Beltane comes from the Gaelic word La Beltane (meaning bright fire or lucky fire) and is widely celebrated in Great Britain especially Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man.

Beltane, May Eve, is the day before May Day, a traditional day for dancing around a Maypole. In ancient times, couples would go out to gather flowers for next day festival, making love under the starry sky.

The next morning lovers will bring flowers back to the village,which referred to as “brining in May.” Beltane celebrates love and sexuality. Plants are growing and wild animals are giving birth. Summer is here!

We celebrate Beltane with great joy and optimism, decorating the home with flowers, bonfires, feasting, and visiting holy wells welcoming abundant sunshine and warmer temperatures. We are mowing yards, planting the garden, and enjoying being outdoors. 

Enjoy the smell of the earth and freshly cut grass. Take quiet nature walks and look for baby animals. 

Rituals are performed to protect the livestock and growing crops and encourage their growth. In one ritual cattle are lead between two bonfires for protection from diseases.

At Beltane, the life force surges through every tree, plant, bug, and blade of grass. Chickens are laying eggs, calves and sheep are being born. Cows are milked. We gather dandelions, mushrooms in the woods, and wild strawberries are ripening. 

The God and Goddesses are united and all nature is filled with fertility and promise.

It is celebration of fire and purification. 

The May Pole is believed to come from Germanic pagans and is a symbol of fertility.

Today, most Pagans Balance traditions include dancing around Maypole, drinking May wine, and, often, choosing and blessing a May King and May Queen.

MAY WINE

May wine is easy to make:

Take a handful of woodruff, rinse well,and toss into a large punch bow.

Add sliced lemons and strawberries.

Cover with a white sparkling wine. 

Let the brew stand for 30 minutes to one hour and serve.

MAY QUEEN AND KING

The young oak tree falls deeply in love with the Maiden goddess. There union is completed on the eve of May Day and she becomes pregnant. 

They represent the Heiros Gamos, or sacred marriage. Together as the May Queen and May King, they bring together the earth and sky. 

During the Middle Ages the May King was often referred to as Robin Hood. 

CELEBRATE

Dance around the May Pole, cuddle with your lover, have a parade, indulge in eating melted chocolate.

Babies born on May 1st were traditionally named Robin. The goddess Juno watches over childbirth. 

Dancing is a way we celebrate. We use our bodies to express joy and revitalization.

LOVERS TO HONOR

Beltane is a time to think about famous lovers and honor the Gods and Goddesses of love, romance, and passion. Sexuality and fertility are in abundance. The Maiden Goddess reaches her peak after the renewal of spring.

List of deities you can honor during the Beltane season:

Aphrodite – Greek Goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation

Astarte – Eqyptian and Hittite goddess of love, sexual love, and also war

Bastet – Egyptian goddess of love, protection, and cats

Bes – Egyptian god of love, music, and dance

Cupid- Roman God of love, sexual desire, and affection

Eros- the Greek god of love was known to be mischievous and Aphrodites companion

Erzulie – Haitian Vodou goddess of love, passion, beauty, and prosperity

Freya – Norse goddess of love, fertility, sex, and war 

Jarilo – Slavic God of fertility, lust, passion

Lada – Slavic goddess of beauty and love

Lofn – Norse goddess of forbidden marriages

Min – Egyptian god of sexual pleasure, love, procreation

Osun – West African goddess of femineity, fertility, and love 

Venus- Roman goddess of love and beauty

Yue-Lao – Chinese god of love

Xochipilli – Aztec god of love, song, beauty, and sexual desire 

Beltane Symbols:

Symbols  – maypole, crowns of flowers, bonfires, cauldron’s, eggs, may gads, and fairies

Food – dairy, bread, strawberries, oats, fresh greens, cakes, eggs

Herbs/plants – mint, clover, dittany, thyme, and yarrow. Ash, elder, hawthorn. Honeysuckle, marigolds, lily of the valley, rose, and other flowering plants. 

Incense – lilac, rose, frankincense 

Crystals/Gemstones – Emerald, malachite, amber, bloodstone, and rose quartz 

Animals – bees, cattle, doves, frogs, swans, cats, leopard, lynx

Tools – broom, cauldron

ALTAR IDEAS

Beltane is represented by bright colors, beautiful flowers, and the goddess. Yellow, purple and red will liven up your space. Add flowers that are blooming in your area. 

Place the offerings of springtime foods on your altar or in your yard. An outside altar is a great place to leave an offering for wildlife. 

Families may wish to weave a flower crown to wear during altar time. 

To attract a  Female Energy – have a picture or statue of a goddess (any deity that you can associate yourself)

Celebrate the womb and giving birth with eggs (you may wish to dye them like at Ostara). Place other female symbols are cups, rings, young plants

Honor female ancestors with a photograph and a family story

The Gods energy can be represented with a symbol of potency such as antlers, acorns, arrows or swords. 

Make prayers to express gratitude for the fertility of the earth. 

MAKE A MAY BUSH

A May Bush is a chosen bush that is decorated for Beltane. Decorate you bush, traditionally it was a multiflora rose bush or similar thorny plant, with flowers, ribbons, and pretty shells or stones. 

Yellow and orange represent the fire. Marigolds, dandelions, buttercups, and primrose are blooming. Hawthorne, birch, and hazel.

Early in a day, make a small version of maypole to symbolize the union of the God and the Goddess. You may use the fallen branch. Wrap your branch with red and white ribbon and place a pot of soil or in the ground. In front of your maypole begin a small ritual fire in your cauldron, or heatproof dish. You may use small twig or bark, and if you can, sprinkle fern foliage into your fire. Briefly hold your hands over the fire to feel purifying heat. You and (your family) can walk around your maypole and fire to ensure good fortune and fertility. For safety extinguish the fire when done.

Make a May Day Bouquet for Blessings

If you have flowers, make a traditional May Day bouquet. Plate it into the vase. Let give blessings to  the God and Goddesses.

Beltane Charm to “Tie the Knot” of Marriage

Knot spells are a very old form of folk magic. Gods and Goddesses are said to “tie the knot” of marriage at Beltane. We can create our own knot-based magical charm to honor this ancient holiday. Love is love. Whoever we are, and however we are, lets craft a charm of nine loving knots.

With each knot that you make, meditate about your intention. Laugh and chat with your lover and really get the love flowing.

The emotion and energy that you have during this time is going to stick. Take this time to just be in love. Feel free to chant the Knot spell to help you focus.

By knot of one, the spell’s begun

By knot of two, it cometh true

By knot of three, so mote it be

By knot of four, this power I store

By knot of five, the spell’s alive

By knot of six, this spell I fix

By knot of seven, events I’ll leaven

By knot of nine, what’s done is mine

Venus, Queen of Love, divine

Bring the love to me that’s mine.

Use a long strip of natural fabric (red or white are ideal), tie 9 knots, each of which should contain within a small stone, herb, charm, or written prayer specially or the energy of love – cosmic, magical, social and personal – your intuition is a guide here. 

When you’ve finished making your knot, let it charge in sunlight or moonlight or say an incantation or prayer to a deity, whatever works best with your practice. 

After performing your magic, hang the charm near the front door or bedroom for blessings to illuminate today and the bright future.

FAIRIES 

The fairies often reside in gardens. You can make a fairy garden or fairy fort so they have a place to frolic. Make ritual to invite fairies to your garden.

Leave out milk and honey!

BELTANE FOODS

Cook rich delicious spring delicacies:

Strawberries dipped in chocolate and truffles.

Fresh greens either foraged or grown. 

Dandelions are popular for salads. Asparagus, onions, sugar peas, and radishes are wonderful spring foods to add to your meal. 

Lamb, fish, eggs, and dairy products are popular 

Caudle is a popular dish made of eggs, milk, oatmeal, and butter. 

Leave an offering for the Sith, fairies, and elves. 

MAGICAL PROPERTIES OF BELTANE FOODS

Many foods have magical properties, correspondences, and can be used in rituals as well as for eating pleasure and good health. 

Asparagus – sex and fertility, healing, boldness

Honey – abundance, love, creativity, healing

Oats – fertility, stability, ancestor work, endurance

Rosemary – love, dream work, sleep, protection

Spinach – strength, finances, passion, shielding

Strawberries – romance, friendship, luck, pregnancy

Thyme – purification, releasing negativity, forecasting, relieving anxiety

Activating Life 

The ancient Beltane celebration suggests a sense that the seed in the ground lies dormant until it has been ignited with a spark of magical spirit. The well-known and well-loved Maypole dance can be seen as the lighting strike that directs that spark down to the Maypole into the earth, making a fusion between spirit and matter. 

There is something sexual about the celebration of this union. It is a biological fact that without equal balance of masculine and feminine energy, there can be no life. The power of intertwining opposing energies is expressed through passion, and this is emotion that is necessary to bring to any venue to blossom and worth pursuing. Ideas need substance and action in order to manifest. We need to get excited to take necessary steps. 

Ritual: Ask Yourself Questions

Ask yourself what makes your heart sign. What makes you passionate and inspired?

How do you activate your dreams into realization?

BELTANE FIRES

The bonfire is an important part of the celebration. A Beltane fire is ignited in the community and it holds special powers. Households would dose their own fire and then relight them using fire from the Beltane Bonfire. 

When the Beltane fire dies down ashes are collected and saved. After they have cooled, they are sprinkled on livestock and in gardens.

Couples jumped the fire together to show their commitment to each other. Similar to our pagan wedding ceremony of jumping the broom. 

During the Beltane bonfire, we celebrate the return of the sun and the light. We seek to be a light in the world. 

Bonfires remind us that we need to shine our light during dark times.