would hold the ends of the ribbons and the very specific pattern danced around the maypole. The danced Maypole represents the unity of the feminine and masculine, with the pole itself being a phallic symbol and the ribbons that encompass it, the womb. That and the lovemaking in the fields afterwards created the sympathetic magic that would ensure the fertility of fields, families and livestock .
Another May Day tradition is the May Queen, the elfin Queen of the Seelie Court, who represents the maiden aspect of the triple goddess (maiden, mother and crone). As the Maiden of Spring she overcomes the Cailleach of winter (the crone aspect), to become the Queen of May.
The May Queen leads the Beltane procession with her ritual courtship of the Green Man. During the procession the May Queen travels both counterclockwise (starwise) and clockwise (sunwise) around the hill, representing the closing of winter and the coming of summer, and is paid homage to by the Earth, Air and Water Spirits.
The May Queen lights the Beltane Fire to symbolize the coming of the summer, and the sun’s life giving warmth and purity. The May Queen then starts the final element of her courtship with the Green Man of Winter, spinning faster and faster, until her Hand Maidens tear the Green Man apart, killing him, and allowing the rebirth of the Green Man of Summer. The Death and Rebirth of the Green Man through the actions of the May Queen allow the onset of summer, and the fertile union between the May Queen (the female aspect of nature) and the Green Man (the male aspect). Their union ensures a fertile harvest, conceived at the dawn of summer.
As Christianity came to the British Isles, many of the ancient sites were converted to Christian sites. The ancient rituals were appropriated or discouraged so that many of the powerful rituals were gone or hardly recognizable, but many other May traditions took their place that had roots in the old ceremonies. One of these, is a tradition that is still enacted in the town of Cornwell. On May morning there is a procession involving the "Old Oss" or hobby horse. This could be an echo of an ancient Celtic Kingship custom involving the mating of the king with the Totem Horse Goddess of the tribe.
The early Celts saw nature as divine and marked the cycles by stopping in their daily pursuits to observe with reverence the changing seasons. And so are today, rediscovering traditions which reach back to the dawn of human life. It is a precious thing to stop and observe the day, to wash our face in the May morning dew, to bring some flowers and greenery into the house, and to be aware, for a while, of our place in the natural world.
by Gabrielle Diana Laney
In the ‘Wheel of the Year,’ a concept that is becoming a tradition among neo-pagans, much has been written on the ‘cross-quarter’ days. These are the festivals that fall between the solstices and equinoxes. While the solstices and equinoxes mark the sun’s place in the wheel, the cross-quarter days, which were more important to the ancient peoples, are not merely halfway marks in the sun’s progress through the year.
Beltane is celebrated on May first, (in Scotland May 15th) but sometime around, May5th-11th, the goddess Brigit brought in the fire of rebirth, fertility, courtship, and the opening of Summer.
R.J. Stuart in his book “The Living World of Faery” states: “The rising and setting of the small star group of Pleiades is used worldwide to mark the pivot of the year, when they rise in the Northern Hemisphere they are setting in the southern hemisphere and vise versa. The modern dates for this relativistic event are close to May 1st and November 5th, the Celtic feasts of Beltane and Samhain, or May Day and Halloween, the two portal fire-festivals. These so-called Celtic, but truly pre-Celtic festival dates are not, as is often stated incorrectly, solar events. The Celts did not use solar calendar but a lunar one. Nor did the pre-Celtic and megalithic people base their time patterns on the seasons and the sun, but upon stellar and planetary patterns linked together.”
Samhain marks the tide of death and Beltane the tide of rebirth. At both of these times the veils between the worlds are said to be thin and that otherworldly beings such as faeries or spirits can be seen.
There is disagreement amongst scholars about where the name Beltane comes from. Some say it is named after the Celtic sun deity, Bel or Belenos who was the archetypal lord of life, healing and underworld spirits. Some say that the word ‘Bel’ could mean ‘shining or brilliant’ Perhaps the word described both the deity and the qualities the deity represented. There is agreement that the word ‘Tinne’ or ‘tene’ means fire, so the word means Bel-fire or bright-fire. Beltane is one of the four fire festivals (the others being Samhain, Oct. 31, Imbolc, Feb. 1, and Lugnassadh, Aug. 1)
An ancient tradition required all home fires to be extinguished at this time. A sacred fire or Bel-fire was kindled on behalf of the community by the Druids without flint or steel and was made with nine sacred woods. It was symbolic of the renewal of life after the cold winter. Embers from it were taken by each family to their homes to rekindle their own hearthfires. The people shared in the sacred, a communal blessing for a prosperous and fertile summer with a bountiful harvest to follow which would sustain them through the bleak winter months. Jumping over the fire could ensure health, for travelers, a safe journey or bring conception to a barren woman. Livestock were driven through it or between two fires for purification and fertility blessings. The custom of jumping over bonfires has survived to this day, also used are candles or cauldrons to symbolize the sacred fire.
Throughout the centuries there arose across Celtic Europe many other customs associated with Beltane, the time of year when the earth was most fertile. Beltane is a festival of flowers, fertility, sensuality, and delight. One of the well known symbols associated with Beltane is the maypole. It was made from a tall and straight tree, usually birch or ash, with the branches removed. It would be decked with flowers and ribbons. Dancers would hold the ends of the ribbons and the very specific pattern danced around the maypole. The danced Maypole represents the unity of the feminine and masculine, with the pole itself being a phallic symbol and the ribbons that encompass it, the womb. That and the lovemaking in the fields afterwards created the sympathetic magic that would ensure the fertility of fields, families and livestock .
Another May Day tradition is the May Queen, the elfin Queen of the Seelie Court, who represents the maiden aspect of the triple goddess (maiden, mother and crone). As the Maiden of Spring she overcomes the Cailleach of winter (the crone aspect), to become the Queen of May.
The May Queen leads the Beltane procession with her ritual courtship of the Green Man. During the procession the May Queen travels both counterclockwise (starwise) and clockwise (sunwise) around the hill, representing the closing of winter and the coming of summer, and is paid homage to by the Earth, Air and Water Spirits.
The May Queen lights the Beltane Fire to symbolize the coming of the summer, and the sun’s life giving warmth and purity. The May Queen then starts the final element of her courtship with the Green Man of Winter, spinning faster and faster, until her Hand Maidens tear the Green Man apart, killing him, and allowing the rebirth of the Green Man of Summer. The Death and Rebirth of the Green Man through the actions of the May Queen allow the onset of summer, and the fertile union between the May Queen (the female aspect of nature) and the Green Man (the male aspect). Their union ensures a fertile harvest, conceived at the dawn of summer.
As Christianity came to the British Isles, many of the ancient sites were converted to Christian sites. The ancient rituals were appropriated or discouraged so that many of the powerful rituals were gone or hardly recognizable, but many other May traditions took their place that had roots in the old ceremonies. One of these, is a tradition that is still enacted in the town of Cornwell. On May morning there is a procession involving the "Old Oss" or hobby horse. This could be an echo of an ancient Celtic Kingship custom involving the mating of the king with the Totem Horse Goddess of the tribe.
The early Celts saw nature as divine and marked the cycles by stopping in their daily pursuits to observe with reverence the changing seasons. And so are today, rediscovering traditions which reach back to the dawn of human life. It is a precious thing to stop and observe the day, to wash our face in the May morning dew, to bring some flowers and greenery into the house, and to be aware, for a while, of our place in the natural world.
Peace cannot be kept by force but can only be achieved through understanding (Albert Einstein) ~coexist~
Re: Beltane 2013! :)
Everyone feel free to share your ideas and celebration plans!
Peace cannot be kept by force but can only be achieved through understanding (Albert Einstein) ~coexist~
Re: Beltane 2013! :)
Happy Happy Walpurgisnacht All !!! 
!!! So many good ideas here Ray ...Thanks,... we'll see you all in the bushes!
Blessed Bealtaine ....Firebird
!!! So many good ideas here Ray ...Thanks,... we'll see you all in the bushes!
Blessed Bealtaine ....Firebird
“There are things known and things unknown and in between are the Doors.”
― Jim Morrison
“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
― RWEmerson
― Jim Morrison
“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
― RWEmerson
Re: Beltane 2013! :)
Walpurgisnacht...tongue twister lol!!! Anyways, happy Walpurgisnact indeed 
Peace cannot be kept by force but can only be achieved through understanding (Albert Einstein) ~coexist~
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SnowCat
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Re: Beltane 2013! :)
Last year at Beltane we were well into wildfire season. This year it's snowing.
Frosty
Frosty
Daughter of Sekhmet
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EbonySunset
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Re: Beltane 2013! :)
It's been a beautiful day where I live, sunny and warm! I got up extra early to see the sunrise, it was amazing! Hope everyone is having a lovely Beltane, even if the weather is a bit peculiar, Snowcat!