Happy Beltane!  Joyful May Day!

Beltane/Beltaine is one of the cross-quarters (holidays that fall halfway between the Solstices and Equinoxes).  The other cross-quarters are Imbolc on Feb 1st/2nd, Lammas on Aug 1st/2nd, and Samhain (S-ow-en) on Oct 31st/Nov 1st.

Beltane is a holiday of celebrating fire, fertility, and the senses - enjoy!

More about the holiday, from witchssoul:

Beltane is a fire and fertility festival that lands on April 30th and May 1st. Since the ancient Celts had their days from sundown to sundown, the festival falls on both days. There are several deities that are related to the festival, including the May Queen, Stag Lord, and the Green Man. 

Beltane was originally started to welcome summer; the word Beltane comes from the Welsh words’ tan (fire) and Bel (a Welsh sky god) combined it means fire in the sky. Traditionally, two babies were chosen, both male and female and were trained to be the Stag Lord and May Queen.

Their time came at fourteen when the young boy in his role as Stag Lord ran with the deer. At some point, the great stag, or the most dominant buck would sense the young boy, and it was up to him to over come the buck. Coming back unharmed he would then mate with the May Queen in a symbolic consummation of the marriage of the Goddess and God.

Though this was a big tradition, it was not the only one. There was dancing around the Maypole in a clockwise motion, the direction of the sun’s journey across the earth. While weaving flowers and vines around its surface. The pole stayed in place all year, until it was used next year in the Beltane fires.

The fire burned throughout the festival as a symbol of the sun’s reign in the sky. Livestock was driven between two bonfires, to ward of sickness the coming year. In the same respects, the ill would walk between in hopes of getting better. Now days it for couples to jump over the fires, to bring both luck and fertility.

Ways you can do ritual on this day are

• Doing ritual outdoors
• Use a dark-green  altar cloth
• Decorate with foliage and flowers
• arrange green candles around altar and surround with floral.
• Burn a Beltane Incense by using any herbs that remind you of summer.

Beltane is a time to usher in summer so spend the day outside and feel the warm rays of the sun on your neck. Light a candle at sundown on the 29th and let it burn until the 1st to welcome the Sun God.

Anything you that involves the element fire will have a special meaning. So enjoy my favorite holiday and Bright Blessings!

Photo credits:

top = outsideeyeproject.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/maypoles

2nd two = L: ucls.uchicago.edu/photo_album/1900s/76maypole.html; R: spandarupa.com/2011/04/beltane.html

3rd three = L: iceonthesink.blogspot.com/2011/12/your-dreams-unwind.html; middle: deepwild.org/trillium/photo_album.htm; R: revolutiongardens.com/?attachment_id=456

bottom = L: plowcreek.org/mayday-05.htm; R: nordicphotos.com/gallery/en/smultron.html

O, MY MY!