Rites of Spring

I love this time of year as it is the time of new growth. Blossom on trees and fresh green leaves bursting forth leading us up to the Summer Solstice in June.

This time of year is also known as Beltane to Pagans and others who love and honour Mother Earth. It is a very popular Celtic tradition and in the past in spring time, at the beginning of the farming calendar, everybody would be hoping for a fruitful year for their families and fields.

Festivities involved fire which was thought to cleanse, purify and increase fertility. Cattle were often passed between two fires and the properties of the flame and the smoke were seen to ensure the fertility of the herd.

Fire is still the most important element of most Beltane celebrations and there are many traditions associated with it. It is seen to have purifying qualities which cleanse and revitalise. People leap over the Beltane fire to bring good fortune, fertility (of mind, body and spirit) and happiness through the coming year.

 Many people think it is all to do with witchcraft and involves sex! Although there may be an element of sexuality in the background, it is mainly all to do with fertility of the land and giving thanks to Gaia.

 We probably all remember seeing or joining in with dancing around the Maypole on 1^st May at some time in our lives. This tradition is also part of the Beltane festivities.

 

This time of the year is the time to bring forth our own creativity and start to grow our own dreams and desires. It’s a time to bring our masculine and feminine energies into balance. It is thought to be the time when Goddess and Green Man came together and became one, a time of fertility.

Green Man

Goddess