Beltane
May 1st
Also called: Beltaine, May Day
This is the second of the Gaelic fire festivals. This is a celebration of joy and revelry with fire at its core. Bonfires are often lit and fire is celebrated.
They would crown a May Queen and dance around the Maypole. A maypole is a large wooden erected pole sometimes decorated with greenery and flowers. Ribbons of red and white, and sometimes pinks and greens are tied to the top. Then the ribbons are taken up by individuals and they dance around the pole.
Like her sister celebration opposite of her, Samhain, the veil is thinnest during this time and the world of the fae often practices mischief. Offerings of food, drink, and trinkets were often left for the fae to appease them and be spared their mischievous ways.
In the past, this was the time when animals would be taken to the pasture where they would remain until Samhain and all the crops would have been finished being planted by now. This would be a major time of celebration and revelry!
Beltane is dedicated to the Goddess Diana, the virgin Goddess who is untamed and unkept. Virgin meaning not claimed by any man but owned by Herself, whole onto Herself. She may have kept many lovers but none could claim Her as theirs. This is a time to be wild and free and release your energy, desires, and passions.
This is also a time where the young girl first reaches womanhood and is celebrated and honored into the mystery of menstruation and blood rites.
(note- this does not mean a woman is ready for sex as soon as she has her menarche, but it is a time for bodily exploration and learning desires, and testing the bounds of freedom. This also represents not a single moment but a large window of time between when a girl reaches menarche to motherhood.)
It is a time to bless and honor our bodies and our desires. To flame the fires of passion and embrace the untamed wild energy and freedom. We are still so oppressed and struggling to truly be free and in some parts of the world, it is even harder for women to have the tiniest piece of freedom. We can honor the women who came before us who fought for what we have today.
We can also use this time to heal from patriarchy, oppression, body image, and sexual assault, and trauma.
As the wheel turns...
At the beginning of Samhain, we saw our potential ahead of us as we left the past behind. At Winter's Solstice, we hoped and trusted in the spark of light that we wished to grow into. At Imbolc, the little spark is growing and being nourished with life. At the spring equinox, roots are taking hold.
Women's Mystery:
Menarche. Sexual freedom and discovery. Taking control of one's own life and body.
Even those who may be asexual or have little sexual desire or is still untouched can find empowerment in that discovery and knowledge. It is about being true to oneself.
Not all women menstruate or have regular menstruation. That is ok as well. Blood is life and it is the cycle of change our bodies make constantly and the changes we make. It can be simply in the expression of "I am woman, hear me roar!". Perhaps it is found in the first stirrings where you felt you were becoming a woman or becoming freer. Maybe when you finally found inner strength and freedom even.
For those who are trans it could be the moment you felt you were really a woman or when you shared that or transitioned even.
Ways to celebrate:
Leave offerings to the fae
Create a small altar sized (or a full-sized if you have the space!) maypole
Discover your body
Find sex, pleasure, unleash desires
Heal from sexual assault or trauma
Heal from the patriarchy and oppression
Heal our body image and/or embrace our bodies
Pray or send energy to those women who are not nearly as free as you can be
Use your blood in ritual
Practice self-care or have a beauty/spa day
Dance!
Colors:
White, Pink, Reds
Foods:
Sweets, Honey, Berries
How to celebrate as a Dianic…
As a Dianic, it is a time to honor the Goddess Diana and the blood mysteries to me. A celebration of menstruation, blood magick, sex magick. A time for our natural fertility and lust. Like the Goddess Diana, it has this raw untamed almost feral energy about the day.
I'll decorate my altar with fresh flowers, candles, and a maypole with red, pink & white ribbon.
I made this one using a very inexpensive wooden papertowel holder! Hot glued flowers & ribbon on it!
