Beltane Ritual-to-go preliminaries...

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 05 Apr 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Malachite	05 Apr 2002
Posting this early so that there;s plenty of time for corrections. Many thanks to ArizonaGirl and Kiama, without whom I would have no idea at all about this rite... So...here's my plan so far...shout at me if you think something should be done differently... Intro... Consecrate Water Consecrate Salt Make the Circle These ones to set up the scene and ground the rite... Invoke Goddess Invoke God Same as always Bless Rite Ask for the blessings of the God and Goddess on the rite Statement of Purpose: Theme of the ritual... Proclaim May King and May Queen Statements by King and Queen Lighting the Ceremonial Fire led by K&Q? Symbolic of passion... Sacrificing Ritual Woods and herbs, poss. one pair at a time... Taking turns to place a piece of bark and a herb into the ritual fire and reinforcing the statement of purpose Blessing those present, Personal Statements, sip from Maybowl Like at the Ostara meet...For anyone/everyone who wants to add their own personal message, or who doesn;t feel up to taking on one of the more ritual parts... Thank & Dismiss Elements :N :E :S :W Thank & Dismiss God and Goddess Maypole Dance Yaayy (!) The bit where we all dress stupidly and dance stupidly. Contest of Endearing qualities Thanks for suggesting this Kiama... In the spirit of love, if there's anything you find endearing in anyone here, post it for us all to celebrate!...with copious consumption of beverages... Feel free, no, PLEASE make comments, so i have time to change stuff if needed... THANKYOU... Still planning stuff like altar layout etc... Colours are White and Green, btw...

arizonagirl	05 Apr 2002
Sounds grand! Thanks, Malachite.

Pollux	06 Apr 2002
But I need some education to, please! I am not fully aware of what I will be charged with. Are there specific incenses, flowers, woods that we might use too? In addition, I think I'll have problems carrying the whole ceremony out, and setting up. I'll have some copious visualization job!!! :) (probably I'll send some e-mail - jade, arizonagirl, Meewah, Kiama..., cos it's my first Beltane celebrated not as a sol! :))

Malachite	06 Apr 2002
Well...its all pretend, so you don;t have to have the stuff set up at home!... actually, i read arizonagirl's notes again, and realised that the herbs are if you don;t have the barks...I don't know which would pair up, so it might be better not to bother with that,, the barks are: birch, oak, rowan (ash), willow, hawthorne, hazel, apple vine, and fir

Kiama	06 Apr 2002
Malachite, this is gonna be great! The altar can be red, green, and white, with lots of things symbolic of fertility and passion... Kiama

Malachite	06 Apr 2002
Acorns, and Bluebells, and Snails!...

Kiama	06 Apr 2002
Some Summer/Spring flowers.... Also, could we include something about jumping over the Bel Fire in pairs? Kiama

Kiama	07 Apr 2002
For those of you who want to know what a May Cup is (Cuz you'll be drinking out of it in the ritual) here's the recipe: 4 glasses of white wine 8 glasses of cider 1 glass of brandy 1 orange, sliced 1/2 ounce of ladies' bedstraw (Galium verum) 1. Mix white wine, cider, brandy together. 2. Add orange slices and ladies' bedstraw. 3. Leave mixture in cool place to settle for at least 2 hours. 4. Filter liquid into a jug. 5. Serve! Sounds good to me! Kiama

Malachite	07 Apr 2002
Jade has suggested that this ritual might work better as a thread like the chat forum party...less formal, more imaginative.... what do you think?..

Kiama	07 Apr 2002
Well, maybe! It wouldn't hurt to try it, would it? Beltane isn't about organisation either... So, maybe it would be more in keeping with the holiday spirit! Kiama

Pollux	09 Apr 2002
Mh... this May Cup... what if I put Red Wine in it? There SOMEONE who will love it, I am SURE. ;) The idea of imagination and little organisation is thrilling! I'm serious, I am really excited! We'll be natural and spontaneus as Desire and Passion are... :)

arizonagirl	10 Apr 2002
*poking Malachite on the shoulder* IMHO we need to get started.

Kiama	10 Apr 2002
Ooh, ooh! Can I poke Malachite too!??!? *Kiama sneaks up behind Maachite with a stick, with an evil grin on her face...* }> Kiama

Liliana	10 Apr 2002
I hereby reserve the right to do the may king and queen crowning, oh pretty please? *decides which bat to crown them with* hehehe, no really I want to do it :)

Kiama	10 Apr 2002
*Kiama cowers from Lili* Please, not the bat! A nice wreath of flowers will do. Kiama

Malachite	10 Apr 2002
Greenpeace might object to using bats in that way.... they go all squishy. *apparently* ;)

Kiama	10 Apr 2002
Now really poor bat jokes aside, ;) when do we start? Kiama

Pollux	11 Apr 2002
I WANT TO BE CROWNED WITH FLOWERS TOO!!! Kiama, please, send me something about the Statement. I want to be prepared for that! :) Can we take part of the Ritual, or not? Do we have to keep silent till Proclamation and Statement and what follows?

Kiama	11 Apr 2002
We can take part too, don't worry! Its just that we will be crowned at a certain point, and after that bit will need to do the May Queen + King thang, but then after we've done that bit, we can take part normally again. Kiama

Malachite	16 Apr 2002
Posting to raise this up where people can see it... Please post on the ritual thread, people...no expertise required, and its really, really fulfilling.. go on, you know you want to!

Mermaid	16 Apr 2002
These rituals posts are really inspiring Malachite - but us Southern Hemisphere pagans are getting all psyched up for Samhein, not Beltane! Is there anyone out there from the downunder who would be interested in doing Southern Hemisphere on line rituals on sabbats? (I'm very solitary - definately no expert in group ritual, but we can bug these folk for help if we get stuck!)

The Beltane Ritual-to-go preliminaries... thread was originally posted on 05 Apr 2002 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.