Celebrate Life, Light and Love on Beltaine

by Mara Freeman, M.A.

The Celtic festival of Beltaine, on the First of May, opens wide the gates of summer in the northern hemisphere. This is the time to surrender to the irresistible rising of the life-force under the warmth and light of the growing sun. There is a promise of love and a reminder of the constant greening and renewal of life.

Beltaine and the Ancient Celts

The lives of the ancestral Celtic people were naturally attuned to these cycles as to the rhythm of a spiral dance. They celebrated with dance and song and rituals designed to promote a joyful communion both with each other and with the world of Nature. In Scotland and Ireland, fires were kindled on top of sacred hills. Fire is an earthly reflection of the Sun, once seen as the great Source of all life. When the Druids gathered the wood of nine sacred trees and raised the Beltaine fires on hilltops throughout the British Isles on May Eve, they were performing a real act of sympathetic magic, for the fires were designed to bring the sun’s light down to earth. When the wood burst into flames, it proclaimed the triumph of the light over the dark half of the year. In Scotland, every fire in the household was extinguished, a brief time of darkness followed, and then all the villagers climbed the hill to rekindle their flame from the new source with great rejoicing.

In Wales and the Isle of Man, country people turned out for a mock battle between two teams dressed as summer and winter, with, of course, summer winning the day. The victorious team’s captain chose a handsome young man to be the May King and the people picked a pretty May Queen, who were both led to their “court” in a green arbor and crowned with flowers. So every Beltaine does the Bride of the Earth wed her lover, the Green Man of the blossoming year. The offspring of their love will be the fruit of the year’s harvest.

Beltaine, Earth and Creative Forces

To celebrate the fruitful earth in a sacred manner was to constantly renew the ancient contract between human beings and the Divine. And we too can feel this great turning of the Wheel of the Year in our own bodies, hearts and minds, if we are willing to open up to the creative forces that flow through us, and learn to live in harmony and balance with each other and with the Earth. The wisdom of the Wheel of the Year can liberate us from our modern linear model of time, reminding us that death yields to life again and again.

At Beltaine, we are invited to drink the elixir of life, to let it stream through our veins like living light. We can do this by spending time in Nature, by walking barefoot in the lush new grass, watching the sunlight turning the veins of new leaves into a tracery of gold, by drinking in the sound of birdsong. When we open ourselves to the flowing spirit in everything, we cannot help but feel the connectedness of everything. This is why Beltane is thought of as the season of love: It reminds us that we are not separate beings at all, but joined to one another and every living being in this great ‘clan of Earth’s delight.’

A Personal Beltaine Celebration

This Beltaine, take a walk in Nature, preferably where there are trees and plants. Find a place to sit and take three deep breaths:

With the first breath, see a wave of golden light flowing down from the heavens through your head and flowing out of your feet, relaxing you and connecting you with Earth and Sky.

With the second breath, notice three natural things around you and let your consciousness flow into each of these, so that you can feel what it is like to be another sentient being of the non-human kind.

With the third breath, extend your consciousness to connect with all of Nature. You are part of the great Web of Life. Rest and be at peace in this feeling of oneness.

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About the Author

Mara Freeman, M.A., is an internationally recognized British author and teacher of Celtic wisdom and the Western Mystery Tradition, which she has taught for over thirty years. Her first book, Kindling the Celtic Spirit, upon which this article is based is a modern introduction to Celtic spirituality and sacred traditions. Her most recent book, Grail Alchemy: Initiation in the Celtic Mystery Tradition explores one’s own inner journey and transformation. http://chalicecentre.net/

Excerpt link: http://www.chalicecentre.net/kindling_the_celtic_spirit_excerpt.html