Beltane, Fire Festival of Love.

Beltane is an ancient Celtic fire festival representing fertility and love. It is also known as May Day and Walpurgisnacht. This holiday marks the start of the bright half of the year. It's name stands for "bright fires" or "brilliant fires". Ancient people would light a big bonfire to kick off the celebration. People would dance and frolic around it, some would jump over the fire. This was said to bring good luck. Couples would get married on Beltane, to symbolize the Sacred Marriage of the Goddess and the God. It was a ritual to honor the fruitfulness and the fertility of Spring.

At Beltane we honor the Goddess Freyja, Goddess of love, fertility and war. She was known to be a beautiful and sexual Goddess on the Norse pantheon. We also honor Aphrodite, Greek Goddess of beauty and love, and Artemis, Greek Goddess of the hunt. Beltane is also a time when the veil between worlds in thin, and contact with the faeries is possible. It is said that the Queen of the Faeries rides out on her horse on Beltane eve, to search for people to snatch into faeryland. Faeries were known to lure people into their magical world, never to return again, on nights like Beltane. Enjoy the Fae from afar, dont get to close! To work with the Fae on Beltane, leave offerings of honey cakes, milk and butter, make little places for them to bathe like a bird bath, or leave little stones and crystals.

There are many crafts to make for Beltane. Like a May Pole to dance around or a May basket. My favorite is a flower crown. You can make it with real or fake flowers.

Beltane Flower Crown

* 2 pipe cleaners
* fake or real flowers
* ribbon
* hot glue gun
* scissors

Twist one end from each pipe cleaner together. Hold it around the upper part of your forehead and then twist the other ends together. This will make the base of the crown.

Cut the flowers from the main stem. Leave an inch or two of each stem on the flowers if possible. You can also leave some leaves, or use them separately if that works better. Glue the flowers and leaves around the pipe cleaner. Use as many or few as you want.

Once you get the flowers how you want them, you are ready to add the ribbon. Cut 8 - 10 pieces of ribbon; all different lengths, between 1 and 2 feet long. Glue one end of each piece of ribbon to the inside, back edge of the flower crown. If desired glue a flower to the other end of the ribbon. You can also wrap a ribbon or two around the pipe cleaners.

On your altar: Flowers and greenery, colors of red and white to represent the Goddess, also Spring colors of purple, yellow and green. Representation of the Goddess of your choice. Faeries and Faery dust, (if you plan on leaving an offering for the faeries, milk and honey are a good choice.) Crystals of rose quartz, amethyst, carnelian, lapis lazuli. If you can, light a fire on Beltane, this will connect you with the ancient Celtic tradition. If you dont have access to anywhere to light a fire, you can use candles on your altar.

Wishing everyone many Beltane blessings!


Flower Crown taken from About.com



Photo courtesy of the Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival