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Beltane

James Uzzell

Festival of fire, connection and the start of summer, Beltane is one of the four Gaelic seasonal fire festivals. Also written as Beltaine, Belltaine, Bealtaine, Beltain, Beltine, Bealteine, Bealtuinn, and Boaldyn, it loosely translates as ‘bright fire’, and is derived from the name of the ancient Celtic sun god, Belenus (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2014). As sure as the flowers rise from the earth, this time of year and the power behind it, resonate deeply with all cultures. Most Brits celebrate it on the 1st May— May Day —weaving ribbons around a maypole, Morris dancing, and crowning the May Queen with the blooms of spring. And I think we celebrate for exactly that reason— for all the magick that's in the air. From the hum of the bees to the moss on the trees, all forms of life celebrate this season, as the blossom rains down its scented speckles, gathering in the myriad colours emerging from the thriving green, as awe-inspiring as the flowering forest floor to a fox cub.

Beltane is the third and final of the spring sabbats within the neopagan Wheel of the Year, each date marking another key chapter in the love story between the God and Goddess, in all of their personifications. From the slow waking of the Goddess at Imbolc’s first stirrings, through the equinox’s sun-kissed balance, until the Maiden of Spring is crowned as May Queen, blooming into the sensual radiance of womanhood.

Abundance ignites prosperity which arouses growth. And this sacred arousal is the true magick of this time, for would this be any celebration of life without the creation of life itself? Delicate petals expose themselves to the eager insect, songbirds sing for the love of another, starlings murmurate. We wonder with lust, following our heart’s wanderlust. We lean to the Green Man’s sun-warmed kiss, to the primal green passion of his leafy caress. In this union of tenderness nests the ecstasy of life. With harmony and wonder, we dream of all we wish to do with this life. The waxing sun is approaching its fullest, and so is our potential.

This time of year has a knack for rustling the feathers of those tired of their hibernation. Conversations with my peers have acknowledged the blessing these longer days give our collective psyche, as we consider how our journey to the longest day of the year will reach its potential. So much of what we learn from Beltane comes down to, ‘what is life without passion, connection and love?’, and many of us have asked ourselves the same question over the last twelve months. We are left with an insight into our connection to nature; an essential energy, flowing through all things, driving our purpose and direction. Its reassurance has never felt so communally acknowledged, in my experience, as it is this year.

But this has always been a part of the magick of this time. Looking back, we see traditions using fire to channel this magick, to cast protection over all the life that thrives in this time. Shepherds would light fires and herd their animals through the smoke, to protect them before they were put to the fields. Leaping through the Bel Fire is still practiced in various communities across Europe— those that cross are said to be blessed with the fiery passion to live out their wildest desires and the crops to fuel it. Other communities would have danced around the fire together, praising its protection, as they celebrated life's fertility and promise. The Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival, reignited in 1988, is the largest reconstruction of this kind of Iron Age celebration, and is filled with the primal energy we've been speaking about. It is the only example I've found that pays this sabbat the same respect as its sister, Samhain. Over the years, throughout the tests of our civilization, May Day celebrations have been banned and reinstated many times. The tradition of the maypole started with a sacred symbol of Beltane, the flowering Whitethorn tree (Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna). Sometimes called the May-tree, the sweet white blossom on the bent and thorny arms of this spring idol, signifies the sacred journey of the Goddess throughout the year— her seamless transition from maiden to mother to crone. All across these isles, the Hawthorn is still revered as a potent place for faeries to dwell; a warning to those who would cross them, a blessing to those who seek it. This led to the tradition of tying ribbons on its branches, with a wish for a blessing (Haggerty, 2021). As communities grew larger, this practice was brought into the towns, where dancing around the ‘Maybush’ praised the faeries for their work in bringing about spring. By the 14th century, many towns boasted semi-permanent maypoles. To Cromwell and the Puritans of the 17th century, these were ‘a heathenish vanity generally abused to superstition and wickedness’ and they were summarily removed and destroyed. Reinstated within the century by the ‘merry monarch’ Charles II, the maypole now signified the ‘return of the good days’ (Johnson, 2014).

And let those words ring true for this season every year, as the start of summer rewards our work. Let us live to our full potential, as nature never fails to do. On your blessed journey to the Midsummer solstice of June 21st, try to check in with these reflections; tie a ribbon on a blossoming thorn, rub your face in the May morning dew of your nearest meadow to keep your youthful beauty. Or maybe it is enough to hear it in the ever earlier morning birdsong, to smell it in the Ramsons (Allium ursinum) and Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) of the forest. Whatever you're doing at this time of year, may your fire stay bright, and your desire stay true. Blessed be, blessed Beltane.

Image: Martin McCarthy for Beltane Fire Festival References Encyclopaedia Britannica (2021) ‘Belenus: Celtic deity’, entry in Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. [Accessed April 2021] Beltane Fire Society (2021) ‘Beltane’, blog article. [Accessed April 2021] https://beltane.org/ Haggerty, B. (2021) ‘Beltane Bonfires and Nettle Soup’, blog article. [Accessed April 2021] http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com Johnson, B. (2021) ‘Kings and Queens of England and Britain’, online article. [Accessed April 2021] https://www.historic-uk.com