Merry met folks! As promised I’m stopping by with a Beltane special to give you a flavour of a weekend celebrating this ancient fire ritual.
According to the work of Professor Ronald Hutton, the Neo-pagan Beltane is perhaps based on a ritual that involved lighting two balefires and walking the cattle between the two. The smoke would bless and cleanse the cattle but would also get rid of any bugs that were on them. In this way the shepherds, cow herds and livestocks were blessed and protected for their time in the summer pastures, also known as shielings.
The shielings were liminal spaces and those who went there may come back changed in some way or not at all. Literally changed, for there are fae folk in the meadows, or perhaps they had undergone some trial which involved, elves and hidden folk. There were instances of young women, pregnant out of wedlock, being sent to the shielings or taking themselves off there in order to have their children in secret.
Beltane is about bringing in the fire of summer and protecting the community from the hidden folk who roam freely at this time of year as Beltane is a cross quarter festival. This means Beltane is Samhain’s sister, and the second time in the year that the wall between this world and the other world becomes thin enough for us to traverse. It’s also a fertility festival where weddings take place, the earth’s gifts are honoured once more and ribbons for good health are hung on the hawthorn tree.
This year was my 5th Beltane with Butser, my 4th in person, (the first being online due to the plague that swept the land). It was my third Beltane as a roving storyteller and this year I decided to draw my inspiration from the phoenix and fire, with a red dress, headdress of gold and red roses, ribbons galore, a red feather collar and of course my spell bottles full of stories. I also took my runes this year in the form of wooden rune dice and offered rune readings to those who wanted them.
People were so engaged and receptive, in fact several came back to find me with their friends to have their runes read and stories told.
To round off the weekend, the next day I created us a family feast to celebrate Beltane together at home. I made spring onion gnudi (Italian dumplings), honeyed carrots, pickled cucumber, and fig and cranberry couscous followed by a honey mead cake with Chantilly cream and edible summer flowers.
It’s fair to say we had a cracking weekend and I hope you did too, celebrating bringing in the May your way.
Below is a short video for you featuring our Beltane shenanigans.
Blessed Beltane One and All.