Beltane is upon us. I am in a new nemeton for this, having moved in just a couple of weeks ago. More about this important move to a very different geological and psychic territory in the next post, but for now an acknowledgement of the sacred space of Beltane: one of the four key ‘fire festivals’ of the Celtic/Brittonic traditions.
I am alone this evening although connecting in mind and heart with ‘my’ people. The fire is prepared, food and drink is prepared for afterwards, the birds have fresh water and their new sunflower hearts feeder. The garden is as prepared as it can be, given my very recent occupation of it. I will be lighting the fire, connecting with the elemental forces, and sitting in reflection very soon. I’ll have fresh air around me, new earth under my feet, water in my tiny washing-up bowl ‘pond’ (though a fast racing chalk stream just yards away… more about that later too) and, as well as the fire, some new solar lights which I hope will be glowing for the first time in the somewhat overgrown euonymus where I've placed them.
The pic below is not the rather boring euonymus, beloved of urban landscape planners, but the far more glorious 'may', or hawthorn. Slightly cheating pic actually since here in the north of England it's not quite at its most glowing until we are well into May. This is the origin of the saying "Cast not a clout 'til may is out..." in other words, don't shed your winter clothes until the may blossom is as exuberant as it is below.
There are some (carefully curated!) links below if you want to read more about Beltane: the briefest point to make here is that ‘May day’ celebrates Spring at its peak, fertility and new growth, and the coming Summer.
Emma Beddington’s Guardian article is an interesting and cool appraisal, though there is plenty of far more histrionic writing and videos online, should you be interested in the more outrageous aspects of Beltane: always considered the ‘wildest’ of the four festivals, even within the wilder reaches of the Pagan/Celtic/Magickal etc communities.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltane
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Beltane
