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April 2022

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INTO THE WOODS WE GO.

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Collecting and drying local Spring flowers to dress my Beltane candles with 🌷

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Sunset at the altar 🖤

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Beltaine - An Ancient Irish Celebration of Nature

Sometimes, as an Irish person, I get a little irked when I see people on Youtube especially; spout a lot of stuff about Beltaine which is complete nonsense. I’m fine if they want to create that nonsense for themselves, but in terms of the real historical Beltaine festival, which originated in Ireland (given the name like lol!) and celebrated in other celtic cultures such as Scotland and Isle of Man.

Excerpt from Newgrange.org:

In Irish mythology, the beginning of the summer season started with the Fire Festival at Beltane. Great bonfires would mark a time of purification and transition, heralding in the season in the hope of a good harvest later in the year, and were accompanied with rituals to protect the people from any harm by otherworldly spirits. At the Beltany (Beltony) Stone Circle in the North West of Ireland, the sunrise at Beltane is aligned with the only decorated stone in the circle. The Beltany Stone Circle gets its name from Beltane which is associated with the lighting of hilltop fires in a rekindling of the sun.

The Beltany Stone Circle (Above) astronomical alignment is not precise as at Newgrange, it is more circumstantial, the Stone Circle gets its name from Beltane and the sun rises at Beltane behind the only stone that is decorated.

(above) Drombeg Stone Circle - Ireland.

Look, I get that people feel connections to things and want to be a part of it, and sometimes I’m a little over protective of my Irish heritage, because - well, our history is one of a lot of strife, oppression and tyranny. Centuries of it.

But I’m getting off topic, and you get my meaning. We had to fight tooth and nail, claw our way to keeping what precious remained of our culture and as someone who feels very close to her ancestors, its lands, and the ancient Pagans of a world long gone from us, I want to protect their memory.

If you ever come to Ireland, visit these places, the stone circles, the ancient forests covered in bluebells and smells of wild garlic, where you’ll see deers run wild. Hear the chirping of birds and rays if sunlight through tall trees - that is what it means to be connected to your ancestors. To know they seen the same sights as you, heard the same sounds, felt the same feelings of awe and wonder at the world that birthed you. By all means celebrate your beliefs whatever way you want, but please don’t mold an already established celebration and festival to what you want it to be, rather than what it is. 

Ancient cultures such as the Neolithic (Stone Age) people who built Newgrange in Ireland aligned their monuments to the major solar events, the Winter Solstice, the Spring Equinox, the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox. The solar year was further divided to mark the half way points between the major solar events giving the cross quarter days of Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain. 

Newgrange.org

This site below gives a good understanding of the ‘fire festival’. Their will be a giant fire lit this 1st of May here in Ireland.

http://branawen.blogspot.com/2010/04/beltaine-festival-of-sacred-fire.html

Dance, have fun, eat be merry, and be respectful.

And then rest, and enjoy the last of spring and the coming of summer.

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the Beltane Ritual

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Beltane - a fire festival that celebrates of the coming of summer and the fertility of the coming year.

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Bundle for the Beltane Fire

Excerpt from Wheel of the Year, Llewellyn Publishing.

A bundle of wood was assembled in March for the celebration of May Day. This bundle of wood is destined to burn in the fire of Beltane. It contains three pieces of each of nine different species of wood (these are birch, oak, mountain ash, willow, hawthorn, hazel, apple, vine and fir).

It is now very dry and will give a good flare. If you wish, you can decorate it with wild white flowers or small flowering branches of fruit trees and white ribbons, in honor of the Goddess.

As you tie the bundle of wood with the ribbons and flowers, sing something like:

“Fagot of wood, ribbons and white flowers, tied

The lady is crowned.

Bundle of Wood in Beltane, in his Fire

Flambe and burn as I wish. »

These words can be repeated when you place your bundle of wood in Beltane's fire.

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A List of Sacred Woods and Trees

A List of Sacred Woods and Trees. By Doreen Valiente & Evan John Jones . Excerpt from Witchcraft: A Tradition Renewed. About the “Nine Firewoods of Beltane”; ash, birch, yew, hazel, mountain ash, willow, pine, hawthorn and any other woods mentioned as traditionally sacred may be used, except oak, which is the king of woods. 

The woods available will of course differ from region to region. The tradition is simply that the fire consists of nine woods, with the exception of oak.

• HAWTHORN – Also known as white thorn and maypole, due to its ancestral association with May Day. Because it was a sacred tree, bringing branches or flowers inside the house was thought to bring bad luck. However, if used as an exterior decoration on May Day, it brought good fortune.

• BIRCH – This is one of the trees that is traditionally associated with May Eve celebrations, when people used to go out into the woods at night in the woods and bring home green branches to decorate their home on May Day. It is the tree of good fortune and purification, and as such it was used to make the broom. He is seen as feminine.

• ASH - This wood is used for the stang, and in this way it represents the Horned God-King. Adorned with garlands and crossed arrows, the stang is used as an altar. In old Norse mythology, the World Tree was an ash tree, Yggdrasil, the Cosmic Axis.

• ASH FAGOT – Composed of ash twigs. It should be burned at Yule to ensure good fortune. He is at the origin of "the log of Yule". A miniature of it can be kept at home for good fortune.

• IF – It is the tree of death and resurrection. Some of the oldest yews are found in cemeteries, because of this symbolism. It is a very long-lived tree, and for this reason and because its foliage is always green, it has been considered a symbol of immortality.

• HAZELNUT – A holy tree linked to fire, fertility, knowledge, divination and poetry. The favorite wood for a dowsing rod. It is one of Beltane's nine firewoods.

• APPLE – This is one of the sacred trees with magical powers. Its fruit, when cut widthwise, shows the sign of the pentagram (the five-pointed star). Avalon, the ancient name of Glastonbury, one of the sacred centres, means "the site of the apple trees". On Hallowe'en, a large apple, called the Allen or Hallowe'en apple, is eaten for good fortune.

• BLACKBLADE – BLACKTHORN – It is an evil tree. The blackthorn staff is sometimes used as an altar-stang when a curse is placed on a third party. The tree has formidable thorns and is associated with "Winter Blackthorn", the return of cold weather in spring is associated with the appearance of blackthorn blossom.

• WILLOW - This was once a tree of mourning and is often referred to as such in old songs and ballads. However, her kittens picked on May Day could bring good luck. It is a water-loving tree and in this it is associated with the influence of the moon.

• ROWAN – Also known as the American mountain ash. The twigs of this tree are believed to bring good fortune and protect against the evil eye. An old Celtic greeting comes from this, "Peace be here and on the rowan tree".

• ELDERBERRY – This tree is believed to be harmful because of its traditional association with Witchcraft. In parts of Britain it is a female tree. In ancient days judgment was sometimes given under this tree. Hence, the handle of the clan's judgment sword is sometimes made of elderwood.

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Walpurgis night and fire of Beltane

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The wickerman by Dan Mumford

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The wicker man by Edward - Dowell

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Beltane — the marriage of Goddess and God, the Sabbath of summer beginning and fertility.

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Archetype Inspirations | Walpurgis Night