How was your Beltane?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 01 May 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

MsPisces	01 May 2002
I just celebrated Beltane tonight...Traditionally I celebrate the night before, but last night I just wasn't in the mood. I didn't want to force it so I decided to wait until tonight. Well, the Goddess is so wonderful b/c I really didn't know what I was going to say/meditate on/ etc. Usually I have everything typed out and printed a day or so prior. Before I started, some issues that I need to deal with "showed their ugly head" to me and voila! I knew what to discuss and ask the Goddess help with! I was so happy I waited to celebrate. I love holidays b/c I light tons of candles all around the room and have lots of fresh flowers everywhere. That and New Age music puts me in the mood to worship. Hope everyone had a great Beltane ritual, too! ~Ms Pisces

.dc	01 May 2002
i worked. the network at where i work went down for 3 hours. =) so that was nice being able to surf the web on a dsl box. tonite i'm gonna celebrate it with my boyfriend and then do a tarot ritual... which reminds me i gotta send that spread to joya250. but other than that, it's been relaxing. blessed beltane, .dc

kayne	02 May 2002
Well... For Aussies, and everyone else below the equator, it was Samhain... but it didn't seem it as the weather was warm and clear... (Although a storm has arrived today... :)) I spent some time thinking about how I would celebrate this in the future... after all, I am sort of new to these ideas...

Pollux	02 May 2002
He he he... Kayne, The Paganism Has you. (yet another quotation, who guesses?) Kiama and I just need time... and not even so much... I spent my Beltane trying to focus on the idea of love and union. I lit some candles, and a special pink one that a close friend bought for me on purpose. I spent all day doing NOTHING AT ALL, reading a bit, chatting to some e-friends (;)), talking (also via phone) to some Real Life ones, then had to help my parents, who were back from their week-end out, and the house was falling down... so untidy!!! Then in the evening I did some more grounding and focusing, trying to realise my love and the love others have for me (Kiama did help me directly, I must say! :*). And after that I had a looooooooooooong wonderful bath, with candles, incense, water, salt and flowers in it, and again some grounding and focusing ni the bath-tub!!! :D I tried to be as receptive as possible to love, and to send out as much as I could. I tried to do that all day long. I am just learning, just a beginnner, but I enjoyed it, and don't now if that was correct or stuff, I just don't care... it was what I felt like doing! :) In the bath-tub I also made my prayer, for my growth, along all the elements, psyche, knowledge, experience, will, strength, beauty (can't leave that out, you see...). It was great. Kiama, you did not post about that. I will say a bit of it here: KIAMA CALLED ME!!! And we chatted a bit!!! It was cool!!! Her voice is beautiful, warm, elegant, so woman-like, her wisdom and knowledge comes to in such a peculiar, natural, unaffected way!!! WOWOWOW!!! KIAMA I LOVE YOU!!!! :* You made a great amount my Beltane!!!

joya250	02 May 2002
well....I will be going to a Beltane celebration on Saturday! we'll be making flower wreaths for our hair and fire wheels (whatever they are!), dancing around a May Pole, and have a picnic and a ritual in the evening. I can't wait! it's my first year celebrating Beltane :) but, yesterday... I got my hair chopped -- and spent some 'quality' time with my boyfriend 8) Happy Beltane!

Kiama	02 May 2002
Me and the boyf spent lotsa quality time.. and energy together ;) I didn't do any formal ritual, just an inner celebration really. Kiama

Liliana	02 May 2002
Ooh fire wheels, I believe its when you light this wheel on fire and roll it down a hill, its an old Beltane thing. I went out for an expensive dinner (stuffed salmon, and white chocolate moouse for desert) and bought myself the Rohrig deck for a present, oh and watched the second half ofthe tv ovie Living with the Dead hehe

Kiama	02 May 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Pollux Kiama, you did not post about that. I will say a bit of it here: KIAMA CALLED ME!!! And we chatted a bit!!! It was cool!!! Her voice is beautiful, warm, elegant, so woman-like, her wisdom and knowledge comes to in such a peculiar, natural, unaffected way!!! WOWOWOW!!! KIAMA I LOVE YOU!!!! :* You made a great amount my Beltane!!! This was the best part of Beltane I think. Its weird talking to somebody on the phone, when the most you've done is chat to them on MSN Messenger... But it was fun indeed. It was kinda embarrassing too, cuz Pollux's sister answered the phone in Italian, a language I can't speak a word of! And Pollux sounds so... Italian! (Duh!) And it was so fun! Kiama :* :* :* :) :D :* :* :*

Martin	02 May 2002
Hello, Our group met for Beltane early and we had our ritual during the full moon phase a few days ago (Sunday). I'm a firm believer that the seasonal energy and changes in nature are a much better guide than the calender, seeing as its the earth energies we are aligning with, not the dates in our modern calendar!! And as the May has come into blossom in our area it is perfectly fine to celebrate Beltane! The ritual was brilliant. I decided to do the Oak Kings mating & sacrifice at this ritual. It's symbolic of the death in life aspect of the Goddess, to balance out the life in death aspect shown at Samhain. The idea comes from the White Goddess (p 416 for those who have it!), where Graves suggests the Beltane festival originally culminated in the sacrifice of a man representing the Oak God. In A Witches Bible, the Farrars (I say whilst spitting on the floor!) note that the Vestal Virgins threw manikins made of rushes into the River Tiber on the May full moon as symbolic of human sacrifices. The idea of the ritual was to show that at the core of the Bright Mother is the Dark Mother (death in life/Beltane), and at the core of the Dark Mother is the Bright Mother (life in death/Samhain), a kind of Yin/Yang dichotomy, where the further you go into one, the other becomes evident. So the ritual had a sacrifice and rebirth aspect. The Farrars also point out the fact that although the Hawthorn and Blackthorn both blossom around this time, the Hawthorn shows the Goddess in Her light aspect, and the Blackthorn in Her dark aspect. There is also the bannock cake thing, where people would divide it into pieces and put it in a bag, with one piece blackened with a thumbprint. Whoever, pulled the piece out of the bag would be called the "devoted one" and would have to do a forfeit or jump over the bonfire, and would later on be ignored and referred to as dead. It is assumed that originally they would have been burnt as an offering. I thought I might include it in the ritual, with the person who loses having to jump the fire etc, but I decided that it would be a bit macabre!! Instead I decided to have the obvious mating of the God with the Goddess, but Him being sacrifcied to Her and then rebirthed, still the Oak King. To represent that in the rite I used a dark candle in one cauldron to symbolise the Oak King, then extinguished it to represent his sacrifice, and then I lit a fire in another cauldron to symbolise his resurrection. We then jumped the fire, to purify ourselves of something holding us back, based on the Beltane fires through which cattle were driven. Then we jumped back over it to bring in something new to take the place of the energetic vacuum. After that we did the bit of the ritual I was most proud of, mainly because it was entirely my idea and innovation! As it is the time of the Oak King and the Hawthorn, I decided that we should each tie a twig of oak with a twig of hawthorn together with red ribbon. This symbolised the passion of the God & Goddess which creates the Sun God, and was to be kept as a charm at home on the altar or mantelpiece to likewise bring fulfillment and abundance to our own lives. I just like the idea of each sabbat containing a practical part, creating something that can be taken home. Last time (vernal equinox) it was the candle we lit to symbolise the light taking over from the dark (we lit a white candle from a black candle to symbolise the increasing day). I also wrote a call to the land. We have decided to do this every sabbat, so at each ritual we call upon the spirit of the land to aid in our work. I know it's not a normal practice but it makes sense to honour the land you are upon to me. A different couple wrote the Equinox one, so I wrote this one. Each one is going to be appropriate to the land itself, so by next vernal equinox we shall have 8 calls, each describing the land as it was at that time. The one for this ritual was: As we stand here on your chalk-filled body, We acknowledge you, O' Spirit of the Land, And ask that you grace our rite with your presence. We revel in the beauty of the colour with which you dazzle us. From the individual delicacy of each daisy and bluebell, To the glorious blossoming of the apple and hawthorn. From your body you bring forth fertility, Covering your naked form with lush meadows, Bringing life to the plants and animals which feed upon you. I call upon you Great Land, that you will lend your presence to our work. We had a lovely ritual feast, with homemade wine and a walnut & carrot cake a vegan lady in our group baked! Then we did some tarot readings for each other and shut up shop so to speak. We were in the circle for hours chatting, the atmosphere was beautiful, and there was such a strong feeling of energy, more so than normal. Anyway, I shall bore you no longer!! Love & Light Martin

Kiama	03 May 2002
Being under-18, and fairly isolated, I am very jealous of your wonderful group celebration, Martin. I think that the festivals are so much 'better' in a sense when celebrated in a group, because you can really 'get into it' and feel it properly... Celebrating Beltane by yourself isn't really the most wonderful way. *Sigh* I can't wait until I can legally join a group.... :( Kiama

MystiqueMoonlight	03 May 2002
Well Kayne, I celebrated Samhain quietly. I lit a black candle and burnt rosemary incense upon which I reflected on those loved ones that passed away and were dear to me. My ritual was simple and I like it that way for this occassion. Blessed be

kayne	03 May 2002
Sounds good MysticMoonlight... I wonder if there are groups in Australia that celebrate together like that? Might have to do a bit of a search...

Mermaid	03 May 2002
Kayne - maybe we could get a group together and hold some celebrations online? The online rituals that folk do on this website are always beautiful, but we're celebrating different occasions in the Sthrn hemisphere so we can't really participate in them. (I mean it would just feel crazy to do an online Beltane ritual at Samhein, no matter how lovely it was!) What do you aussies/kiwis out there think? Mermaid

Martin	03 May 2002
"Being under-18, and fairly isolated, I am very jealous of your wonderful group celebration, Martin. I think that the festivals are so much 'better' in a sense when celebrated in a group, because you can really 'get into it' and feel it properly... Celebrating Beltane by yourself isn't really the most wonderful way. " Believe me that group celebrations have their own problems too!! The first is trying to organise it so everyone is free, and then sharing out the ritual so everyone is contributing something. There is also the initial "self-consciousness" that creeps in when someone new joins, such as "will I make it over the fire without stubbing my toe or looking like a ass"?! Every ritual has to be suited to the group, rather than just doing things your own way, not that I'm selfish!! There is also the issue of people bringing someone along. Last ritual we had a buddhist who was a bit odd, and then as we were walking back down the hill we kept losing him as he wanted to wander off into the night!! It too 40 minutes whereas it normally takes 10!! Then this ritual we had someone come along who took it upon themselves to drink all of the wine and eat all the cake. However, these events have been taken into consideration so we can avoid them in future!! And even now when I have group rituals, I still find it a luxury extra. Working on my own is still my mainstay, and if it came down to group or solitary, I would plump for solitary everytinme!! Martin

Kiama	03 May 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Martin Last ritual we had a buddhist who was a bit odd, and then as we were walking back down the hill we kept losing him as he wanted to wander off into the night!! It too 40 minutes whereas it normally takes 10!! Then this ritual we had someone come along who took it upon themselves to drink all of the wine and eat all the cake. ROFLMAO! That just made me laugh... I have an image of this little old Tibetan monk wondering off into the wilderness in the darkness, then all these Pagans turning around and wondering where he had gone! Kiama

Malachite	03 May 2002
*enjoying the image* I love buddhists! my beltane was a quiet night in, I;m afraid...nothing exciitng here...

MystiqueMoonlight	03 May 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Mermaid Kayne - maybe we could get a group together and hold some celebrations online? The online rituals that folk do on this website are always beautiful, but we're celebrating different occasions in the Sthrn hemisphere so we can't really participate in them. (I mean it would just feel crazy to do an online Beltane ritual at Samhein, no matter how lovely it was!) What do you aussies/kiwis out there think? Mermaid I think your idea is lovely. I celebrate the Esbats and Sabbats. My rituals are usually quite simple (no dancing around bonfires in cloaks and daggers here...it is the 22nd century). Maybe we could do it by sharing our ideas a few weeks prior to each event and then coming up with a common theme and perhaps a common Rite, Prayer or Incantation. I am an eclectic Solitary not Wiccan. Anyone in the Sth Hemisphere who is interested let me know either by private mail or email. Blessed be...

The How was your Beltane? thread was originally posted on 01 May 2002 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.