May Day Celebration

From the Old Egyptian holiday of The Feast of Divine Love and Compassion - honoring honoring the Goddess as Isis (Old Egyptian), Oshun (Yoruba/Santeria), Aphrodite (Old Greek), Lakshmi (Hindu), Rahamin (Jewish Kabbalah) & Grace (Christian). to the Christian feast of the marriage of Blessed Mary and St. Joseph. From the Zuni Corh dance welcoming back the Corn Maidens (who had fled for winter) to The Mayan Rain Festival to Feast of the Sacred Marriage--honoring the union between the Goddess & God as - Inanna & Dumuzi (Old Sumerian), Isis & Osiris (Old Egyptian), Oshun & Shango (Yoruba/Santeria), Lada & Lado (Old Slavic). Celebrated by crowning divine images with wreaths of flowers and greens. April 30 sundown to day of May 2, has been heralded as a holiday of Life in time before Christ. Celebrated the world over, and sporadically in the United States, Beltaine or May Day, is one of the most important holidays of the year.

The Meaning:

In by-gone era's as well as present day, this is a time of re-awakening our awareness to the world around us. Taking action is an important part of emerging from winter and moving into summer (the action of procreation, the action of planting the crops, etc). Pagans throughout history and the world over enact change by recognizing, honoring and joining the energies together. Each tree, each animal, each piece of nature has energy. Throughout time that energy has been eroded through human abuse. The power of the mind can see these intricate webs of life and strengthen them. We recognize one mind may not make a huge impact, its the energy of everyone that makes the difference. For us, Beltaine is our Earth Day. The day to raise awareness of the abuses to our Mother Earth and enact changes. The power of thought is strong - just look at the success of such books as The Secret, which totes the power of Attraction, this is the definition of real magick. The manipulation of energy through the Will within ourselves as well as how that energy effects the world around us.

In pre-Anglican Europe the Celts separated the calender year into only two seasons - Summer and Winter. This was mostly due to crop and cattle rotations. On may 1 the cattle were brought back down to the Summer pastures - officially relinquishing Winter. The fields that had been sowed during Ostara were ready to be planted. When the cattle were moved to the Summer pastures the penned areas were given a chance to rest and regrow. All of these were the first inkling of life returning to the land. The flowers and trees were again beginning to bloom - banishing the darkness of Winter. People emerged from their overcrowded farmsteads and were once again free to roam the countryside. Not surprisingly, the affirmation of another survived winter led to procreation of both the animals and people, making Beltaine synonymous with Fertility.

It may seem crass that so much of the Pagan calender celebrated fertility, but in actuality it is the celebration of the circle of life of everything on the planet. Furthermore, so much of life is dependent on this cycle. If people never passed away there would be no room or food for the new generation, if flowers and trees didn't "die" in the fall there would be no room for growth of the forest. Beyond that, the sacrifice of crops and animals to sustain the life of the people should also be honored. Therefore the new generation of cattle and the next successful harvest were important factors both in the pre- and post-industrial era's. Where would we be, after all, if the cattle went extinct, no crops grew, and no new generations were born.

The Traditions:

Not surprisingly, this fertility is often represented in the marriage of the God and Goddess. As seen above many religions represent the fertility of Beltaine in the form of a deities marriage. There are surprisingly many reasons for this. Often the God is associated with the life returning to the forest - to the animals of the hunt as well as the crops; the Goddess represents the life within ourselves. Therefore their marriage represents the marriage of life within ourself and in the world around us. Taking it a step forward though, and fertility was often the same as creativity. The god represents knowledge and the Goddess faith, making theirs a marriage of faith and knowledge or the marriage of the spiritual with the tangible. Creative fertility is defined in Pagan faith-systems, as being able to see or define something in a new way. Making Beltaine a celebration of the fertility of the land and our bodies, but our minds and spirits as well.

Beltaine, the second most important holiday next to Samhain (halloween) in the Pagan calender, not only honored life, but the cycle of life - which also includes death. It was believed the doorway between the world of the living and the Summer-lands (the world of the dead) was open during the feast. Furthermore, in by-gone era's the ground would have been to frozen to bury those that did not survive the harsh winters. The May Pole, one of the most recognizable parts of any Beltaine celebration, represents many things. One of the representations if of the World Tree. The World Tree was seen as the doorway between the worlds in many Pagan religions - Celtic, Germanic, Hindi, Buddhist, etc. Therefore the May Pole was erected to attract the spirits of a specific family that might wish to visit for the holiday. Another May Pole representation was of the sprouting of life in the trees. Another was thought to be a representation of the source of fertility, manhood. In the last 100 years, women would affix colorful ribbons to the top of the pole and dance around it until the pole was braided, thus blessing the women with fertility in their up-coming handfastings (marriages).

Handfastings, while they could be performed on any day of the year, are a popular part of the holidays celebration. For the most part, the couple sought to become hand-fasted on Beltaine hoping their marriage would acquire all of the fertility, prosperity and blessings of the day. Furthermore, traditional hand-fasting circles were delineated by fresh flowers, dried rose petals, birdseed (the modern replacement for rice), or ribbons. These are all associated to the love and life of Beltaine as well. Therefore, making Hand-fastings a fitting tribute to this holiday.

Another important ingredient throughout the history of this holiday were the Bel-Fires. Generally at sunset on April 30, the town or family would gather and set a bonfire. The woods used were very specific and held meaning. They were the nine sacred woods: Birch - representing the Goddess or female energy ; Oak - representing the God or male energy ; Hazel - representing Knowledge and wisdom ; Rowan (Mountain Ash) - representing Purity and Fae Magick ; Willow - representing Death and the Summerlands ; Fir - representing the Circle of Life ; Apple - representing Love and Fertility ; and, Vine - representing Joy and Happiness. Just as the sun sets on April 30 the crowd would gather and light the fires while erecting the May Pole. In many traditions two fires were lit. The cattle would be walked between the giant fires to purify and cleanse the cattle of any lingering negativity and sickness left from winter, even people would walk between the fires to soak in their healing and uplifting energy. On May 1, the families would each light a torch from the Bel-fire and light the lights within their home from such a Blessed source.

Other Beltaine traditions included:
*Hanging Rowen from the eves
*Washing faces and hands in the morning dew to retain youthful beauty and health
*Making Holy Water out of the morning dew
*Sleeping out in the woods, returning with the dawn with fresh picked flowers and sacred woods to decorate the town
*To honor the Green Man (god of the forest) and the return of the wild hunt, the maidens and women of the villages would hide in the woods where their prospective husbands would have to hunt them and catch them, labeling them with a ribbon and an immediate handfasting
*Selecting and Crowning a May Queen, generally the prettiest girl in the village, she would be carried to town by the local young men, accompanied by her Maids of Honor, then she presided over the festivities from her floral throne.
*The Horn Dance: The local young men would dress in costumes (generally of animals of the hunt, or green men or horned Gods) then they would lead a procession through the village to the location foe the festivities and dance and sometimes act out the Cycle of Life. {Generally there would be 6 animal men wearing deer antlers - 3 white and 3 black; The Green man God & Goddess; A Maiden (May Queen); and a fool to tell the tale}
*Making a May Garland out of the abundant flowers: some would be used by beggar children going door to door (much akin to trick-or-treating).
*Repairing fences and walking the perimeter of the property

The Profound:

Looking more closely at the Celtic origins of this holiday can lead us to the term Beltaine. The common Celtic prefix Bel literally meant 'bright' or 'fortunate'. If you think about the turning of the wheel of the year, this holiday celebrates the strength of the sun - banishing the darkness and cold of winter, and allowing the fertility of the harvest. Therefore, like most of the summer holidays, Pagans invoked (or called upon and honored) the Sun attributed of the God and Goddess. The deities were those of fire and light. While many Wiccan and Pagan traditions see the sun as a masculine representation, while the moon is feminine, representations of the deity. The Celts are more androgynous - they had both male and female deities to represent both the moon and sun. Due to this, they called upon both Gods and Goddesses that held similar attributes associated to the sun - fire, light, fertility, creativity, etc. The Gods Bel, Beli, Balor (or the Latin Belenus), as well as Lugh, held such attributes, with their capacity to fertilize and stimulate growth as well as their 'light' or 'bright' gifts. They then became fitting consorts to Brigit who is most associated with May and Beltaine (and among the favorite Goddesses for the Celts). Brigit was often favored due to the fact that she is a triple goddess - giving her the capability to be invoked throughout the year. The triple goddess has a virgin (young maiden), mother and crone personality. In the spring she is the maiden, at Beltaine she moves in to the Mother (as she marries the God and becomes pregnant), then in the fall she becomes the crone for winter. Brigit is a Goddess of the Forge - which obviously qualifies her for her fire attributes. But the fires of the forge are not only literal for that of making weapons, the fires of creativity and inspiration, as well as the fires of passion.

Moving into the metaphysical basis for the holiday. The marriage of the God and Goddess can also represent the replenishment of our personal energy, the control of our own destiny. The winter, the dark half of the year, was a time of introspection rather than action. Planning where we wish to go on our Path of life, what we wish to achieve or change. Beltaine is a time of action - of putting these plans into works. As I stated earlier, this is our Earth Day. Further, Beltaine is a time of personal change and strength. If there is a bad habit you want to overcome, enacting a plan on Beltaine receives the Gods blessings on the action. The May Pole dancing can even be a representation of the energy and action taken on this holiday.