[beltane]

Beltane/May Day
(May 1st)

Beltane is also known as May Day, Walpurgisnacht, and Roodmas.

Beltane was a time of fertility and unbridled merrymaking, when young and old would spend the night making love in the Greenwood. Older married couples were allowed to remove their wedding rings (and the restrictions they imply) for this one night. Women traditionally would braid flowers into their hair. Men and women alike would decorate their bodies. They would process back home, stopping at each house to leave flowers, and enjoy the best of food and drink that the home had to offer. In every village, the maypole, usually a birch or ash pole, was raised, and dancing and feasting began. Many communities elected a virgin as their "May Queen" to lead marches or songs. To the Celts, she represented the virgin goddess on the eve of her transition from Maiden to Mother. Depending on the time and place, the consort might be named "Jack-in-the-Green", "Green Man", "May Groom", or "May King". The union of the Queen and her consort symbolized the fertility and rebirth of the world. This is the Love Dance of the Gods, the Wedding of Heaven and Earth, the Bridal feast of the Goddess! It is customary that Handfastings, for a year and a day, occur at this time. These are trial marriages that typically occur between couples before deciding to embark on life eternal. It was understood by our ancestors that one does not really know another until they live with them, and things change. With this understanding, unions were entered upon, first with a test period, and then a further commitment. It was kept in mind that only through the choice of both to remain, could the relationship exist.

Maypole
A large part of the Beltane festivities revolved around dancing the maypole. The danced Maypole represents the unity of the God and Goddess, with the pole itself being the God and the ribbons that encompass it, the Goddess. Colors are the Rainbow spectrum. Forms include pole, tree, bush, cross; communal or household; permanent or annual. In Germany, Fir tree was cut on May Eve by young unmarried men, branches removed, decorated, put up in village square, and guarded all night until the dance occurred on May Day. In England, permanent Maypoles were erected on village greens. In some villages, there also were smaller Maypoles in the yards of households. Maypole ribbon-dances involve two circles interweaving around a decorated bush/tree, clockwise circle dances.

May Waters
May morning is a magickal time for wild water (dew, flowing streams, and springs) that is collected and used to bathe in for beauty, or to drink for health. Some traditional activities associated with the May Waters were rolling in May Eve dew or washing face in pre-dawn May Day dew for health, luck, and beauty; getting the head and hair wet in Beltane rain to bless the head; blessing springs, ponds, and other sacred waters with flowers, garlands, ribbons, and similar offerings; and scrying in sacred springs, wells, ponds, and other waters.