Celebrating Beltane (May Day)

Since ancient times the May season has been a time of celebration and merriment. The appearance of flowers after a cold winter season signals the promise of warm summer days to come. Many of the modern celebrations of May are rooted in ancient pagan traditions that honored the earth and the forces that renewed life. In many pre-Christian European regions, Nature was perceived as a goddess and from this ancient concept evolved the modern "Mother Nature" personification.

May Day celebrations are a time to acknowledge the return of growth and the end of decline within the cycle of life. The rites of May are rooted in ancient fertility festivals that can be traced back to the Great mother festivals of the Hellenistic period of Greco-Roman religion. The Romans inherited the celebrations of May from earlier Latin tribes such as the Sabines. The ancientRoman festival of Floralia is one of the celebrations of this nature. This festival culminated on May 1 with offerings of flowers and garlands to the Roman goddesses Flora and Maia, for whom the month of May is named. Wreathes mounted on a pole which was adorned with a flowered garland, were carried in street processions in honor of the goddess Maia. Various aspects of May celebrations such as the blessing of holy wells are traceable to the ancient Roman festival of Fontinalia, which focused upon offerings to spirits that revived wells and streams. Even the Maypole itself is derived from archaic Roman religion.

The Maypole is traditionally a tall pole garlanded with greenery of flowers and often hung with ribbons that are woven into complex patterns by a group of dancers. Such performances are the echoes of ancient dances around a living tree in spring rites designed to ensure fertility. Tradition varies as to the type of wood used for the maypole. In some accounts the traditional wood is ash or birch, and in others it is cypress or elm.

May festivals commonly incorporate elements of pre-Christian worship related to agricultural themes. In ancient times a young male was chosen to symbolize the spirit of the plant kingdom. Known by such names as Jack-in-the-Green, Green George, and the Green Man, he walked in a procession through the villages symbolizing his return as spring moves toward summer. Typically a pretty young woman bearing the title "Queen of the May" led the procession. She was accompanied by a young man selected as the May King, typically symbolized by Jack-in-the-Green. The woman and man, also known as the May Bride and Bridegroom, carried flowers and other symbols of fertility related to agriculture.

Among the Celtic people, the celebration of May was called Beltane, meaning "right fire," due to the bonfires associated with the ancient rites of this season. This festival occasion was designed as a celebration of the return of life and fertility to a world that has passed through the winter season. Many modern Wicca Traditions celebrate Beltane on May 1st or May Eve. Along with its counterpart of Samhain, Beltane divided the Celtic year into it's two primary seasons, summer and winter. Beltane marked the beginning of summer's half and the pastoral growing season.


The Maypole Dance

In the traditional Maypole dance, men and women form an alternating circle around the Maypole. Red and white ribbons hang loosely from the top of the pole. Each person takes a ribbon--the men holding the white and the women red. Then, everyone stands facing the Maypole. On cue, the women turn to their right and remain in place. The men then turn facing left and take one step out away from the pole, thereby creating two circles of dancers facing one another. As the music begins, the dancers move forward, starting a weaving dance. Each person positions their ribbons to cross over and then under each person they meet next in the dance. The alternation of weaving ribbons over and under continues until the ribbons are too short to allow the dance to continue.

The Beltane Fire

In ancient times, it was reportedly the Celtic custom to light bonfires on the first of May. In the central Highlands of Scotland, such fires were known as the Beltane fires. The Beltane festival included feasting and lighting bonfires on hills or eminences. On May Eve, all the fires in the country were extinguished. The people of each hamlet arose on May morning and prepared the materials for igniting the sacred fire of the new Beltane. The people dug out a trench and placed a pile of wood in the middle, which they kindled with need-fire. One of the oldest traditions involved using a well-seasoned plank of oak with a hole bored in the center. A wimple ( a hand tool used for boring or drilling holes), also made of oak, was then fitted to the hole and furiously manipulated to cause heat friction. As soon as sparks appeared, handfuls of agaric gathered from old birch trees were tossed in. This material is reportedly extremely combustible and the fire burst forth as if by magic. According to lore, the Beltane fire prevented or cured malignant diseases, particularly in cattle. It was also said to neutralize any poisons.


Money Drawing Spell

3 green candles
1 Aventurine stone
1 Lodestone
Patchouli incense
Patchouli oil
A small pouch containing cinnamon, peppermint, and comfrey

This spell should be worked when the waxing crescent of the moon can be seen in the night sky. Begin by anointing the candles with the patchouli oil. then place them in holders, setting them to form a triangle surrounding the aventurine stone and the lodestone. Next, anoint yourself on the solar plexus with patchouli oil. Light the candles and take three deep breaths through the closed herbal pouch. As you inhale, close your eyes and imagine a green sphere of energy pass into your solar plexus.

Now, pick up the lodestone in your left hand and the aventurine stone in your right. Then speak this affirmation:

All obstacles are gone and I draw prosperity to myself.
I attract gain and increase. I draw the abundance.
To me comes now the money that is needed and to spare.

Sit quietly in front of candles and visualize yourself looking into your purse or wallet and having lots of cash. Next, see yourself writing checks to cover your bills and having a nice balance left in your checkbook.

Extinguish the candles and incense. Repeat the spell for three days in a row.
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All this information can be found in Raven Grimassi's book, "Beltane: Springtime Rituals, Lore & Celebration"

Eostre's Eggs and the Legend of the Easter Bunny

From the author, Edain McCoy, and her book~>
Ostara: Customs Spells, and Rituals for the Rites of Spring

The Anglo-Saxons hailed Eostre as the Goddess of Spring, The Greening Earth, and Fertility. Her name means "moving with the waxing sun." Around the time of her festival, on the day when light and dark are equal, the local animals began giving birth or going into their sexually receptive cycles, named "estrus periods" after the goddess. From the fiercest to the most humble, the woodland animals--who also worshipped and loved Eostre--would play in the warmth of spring light and feast on the new vegetation Eostre provided.

One of Eostre's devotees was a small hare who wished very much to give a gift to his goddess, but he didn't know what he could possibly offer that would be of any value to her. Then one day while foraging, the hare came across a fresh egg, a very prized commodity indeed. The little hare wanted very badly to eat the egg, as it had been a long time since he'd feasted on anything finer than dry grasses. Before he could take a bite of his prized, he realized this egg might make the perfect gift for Eostre. But, he pondered, Eostre could have all the eggs she wanted, anytime she wanted them. She was a goddess, a creator, the embodiment of life itself. Giving her just any egg would never do. How, he wondered, could he make this egg a fit offering for his goddess?

The little hare took the egg home and pondered how to make it as beautiful and new as Eostre made the world each spring. He began to decorate the egg. He painted it in the hues of Eostre's spring woods and placed upon the shell symbols sacred to Eostre. When he felt he could not make the egg any more beautiful, he took it to Eostre and offered it to her.

Eostre was so pleased by the little hare's sacrifice of his egg to her, and by the manner in which he decorated it for her, that he wanted everyone--especially children, who are themselves symbols of new life--to enjoy these representations of her bounty. Since that Ostara day long ago, the descendants of that hare have taken up the task of delivering decorated eggs tot he world's children at spring. They are called Eostre's bunnies or, more commonly, the Easter Bunny.

Rebirthing Spell

Gently place one egg in a pan that is half-filled with boiling water. As you watch the egg boil in the steaming pot, concentrate on something you feel is gone from your life that you wish to have manifest back into it. Conceptualize this desire as living within the egg, a need that will be birthed into being with the egg's assistance. Visualize this miracle happening with as much clarity and detail as you are able. Do this for at least five minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and allow it to coo.

When the egg is able to be handled, take crayons or felt markers in any color or colors you feel best represents your desire and draw a symbol or some other representation of your wish on the egg.

Bury the egg near your front door, as deep as is reasonable. Each time you walk past the place where the egg is buried, be sure to remind yourself of its purpose by restating to yourself an affirmation of your desire.

In a short time the egg will break down, the shell cracking open and the yolk decomposing. This symbolic life, death and rebirth of your wishing egg is linked by magic to your life, and it will help your desire to be rebirthed soon.

Celebrating the Spring Equinox (Ostara)

The Spring Equinox is the traditional celebration of the new life that bursts forth with spring.
It has given us the modern celebration of Easter.

Spring Equinox traditionally falls on March 20-21, and is the exact midpoint between the winter and summer solstices. Starting at sundown on March 20, there are exactly 12 hours of night and 12 hours of daylight.

This is a time of huge energy. Nature is waking up after its long winter sleep and everywhere you look there is evidence of new life: trees are in bud, seeds are germinating and animals are preparing to bear their young.


Celebrating New Life

In Wiccan lore, the Oak King, the god of light, wins a victory over the Holly King, god of darkness. As light conquers dark, the great mother Goddess conceives a child. Nine months later, at Winter Solstice, the child will be born and the cycle begins again.

Easter: Spring Equinox in the World

The Easter festival we think of as a Christian celebration is the church's appropriation of this traditional Pagan festival. The resurrection is a tale of new life, but where do the Easter eggs and rabbits feature in the Bible?

Even the name, Easter, has Pagan roots--Eoestre is the goddess of light, who brings the spring. The root of the work comes from "estrus"--the time in an animal's sexual cycle when it is fertile. Eoestre's festival was held on the Spring Equinox full Moon; thus Easter is on the first Sunday after the first full Moon following the Spring Equinox.


Fertility and Rebirth

The Spring Equinox is often represented by a Spring maiden carrying a basket of eggs, the symbol of rebirth. The maiden is accompanied by a hare or rabbit, representing abundant fertility, from which comes our modern symbol, the Easter Bunny.

How to Celebrate the Spring Equinox

There are many simple ways to celebrate the season of rebirth--from spring cleaning your body and your home to cooking up traditional Easter treats for family and friends.


1. Spring Clean Your Home

In springtime, gardeners clear away the debris of winter from the base of plants, allowing room for new growth. So we, too, can make space in our homes for fresh ideas and projects to emerge.

Renew your Home

As the growing light shows up the accumulated dirt of winter, remove it.

*Go into those hidden places, under the sofa and behind the refrigerator, letting in the light and leaving everything fresh and new.

*Clear out any clothes you no longer wear from your closets.

*Wear green to symbolize the shoots of spring;this will remind you of the new beginnings spring represents.

2. Special Spring Food and Drink

Make a celebratory meal to share with your friends--perhaps a picnic outdoors, or inside, if the weather is bad.

Dishes for Spring

Create the following dishes for a symbolic spring meal:

-> Nettle Tea--The first edible green leaves of spring, nettles are rich in minerals such as iron

-> Quiche, the eggs in which are reminiscent of new life.

-> Hot cross buns are reminiscent of the Sacred Marriage. The arms of the cross are of equal length, which in some cosmologies represents the union of male and female.


3. Make Your Own Easter Egg

Traditionally, eggs were painted bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring, or colored scarlet to represent life blood.

Spring Resolutions

As part of your ceremonies, you can paint an egg:

+ Decorate a hard-boiled egg with bright colors, symbols, or affirmations.

+ Write about a new project on the shell. If you are with friends, you can take turns to talk about what your eggs symbolize. Passing the eggs around the group will help to energize them and fill them with positive intent.

+ Absorb the energy you have invested in the egg by ceremonially shelling it and eating the contents.

+ Crush the painted eggshell and bury it--to sow you new hopes into the earth.

4. Spring Clean Your Body

After you have spring cleaned your home and it is clear of the previous season's old, stale energies, you can then cleanse yourself. Spring clean your body's systems by drinking a purifying tea of dandelion leaves and nettle tops.


New Beginnings

then make a spring altar, preferably in your garden to fully benefit from the new air of the season. On it, place spring flowers and fresh greens . Prepare an incense of purification herbs and spices, such as hyssop and juniper. As these offerings burn, meditate on the new projects you are ready to start--the seeds of new plans you wish to sow.