May Eve
By the end of April, the tentative, tender fertility of the spring equinox is bursting forth, bringing with it the promise
of summer. Flowering trees are in full bloom, early lettuces are beginning to head and grazing pastures have returned to
carpets of green. The days are growing ever longer and noticeably warmer as the sun grows in strength. The Greater Sabbat of
Beltane, which falls on May 1, is a celebration of renewed fertility, increasing light and healing.
The name Beltane is Celtic in origin but its exact meaning and derivation are debated. The Celtic “teine” translates as “fire” and Beltaine literally means “bright or goodly fire”. Some assert that ‘Bel’ refers to Bel/Belenus, the Celtic god of light, fire and healing whose major feast day occurred on May 1, thus Beltaine is translated as “fire of Bel”. Fire is the common element and refers to the bonfires lit on hilltops to draw the warming, fertilizing rays of the sun into the earth. Traditionally built of oak, the sacred wood of the King of the Waxing Year, bonfires were considered to bestow protection, fertility and blessings on those who jumped their flames or passed between two burning fires. Bits of the fires were also brought home to light the hearth fires and bring Beltane’s blessings into the home for the next year. In Ireland at one time, individual Beltane bonfires could not be lit until the High King ignited the fire at sundown on May Eve atop Tara Hill, the spiritual center of Ireland.
From Scandinavia to Austria, flaming fires lit the night skies across Continental Europe as well and it is from the
Continent that one of the most well known holiday customs may come. The Maypole is symbolic of renewed life, returning
vegetation and fecundity and may have evolved from archaic Roman herms, which were pillar-like fertility symbols that were
adorned with flowers and greens in May. Others point to the pine tree, sacred to the vegetation god Attis, that was carried
in ritual procession to the temple of Cybele where it was adorned and became the centerpiece of dances during Roman times.
As the Roman Empire swept across Europe and the British Isles, they carried their traditions with them and integrated them
into the cultures they conquered. Though Maypoles have abundant pagan symbolism, including the phallic pole, the womb of
ribbons and the sympathetic spiral dance of fertility, they continued to be erected throughout Europe, Britain and the
United States well into the previous century and continues in some areas to this day.
Flowers and garlands of greens are another primary symbol of the Sabbat. Everything seems to be in bloom or bud and to
bring these symbols of beauty and fertility into the home is to bless the house and its occupants. Doors, windows, gates,
fences, animals and people were fully decked in the blossoms and vegetation gathered by the young people of the town on
May Eve. Hawthorn, sacred to the fairy folk and symbolic of the White Goddess could be brought into the home on May Eve,
but would draw bad luck if brought in on any other night. Hawthorn and blackthorn can be woven into the chaplet of the May
Queen, who symbolizes the Goddess throughout the festivities, or into chaplets made for the females of the coven to create
a beautiful procession of flowered maidens. The dew collected from the buds of hawthorn was once believed to bestow beauty
on those who rinsed their faces with it and it was also collected and bottled for magical use. Daisies, with their splayed
petals and brilliant golden centers symbolize the sun and can be fashioned into chains to be worn about the neck for
protection from fairies who are said to be active on this night ushering in and uncovering the earth’s fertility.
For many modern covens, Beltane is a celebration of the divine union of the God and Goddess. Both are conceptualized as young adults, mature yet wild. They are the Lord and Lady of the Greenwood and are represented in both Celtic and Germanic traditions by the May King and May Queen, who are clad in vegetation and treated as royalty during the festivities. The sacred union results in fertility returning to the earth and was once celebrated with Greenwood marriages in which a young couple entered the woods or the fields on May Eve and returned the next morning bearing boughs, branches and blossoms to symbolically bring new life and fertility into the village. Similar in meaning is the ritual Great Rite, whether actual or symbolic, which is enacted as part of many modern celebrations and is a sympathetic acknowledgement of the union of male and female that revitalizes, heals and fertilizes the planet.
By sundown on May 1, celebrations began to wind down and the fires burned low. Ashes from the sacred fires were gathered for use in protective and healing talisman or to be sprinkled over the fields to confer fertility. Interestingly, this practice of ashing the fields has be validated by modern research which shows that ashes contain nitrogen, essential for the good growth of many plants, vegetables and flowers. The following morning, cattle and sheep were driven to higher pastures, now rich with new growth. The final planting had to be prepared and maturing gardens needed tending. The festivities of the Sabbat were over, but the blessings of the God and Goddess had been received and the promise of the growing season lay ahead.
Dark days have gone away
Welcome now the light of May
Fields of green and flowers bloom
Recieve the blessings and the boon
Continue to May Eve :: Correspondences
Leave Feedback for the Author
More historic pictures of Maypole dances through the 20th century Offsite