“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” -Anais Nin
Beltane, like its counterpart Samhain opposite the wheel is one of the most known of the cross quarter festivals. A potent celebration of fertility and honoring of life force; all of nature is swelling and bursting with a whirlwind of creative energy. Unions of all kinds are recognized at Beltane. The fertility and fruitfulness of our instinctual wild nature is in the spotlight of both the culminating late Spring/early Summer sun and the full moon light, which is an ideal and traditional time to celebrate this joyous festival.
Myth, fairy tale and stories of old tell of the Beltane Fires and making love in the wild woods. All folktales have their hidden truths and these certainly are not an exception, for Beltane honors sexuality in its natural essence of passion and creation~ both fertile becomings of potent life force.
Beltane is the festival most connected to the fairy world and the wild folk. Many a tale of the Horned One making love to the Goddess to ensure the fertility of the land abound. It was a night to spend in joyous revelry, dancing and making love in the woods all night and bathing in the morning dew of a new day. Beltane honors sexuality as a potent and powerful part of the true nature of life. Through the blending of life and death energies into the fertile forces of manifestation energies and the coming together in the sacred union, the great circle of life continues.
The church changed the focus of Beltane to the “May Day” celebration whose main symbols became purity and chastity. This attempt to repress the wild fertile goddess into the subdued and obedient virgin is yet another insult to our wild and knowing nature. But of course, we know that the Virgin is simply (and powerfully) a Woman Unto Herself and through the attempted conversion, the magic remains.
Beltane, being a solar/fire festival evokes passion of all kinds and the fires lit were a large part of ritual customs. The energy of Beltane to purify and burn away as well as the passionate flame to bring fertile vision are both present at this Cross Quarter.
On the physical earth, Beltane occurs as the beginning of the most potent and active phase of the waxing year. Life is potential. It is the peak of Spring’s fertility and the warm embrace of the summer season where Earth’s beauty is cloaked in her green robe of becoming.
Everywhere we look, there is life.
From Beltane to the Summer Solstice we are not only at the height of growing sunlight but also the conscious outward expression of ourselves. Fertility is intrinsic in everything and everything seems possible. Be aware of where you are and what you need. Create the environment to nourish and grow the seeds of yourself.
Reach out for what you want and let the energy of this season manifest your full potential.
Honor.
•Light the Beltane Fires! Whether this is a community bonfire with a group of friends or a single candle flame in your living room, honor the brightness of this transformative season!
•Bring in the flowers and create a beautiful and abundant altar to honor the inherent growth echoing the world outside your walls.
•Adorn yourself in what makes you feel full and wildly feminine in nature.
•Dance! Celebrate the joy and growth of all that is becoming within and without.
•Drum around the fire to evoke trance states. At Beltane the veil is thin and divination is often more accessible.
•Celebrate your sexuality! Alone or with a partner(s).
•Check in with what you are currently manifesting. How can you utilize the growing energy of this waxing season to bring your visions to fruition.
•If the opportunity presents itself, participate in a maypole dance. The obvious symbology of this gorgeous celebration and joy it evokes is really quite wonderful!
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Beltane