Theres
April 29th, 2002, 05:36 PM
it's that time of year gang (yay!!!).
Beltane (in MANY spellings), May Day, Walpurgisnacht, Rudemas (or Roodmas), Floralia, and whatever else you call it, IT's TIME!
time for jumping over the Belfire, for erecting a Maypole and dancing with the ribbons, and for washiong your face in the morning dew (said to preserve one's youthful looks!). it's time for May Wine, and most certainly time to go 'a Maying'!
it's time to celebrate the end of Winter, and the the return of the Sun.
it's time to clean out all the old baggage (both physical and spiritual), and plant seeds. seeds of life, of inspiration, of love.
in the past it represented the 'coming out', when the cattle were released back into the fields for the Summer, and when the people crawled out of their Winter 'hibernations'. this was when the various tribes would gather in revelry for the first time of the year!
the ancient Celts really only observed two major changes on the wheel... Samhain and Beltane, the beginning of the dark half of the year and the beginning of the light.
there are many versions of the history of Beltane, all pretty much the same, but with subtle differences.
here's a few links...
http://www.witchvox.com/holidays/beltaine/beltaine_story.html
and from Selena Fox...
http://www.circlesanctuary.org/pholidays/Beltane.html
and...
http://www.mythinglinks.org/Beltane.html
this year my friends and i have 'hived off' from the group we've been celebrating with for years, choosing to start our own festival. we've found a beautiful spot in the Cascade foothills, and i'll be there all weekend, starting Thursday. we'll be crowning our new May Queen on Saturday, and then dancing around the pole til the wee hours. yay!!!
i wish you all the happiest of celebrations, and the best for the coming season!
Happy Beltane!
Beltane (in MANY spellings), May Day, Walpurgisnacht, Rudemas (or Roodmas), Floralia, and whatever else you call it, IT's TIME!
time for jumping over the Belfire, for erecting a Maypole and dancing with the ribbons, and for washiong your face in the morning dew (said to preserve one's youthful looks!). it's time for May Wine, and most certainly time to go 'a Maying'!
it's time to celebrate the end of Winter, and the the return of the Sun.
it's time to clean out all the old baggage (both physical and spiritual), and plant seeds. seeds of life, of inspiration, of love.
in the past it represented the 'coming out', when the cattle were released back into the fields for the Summer, and when the people crawled out of their Winter 'hibernations'. this was when the various tribes would gather in revelry for the first time of the year!
the ancient Celts really only observed two major changes on the wheel... Samhain and Beltane, the beginning of the dark half of the year and the beginning of the light.
there are many versions of the history of Beltane, all pretty much the same, but with subtle differences.
here's a few links...
http://www.witchvox.com/holidays/beltaine/beltaine_story.html
and from Selena Fox...
http://www.circlesanctuary.org/pholidays/Beltane.html
and...
http://www.mythinglinks.org/Beltane.html
this year my friends and i have 'hived off' from the group we've been celebrating with for years, choosing to start our own festival. we've found a beautiful spot in the Cascade foothills, and i'll be there all weekend, starting Thursday. we'll be crowning our new May Queen on Saturday, and then dancing around the pole til the wee hours. yay!!!
i wish you all the happiest of celebrations, and the best for the coming season!
Happy Beltane!