Beltaine @ MindSay

In the dark spring skies

reflections of the branches

dance over me in a prickly hug

my hair entangled

the woods catching me

as I walk

green buds giggling at me

the crunch of my boots on old grass

giving way to the moist ones coming

going away the brittle brown

yet still they reach

this is how it was at home today

I am the priestess of this place

reaching for signs of summer

but still too dank and cold

memories of ice heavy on the brow

the white was here not long ago

evidence is in the creek bed

a steady stream of blackened water

gurgling with frogs and toads

squirrels dart along side me

and I wonder where the deer are

somewhere my people are playing the drum

somewhere there is a fire burning

somewhere my lover is leaping

and I am not forgotten

the first flower I saw:

brilliant purple iris

a golden and white star

inside

peeking at me

stung my eyes

not yet adjusted to light

I'm not really alone, and yet I am the lone witch in these woods

I am the woman you'd see haunting the cemetery

but this place is alive and growing

the only stones here line the creek

the only ghosts the fallen trees

but even they provide life

I can spy the mice in the shelter 

I am still hugging the shadows

enjoying the chill

curled up to pillow

deep in bed

sucking in the water

waiting for the sun

sleeping not dead 

I share this with you tonight. 

Reaching outward like a branch does. 

My fingertips upward beginnings to bud. 

I feel grown green inside.

Like the migraine I had yesterday

was only a sign I'm sprouting horns.

   The creek's edge will soon be lined with bugs.

My arms itch after that thought. 

Will you be here,

next time 

to hold my hand 

when I walk?

Or

will we

link arms

like sisters

do?

and skip!

Today is yet another fire festival, the first of May, a time to light the bonfires to welcome home the Sun, to bring prosperity to the crops, and "get it on" with your loved ones.  Yet, poor me, I have no place to light an actual bonfire and, besides, I'm not the kind of Pagan who really likes huge gatherings and I don't have any lovers at this time.  The next best thing is to "nurture the fire within" -- to kick up the sparks of my imagination and draw from my dreams and invite the Gods to speak through the images I create.  I'm an artist, after all, it is my livelihood now, and I'm far from pastoral, but we can take what our ancestors did and create rites customized to our modern lives.  Each holy day brings me closer to the Source while still keeping my feet firmly planted in the reality of Now.

So, today I'm letting my fingers dance around the Maypole that is a pencil.  I'm drawing without a plan, the important thing is to just draw, to write, to make busy buzzing bee-like music (humming) as I merrily pursue the joy of the act of Creation.  The Gods must've felt like this while they were making the world.  That's how we are like them, are a part of them; we create from our dreams.

I took a look back at what I did last Beltaine -- that marked the day I first started making Blog Themes for Mindsay users -- how much of a blessing is that?  Go look at the Pick a Theme page and you'll feel my touch. So, this is sort of an anniversary; one year later and Mindsay is even cooler now that even more people have discovered how to do what I love to do -- CREATE. DESIGN. IMAGINE!

This is also a day I remember to have nice conversations with one of my most important patron Gods, Lugh.  Now, I'm not Irish and I do not practice the Druid ways, but I do revere this Celtic God.  My old friend, Andrew, used to pick on me for my close relationship with this God.  He would say, "Val, since you worship Lugh so much, you should just be a Druid already."  For years he bugged me to become his student, but I refused.  I appreciated his offer, but he just didn't understand what a joy it is to have the freedom to worship as I please.  I don't need to be a Druid to revere a traditionally Celtic God.  Besides, he probably doesn't know Lugh like I do anyway -- not that I'm saying one relationship is better than the other.  That should show you that one Pagan is not always like another; we are all different in the way we relate to the Gods, that's why there are so many religions!

Lugh (earlier Lug, modern Irish Lú, pronounced /luː/) is an Irish deity represented in mythological texts as a hero and High King of the distant past. He is known by the epithets Lámfhada ("long hand"), for his skill with a spear or sling, Samildánach ("multi-talented", "skilled in many arts"), Lonnbeimnech ("fierce striker") and Macnia ("boy hero"), and by the matronymic mac Ethlenn or mac Ethnenn ("son of Ethliu or Ethniu"). He is a reflex of the pan-Celtic god Lugus, and his Welsh counterpart is Lleu Llaw Gyffes.

Now that I've plugged his name in my blog, feel free to look up more about him online.  But, to me, Lugh is more than just some kind of mythic hero; for me he is the lightning flash of ideas, the quick reflex to do something clever that comes to me after practicing and honing a talent into a skill, and he provides me opportunities to masterfully make and create beautiful things.  He is also the feeling of falling in love we all get when we listen to a song that hits us in the heart.  Lugh is the tears we shed when we are moved by any work of art, be it a performance or a painting that does more than just be pretty.  He is the fire I nurture within me.

Thank you, Lugh, for helping me become a better artist.  Help me to develop my talents further.  Help me to create beautiful images that reach beyond even my own expectations.  Help me to know that I am worthy of Your love.  Send blessings of ideas and dreams to my loved ones.  May we all get in touch with the fire that is You shining within us all.  And thank you for the blessings I bring to others through my art.  So mote it be!  

   Beltaine : pronounced Bel-Chen-ya, is the third of the four ancient Celtic Fire Festivals. Beltaine is a Greater Sabbat celebrated on April 30th (the eve of) or May 1st. Beltane is also known as May Eve or May Day.  Beltaine is an anglicization of the Irish "Bealtaine" or the Scottish "Bealtuinn". While "tene" clearly means "fire," nobody really knows whether Bel refers to Belenus, a pastoral god of the Gauls, or is from "bel," simply meaning "brilliant." It might even derive from "bil tene" or "lucky fire" because to jump between two Beltane fires was sure to bring good fortune, health to your livestock, and prosperity . In the Highlands, the Beltaine fires and festivals were common until the mid-nineteenth century. Also, in the Shetlands, up until at leats the same time, dancing around the bonfires continued, and it was considered that to jump over the flames brought properity and plenty.

   When the Druids and their successors raised the Beltaine fires on hilltops throughout the British Isles on May Eve, they were performing a real act of magic, for the fires were lit in order to bring the sun’s light down to earth. Beltaine's origin is the landing of the Tuatha De Danaan upon the shores of Ireland. This is a between time, and between light and dark, day and night, has a profound meaning for Celts. These are in a very real way, a Third time. It marks the beginning of the summer and the light half of the Celtic year. 

  Our ancestors were predominantly a pastoral people. Beltaine was the time when the cattle were put out to their summer grazing pastures in the mountains. It was believed that the sacred bonfires would also, bring protection, good fortune and fertility to the people. It was also the time when the Ruadh or warriors would test their fighting skills in the Beltaine Games. With the hard work of planting accomplished, it was a time when the clans came together in celebration with the hope that the crops would grow and flourish in the months ahead. Beltaine is the beginning of summer.

   The actual Beltaine festivities began a few days beforehand ther festival date, by the collection of the nine sacred woods for the kindling of the fires. Each fire was built in two places, with a narrow passage between the two. A circular trench was cut round them symbolizing the sun. The area was a sacred hill, or set of hills, like the Paps of Anu, and these were large enough to hold the entire assembled community. 

   As at the other festivals, games and racing were the norm. With the marches and races, horses were a prominent feature. The usual music and singing, markets and feasting were also to be found. In many places, a May Queen was elected. The maiden was crowned by an elder lady of notoriety, after the new queen and her court had arrived at a predetermined place. It was the May Queen who led the hymns to the rising sun, as all the people congregated on the appropriate hill at Beltaine. She is also believed to have led some of the marches in the older times.

  Beltaine was a time of fertility and unbridled merrymaking, when young and old would spend the night making love in the Greenwood. In the morning, they would return to the village bearing huge budding boughs of hawthorn (the may-tree) and other spring flowers with which to bedeck themselves, their families, and their houses. They would process back home, stopping at each house to leave flowers, and enjoy the best of food and drink that the home had to offer. In every village, the maypole—usually a birch or ash pole—was raised, and dancing and feasting began. Festivities were led by the May Queen and her consort, the King who was sometimes Jack-in-the-Green, or the Green Man, the old god of the wildwood. They were borne in state through the village in a cart covered with flowers and enthroned in a leafy arbor as the divine couple whose unity symbolized the sacred marriage of earth and sun.

   Amonst the ancient customs of this festival which survives to this day, is that young women will wash their face in the dew of Beltaine morning to preserve their beauty. May dew was indeed considered to be holy water. People who were sprinkled with May dew were assured of health.

   This day was one which saw visits to the holy well. A visitor would walk three times around the well, then they would throw in a silver coin, after which, while praying, they would drink from the well using their hands. When those things were done, they would then ties a bit of colored cloth or a piece of clothing, called a cloutie to a branch of a nearby tree. The above had to be done in complete silence. The visitor also had to be well out of sight of the well before sunrise.

    Beltaine, being the calends of summer, is a time between, therefore the veil between words thins, allowing this world and Tir na Nog (OtherWorld) to intermingle.This has always been considered the other time in the year when the veil between the worlds was thin. Because of this it has been long believed that the fae were abroad. As the fae were prone to stealing milk from cows, or even turning it sour, rowan crosses were hung in byres, and domestic animals were sprinkled with water from holy wells. It was particularly important that no fire (kindling) should be given away at this time.

   Traditionally, every fire in the household was extinguished on the eve of Beltaine.  Then, long before the oncoming dawn, the folk left their homes. They took their livestock with them and made their way up to the site sanctified by centuries of such veneration. The ritual was carried out by the Fili or Draoi, (The word Draoi is used here in its 'paleo' sense of a teacher of the skills and not in its later 'neo' sense), who await the arrival of the community.

   Once assembled the eyes of everyone turned towards the horizon awaiting the rise of the new sun. The king or queen recited verses of poetry just before the first rays of the sun peek over the horizon. As the small glimmer of light grew into blazing radiance, the voices of the people raised in praise with song. This as the chosen people begin creating the Need Fire, the virgin flame from which the fires are kindled.  When the wood burst into flames, it proclaimed the triumph of the light over the dark half of the year. 

   The sacred fire now lit in greeting to the sun, the whole community then formed a procession. They traveled three times around the fires. They then drove all the animals through the passages between the fires three times to be blessed and purified. This was to ensure fertility in the coming months before being driven up onto the hillsides for summer.   Then the whole hillside came alive as people thrust brands into the newly roaring flames and whirled them about their heads in imitation of the circling of the sun. If any man there was planning a long journey or dangerous undertaking, he leaped backwards and forwards three times through the fire for luck. As the fire sunk low, the girls jumped across it to procure good husbands; pregnant women stepped through it to ensure an easy birth, and children were also carried across the smoldering ashes. After the blessings, torches were lit and carried back to all the homes to re-light the fires that had been extinguished. The ending of the ceremony was the feasting in which everyone made votive offerings to the sun. When the sun rose that dawn, those who had stayed up to watch it might see it whirl three times upon the horizon before leaping up in all its summer glory. When the fire died down, the embers were thrown among the sprouting crops to protect them.