Creating Circles and Ceremonies: Rituals for All ... - reading...

Book III: W heel of the Year 205
Beltane, which means “bright fire.” 3 Although the holiday has various spellings, it consists
of two components: Bel and Tan. “Bel is known to be an ancient Sun God name… Tan is
Celtic for Fire, so here there is a double principle of God, or (good)….” 4 In old Ireland, the
cattle were taken off to the summer pastures where they would remain until Samhain. All of
the spring work, including tilling of the soil to produce the crops, was to be finished by May
Day. The most common custom was that of venturing out after dusk on May Eve to pick
fresh flowers that would be brought home before dawn on the following day. The hawthorn,
or May bush, would be set out in front of the home in the same spirit in which we set out our
flags on a national holiday. Sometimes the May bush would be decorated with eggshells,
ribbons, colored paper, and flowers. 5 Beltane was a time of revelry and bawdiness to stimulate
the sexual energy of life-making. The maypole, outlawed in Ireland in 1792, is probably
one of the most overtly sexual ritual customs associated with this season.
May Eve’s dark counterpart across the wheel of the year is Hallowmas, and traditionally
both holidays were the “hinge” holidays of the year, in which inhabitants of the worlds of
ancestral spirits, otherworld beings, and humans might cross paths. The Faerie faith was
strong in many Celtic lands, and protective measures were taken on the possiblility that
mortals and immortals might encounter each other from sunset on May Eve to sunrise on
May Day. Faerie abductions were feared, and it was thought that infants especially were in
danger of being switched for “changelings,” the children of the Faerie folk. Offerings of food
or drink were left for the Faeries so that they might be kind to their mortal neighbors.
Rites of Spring: Celebrating May Day
By Virginia Johnson, Beltaine 2001
In the spring of the year when the earth warms and the lush greening of the land begins
again, joyous folk still gather to welcome the growing season as they have for hundreds of
years in Europe and throughout the world.
The ancient Romans celebrated on May 1 with a feast for the goddess Flora, called
Floralia. Chains of flower blossoms were wound around her temples’ columns. Women and
girls wearing white robes scattered petals through the streets, and children made dolls of the
goddess and decorated them with flowers.
Druid priests celebrated the Celtic festival of Beltane throughout the British Isles and
other Celtic lands on this day. The people built bonfires on May Eve and drove their cattle
between them to protect them from disease, and the fires’ embers were scattered across the
fields to ensure a good harvest. Those present shared a special Beltane cake; the unlucky
soul who received the burned bit was called the cailleach-bealteine, or Beltane churl, and
was pelted with egg shells. When the Romans subjugated much of Britain from the first to
the fifth centuries, they added their revels for the feast of Flora to the Beltane festivities.
A French custom from old times is to rise at dawn and go into the woods to search for
the first lilies-of-the-valley, which are considered to be lucky. The flowers are then pressed
and sent to distant friends as charms.
In certain cantons of Switzerland, May Day Eve, or Maitag Vorabend, brings the planting
of the Maitannli, or May pine tree. Bachelors find these in the forest and plant them in
front of their sweethearts’ houses to show their affection. Young boys ring bells across the
land to ward off evil, and prayers are offered to ensure good harvests.
The English people enjoyed the May revels in medieval and Tudor times. Nobles and
peasants would go to the fields and forests to gather flowers and tree boughs. The Maypole
was especially prized and was carried in a procession by a team of oxen strewn with flowers.
Dancers holding long colorful ribbons fastened to the top of the pole would weave in and
out, braiding the ribbon about the pole. Games and pageants featured a young woman as the