Beltane
The fire festival of early summer, celebrating love, life and abundance.
When: 1 May in the north, 31 October in the south.
What it is
Beltane (say "BEL-tayn") opens the bright half of the year, as Samhain opens the dark half. The trees are in leaf, the hawthorn flowers, and the evenings are long. Beltane celebrates being alive: blossom, warmth, desire, friendship, and joy that needs no reason.
Witches say that at Beltane, as at Samhain, the border to the other world is thin. On this night it is the world of the fair folk, and the old customs are for protection as much as for joy.
Where it comes from
Beltane is one of the four seasonal festivals of old Ireland and Scotland. An Irish glossary of about the year 900 says that druids lit two fires and drove the cattle between them to guard them against disease, before the herds went up to the summer pastures.
The customs recorded in the last three hundred years fit that. Hearth fires were put out and lit again from the Beltane fire. Yellow flowers were strewn on doorsteps and a bush before the house was hung with ribbons and shells, to keep the luck of milk and butter from being stolen. People washed their faces in the dew of May morning.
England has its maypole and May queen, Germany its Maibaum and the dance into May. The night before is Walpurgis Night there, the night of the witches in legend.
The Beltane of modern witches was shaped in the 1950s. Since 1988 a great fire festival has been held in Edinburgh on this night, which is new and says so. Beltane is one of the eight sabbats of the Wheel of the Year.
Ways to celebrate
- Flowers at the door: a few blooms on the threshold or a small bunch by the entrance.
- A crown or a garland: bound from flowers and green from your own garden or a bought bunch.
- Ribbons: tie coloured ribbons to a branch in a vase, one for each thing you wish to see grow this summer.
- May morning: get up early, go outside and greet the day.
- A flame: light a candle and name what makes you glad to be alive.
- Company: eat outdoors with people you like.
Good to know
The old Beltane fires were large and people leapt over them. Leave that to history. Light a fire only where it is allowed, keep it small, and never leave a fire or a candle unattended.
Pick only plants you know and may pick. In Ireland a hawthorn standing alone is left untouched by custom; it is a good custom anywhere.
Beltane speaks of love and desire. That is an invitation and no demand: joy in your own company counts as fully, and whatever you celebrate with someone else is celebrated because both want it.