BELTANE (MAY 1)

[LaurenG]

(May Eve, April 30th-May 1st) Most important to pagans, save for Samhain, I don't know of any Pagan group that doesn't celebrate this holiday in some way. Beltane is the great Fertility rite of life, starting at dusk on the 30th and continuing until the dawn of the 1st. The union of the God and Goddess to conceive the sun-child to be takes place upon this holiday, no matter which tradition of paganism is involved. Beltane is the one holiday most discouraged by the Christians, who didn't even use it as a point for a holiday of their own because the power and nature of the day involved. Still, even in Christianized Ireland the May day dance of the Maypole remained, as did the giving of flowers to those you loved or cared for as friends. The Maypole is a symbol of the union of the God and Goddess to create life, the pole itself a phallic symbol while the dancers and their streamers or vines of flowers represent the fertile womb of the goddess as it takes in the Phallus of the god and takes in his seed. Besides the Maypole often a bonfire is present, and members of the group are encouraged to jump the flames for luck and their own fertility. Food, drink and love are the order of the evening. In most sects the celebration of unions of love are enacted. Beltane is the time of many marriages/handfastings in the pagan community (in some it is the point where one chooses to begin and end relationships of a physical nature). Clothing is very optional in most get-togethers on this holiday, and mostly it is sensual and colorful. Even those sects that are prudish about things tend to accept the rules of the holiday, as it is the holiday of free love. It is said that a child conceived on this day will grow up to wield great power and knowledge and to be healthier than upon any other.

http://www.witchway.net/days/days.html

http://www.witchway.net/ritual/belchant.html

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Blessed Beltane

my Pagan co-worker has the day off, as well she should! It's a marvelous holiday, one I've instinctively celebrated since I was a child, when I wove May baskets and filled them with flowers to give people.

It may interest you to know that the first settlers of Braintree, MA, erected a May pole and did ceremony there for a couple of years, until the Puritans drove them out ca 1640.

[LaurenG]

2. I did too!

My mother was "May Queen" at her high school in the 1940's so she taught us all about May Day. They had a May Pole at school (Indiana)each year.

I find it extremely interesting that people used to celebrate May Day in public schools.

:hug:

[LiberalEsto]

7. My elementary school had a permanent Maypole

It was a tall steel pole on the playground. I remember my first grade class performed a Danish folk dance at the school's May Day festivities in 1958. However within a couple of years we stopped having May Day celebrations, probably because of the Cold War and the Communist May Day parades in the Soviet union. This would have been around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, when many Americans were really freaked out about Communism and the Soviets. It's a darned shame that a perfectly good old traditional holiday like May Day was pretty much abandoned in the U.S. because of global politics. Kids no longer made May baskets for female relatives and neighbors and the holiday was largely forgotten in the U.S.

By the late 60s and the Vietnam War protest era, right wingers had started calling May 1 Law Day to honor "law and order", meaning "Let's trash those commie hippie peaceniks who oppose the war against godless communism." It became a day of hyper-patriotic flag waving.

I wish we could bring back the old May Day customs.

Blessed Beltane, everyone!

[wovenpaint]

4. The area was called Merrymount

and they pissed the Puritans off royally with their frolicking and imbibing.
They're fun to read about since the history that I was taught in school was just of the strait-laced, "pious" Puritans.
I remember maypoles at school when I was very young-funny. Of course, I loved it!
Maypoles and Puritans :rofl:

[MorningGlow]

3. Happy Beltane!

My first experience with May Day was the Catholic version at my school, where we'd pick a May Queen not on the grounds that she was physically attractive, but that she "embodied the traits of Mary". So I suppose it could have been a lot worse, although I always had a problem with how she and her court had to wear extremely modest white dresses and gloves (no matter how hot it was) to represent virginal qualities. :scared:

I enjoy the old way better (which they covered up with all that virgin stuff)--couples jumping the Beltane bonfire and then going off into the woods to...er...have fun...in twos.
:rofl:

[davsand]

5. Not surprising that they were looking for a "Mary."

If you think about it, Mary wasn't really a big deal in the church until they started working to assimilate the pagans. They wanted a strong female figure to make that link to the goddess figures and Mary (along with her spiritual conception story) was a natural fit for the part.

I was also always taught that the Christan Easter story with its rebirth was tied to that particular time frame to kinda match up with Beltane.

Happy Beltane to all--no matter what name you call it!



Laura

[MorningGlow]

6. Yes, they needed their own "goddess"

without calling her a goddess, of course. I find it amusing that the whole Christian Church was so overly patriarchal (okay, misogynous) that they couldn't handle a balanced god/goddess in Jesus and Mary Magdalene, so instead they went for the "safe" option of Jesus' mother.

I was taught that the Christian Easter was created to squish Eostre/vernal equinox, but the Christian Church was at a loss to dig up something to squish Beltane, so they ginned up May Day for the Virgin Mary. Eh, doesn't matter. Subjugation, regardless of the details. Well, you can sit on the truth for only so long--apparently 2,000 years is the limit, and the BOOM out it comes.
:rofl:

[FirstLight]

8. heh, heh...no wonder I am so (horny) this week!

I have been able to overcome some barriers and ask a guy out that I really like....
unfortunately I think we are still in the 'friend zone' - Or I would ask him to play May Day with me! heheheee! :evilgrin:


..it's been so long, I wonder if I still remember HOW! But the earth energies never quit pulsing in my celtic blood, and I am yearning for a good Belatine fire celebration these days.... *sigh*

[Silver Gaia]

9. A very Merry Beltaine to all!

My favorite! :) I looove this day. I've spent the morning relocating a good deal of my plants from indoors to outdoors for the summer months. It's raining now, and they all look quite happy about it. :)

ETA:

I'd like to share something with you all. This is from my late brother's website. He was a gay Pagan man, and had a wonderful Wiccan website. He passed away in 2006, but his website is still there. (I'd like to do some things with it-- at least add a memorial page for him -- but can't find his password, and Yahoo -- which owns GeoCities now -- won't believe me that he's now deceased and I'm his sister, so they won't help me access it. :( But I like that it's still there. I visit from time to time and it makes me feel closer to him. Today is one of those days.)

He created special pages for each of the eight Sabbats. Some of his work was published in an e-zine called Cauldrons & Broomsticks back in the late 90s (that link is here: http://www.cauldrons-broomsticks.net/). I know you will all appreciate and respect his work, so I feel god to share it with you today. :) Here are two links to his own personal pages on Beltaine. Enjoy!

Beltane / May Day and Its Lore --- May 1st: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2007/beltane_lore.html

Beltane Solitary Ritual: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2007/beltane_ritual.html

Feel free to explore the rest of the site. That's what he made it for.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

10. FYI geocities is shutting down soon

Here is how you can save your brother's work:

Go to his page. Go to VIEW and click. Then click on PAGE SOURCE. Save this to your computer. This is the coding that made the page, and a computer geek can help you put it up elsewhere.

THEN copy/past every word on the website and save it on your computer. Right click on graphics to save them. This way you'll have a way to save your brother's work.

PM me if you need my help.

[Silver Gaia]

11. Thanks for the FYI about Geocities, Ayesha!

I've already archived the whole thing on my computer. What I'd hoped to do was to move the whole website to a new domain, and leave a memorial page at the Geocities link that would redirect to the new site. But Yahoo wouldn't let me do that since I don't have his password (I found every other password imaginable on a list he made, but not that one.) I also have his computer, and on there I found new graphics and other updates he was planning to make. All the originals are stored there as well. Maybe once Geocites shuts down, I'll put it up somewhere else, with the memorial page I wanted to make included. I've just let it be for now, since I didn't want there to be two copies of his site out there on the web. Any idea when the Geocities shutdown is supposed to happen?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

12. Shutdown to come this summer

according to yahoo. I'll try and remember to let you know when it happens. I'm in the process of moving several sites. There is another free website host that seems very nice and easy to use--I think it is called web.com or webs.com. I'm glad you've already archived the site!

[Silver Gaia]

13. Thanks so much for offering to let me know! Much appreciated!

[Raksha]

14. Thanks for the links to your brother's Geocities page, Silver Gaia.

It is really beautiful and worth preserving. I hope you put it up somewhere else after Geocities goes down. Meanwhile I'm going to save the Beltane recipes, and probably a lot more.