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Beltane
Beltane (otherwise known as Bealtaine, Beltaine, Cetsamhain, Walpurgisnacht, May Day and Roodmas) occurs May eve and May 1. The name comes from either Bel-tinne ("Bel's fire") and Belotenia ("bright fire"). It marks the beginning of summer, when the snow is all gone, the leaf buds are opening, birds are nesting, and livestock is moved to summer pasture, and it is finally warm enough to do outdoor rite! In Pagan tradition Beltane is the second-most important Sabbat in the Wheel of the Year. Placed opposite from Samhain, it balances that sombre festival with wild celebrations of life and fertility and pleasure. The God and Goddess mate for the first time, bringing in renewed vegetation growth.
They are in their aspect of youthful lovers: Young Stag and Oak Maiden, Satyr and Nymph, Hunter and Quarry, etc., complete with raging hormones. Some traditions celebrate the wedding of the Lord and Lady, while others also add the sacrifice of the God after the mating, the Goddess presiding in her Death-in-Life aspect. Beltane also marks the beginning of the Tide of Activation (Beltane-Lughnasadh) when the energy is positive and is inclined toward the earth and material things. It is an excellent time to improve on self, material status and to make new beginnings. The word associated with this period is Self-hood.
In Irish mythology Beltane is a significant day as the races of Partholon, Tuatha dé Danaan and the Milesians all arrived in Éire on this festival day. It is also the feast day of the Brythonic god Bilé (cognate with Bel and Belenos), 'God of Life and Death' and 'Father of Gods and Men'. He is inferred to be the husband of Dana (Danu, Anu), ancestress of the Tuatha de Danaan. Other texts refer to him as the father of Milesius (whose people, the Milesians, displaced the Tuatha de Danaan), and who is said to have come from "Spain", aka: the Land of the Dead. There is also controversy as to the existence of the god Bel (bright-one). Tadhg MacCrossan writes that the word is merely an adjective, not a god name. He also states that Belenos is cognate with Beli Mawr, a Welsh god, both of which are derived from words meaning "bright". Bilos is derived from Bilios meaning "sacred tree". Therefore, for those who care to do so, the debate rages on...
Regardless of which Gods presided, Beltane has the almost universal custom of lighting bonfires and need fires. All the hearth fires in the surrounding area were extinguished, and relit with a brand or ember from the needfire, a special fire kindled either by friction or by fire "drawn down from the sky", by using a crude lens (though one assumes lightning would work, too). Bonfires were lit either singly or in pairs. Cattle were driven between the fires (or through the ashes of a single fire) to purify them from diseases and to bring sweet milk. People jumped over the bonfire three times (or ran between them three times) to bring luck, fertility, a plentiful harvest, or whatever else they needed in abundance. Those who weren't celebrating the baser side of this festival together in the woods would dance, clap and sing around the fires until dawn.
A ritual meal often went with the bonfire festivities. A custard-like dish was made using eggs, butter, and milk, or some variation depending on the local traditions. Some was spilled on the ground as a libation, and then the rest was eaten. Next a wheat or oat cake was made and distributed to each person. One piece was made to look different from the others (either by scorching it or painting it with soot). Whoever got the odd piece became the victim of sacrifice to the Gods. In later days, it was only a mock sacrifice, usually of burning, but this was very unpleasant. This scapegoating would continue until the next Beltane in the form of ostracism, name-calling, or of being spoken of as if dead for the entire year.
Bonfires were used for a purification of a different kind. April 30 is Walpurgisnacht, or the Feast of St. Walburga (who incidentally had no connection whatsoever with the Beltaine revels). At this time witches were believed to be abroad, souring milk and the like. To protect themselves from their malevolent pranks the farmers and cotters in Scotland hung rowan and woodbine over the doors of their cowsheds. They also built bonfires of old thatch, straw, broom, or furze and lifted the burning debris high in the air with pitchforks to increase the coverage of the protective fire. At the same time the young people jumped through the smoke and fire yelling, "Fire blaze and burn the witches! Fire! Fire! Burn the witches!". Sometimes figures of witches were burned in effigy. This disgrace has been found in Ireland, Silesia, Sweden, Tyrol, Moravia, and Saxony (and still continue in Denmark at present on St. Hans' Day).
On a more cheerful note, Maypoles are another familiar sight at Beltane. Usually about 30-100 ft. in height, they are the embodiment of the Spirit of Vegetation, and also the symbol of the World Tree, and a definite phallic symbol as well. It is also thought that the Maypole represents the first tree struck by lightning, bringing fire to humankind, as in some places such as the Netherlands the Maypole was ritually burned after the festivities along with offerings. In Wicca the Maypole also represents the God's phallus, and traditionally red and white streamers are used, red for the Lady's menstrual and/or hymen blood and white for the Lord's semen. (It should be noted that streamers are a new, Wiccan, addition to the Maypole; originally people danced around it without the ribbons.) As the symbol of all plant life the Maypole had to be cut from a live tree each year, with a bit of green left at the top. In later years as the symbolism was forgotten the Maypole became a permanent fixture in the middle of the town square or field (and in these times of extreme deforestation it is probably more prudent to re-use the same Maypole or buy a rounded pole already cut, from a lumber store). Cutting down the Maypole had a whole collection of attendant activities, from decorating houses, oxen, and the pole with hawthorn blooms, sycamore, and other spring flowers, to "hunting for nuts in the woods" (sex), "wearing the green" (sex), "performing greenwood marriages" (sex), and staying out all night to watch the sun come up (more sex). The energy raised in the Maypole dance goes toward bringing fertility to crops, women, and cattle and building success and abundance in your and your family's lives.
More History and A Step By Step Rite
Bibliography
Dalukah, Notes from classes
Ellis, P.B., A Dictionary of Irish Mythology
Farrar, J.&S., A Witches' Bible Compleat
Fraser, J., The Golden Bough
MacCrossen, T., The Sacred Cauldron
Van Renterghem, T., When Santa Was a Shaman
Litha (Lithas, Midsummer, Alban Heruin) takes place on the summer solstice (on or around June 21), when the sun is at its northernmost point from the equator. It is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. While in our society it is the beginning of summer; a custom derived from Scandinavia, this day is referred to as midsummer because in the British Isles and elsewhere it is the middle of the growing season. The warmest and most pleasant of the summer days are here at last.
The name Litha comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Li
Within Paganism, Litha is the time of the Sun God's greatest power, a time of triumph for Sun and vegetation, a time for celebrating life. He is in His aspect of Father, to complement the now pregnant Mother Goddess. She is also Queen of Sovereignty, and only by His marriage to Her at this time is He made King. The Goddess also shows the first stirrings of her Death-in-Life aspect as She prepares the God for His sacrifice at Lughnasadh, and presides over the fight between the Oak King and the Holly King. The Oak King is killed and His spirit goes into Caer Arianrhod to be renewed, while the Holly King starts His reign over the waning half of the year, when darkness is waxing. One of the Quarter Days, Litha marks the midpoint of the Tide of Activation (Beltane-Lugnasadh), when the energy is positive and is inclined towards the earth and material things. Its word is Self-hood. It is a traditional time for Handfastings and for covens to celebrate together, especially "parent" and "child(ren)" covens.
The Feast of St. John the Baptist takes place on June 24, three days after the solstice to balance with Christmas. For this reason it was also known as the Summer Christmas. Since he was supposedly beheaded on June 24, he assumed the Oak King's role and title, Jesus now taking on aspects of the Holly King ("Of all the trees that are in the wood/The Holly wears the crown").
Midsummer is one of the several fire festivals which took place all over Europe. It marked the beginning of the battle which enabled the Dé Danaan to defeat the Fir Bolg, and was known as one of the "spirit nights" in Wales. As befitting a fire festival bonfires and needfires were lit on Midsummer's Eve and Day. These fires had many meanings and uses. One was for sympathetic magic to keep the Sun going just a little bit longer to ensure that the growing season was long enough to ensure a bountiful harvest. People jumped over the fires to encourage the grain to grow as high as they jumped. Midsummer fires were also used for purification and protection from witches, wolves, vampires, and the like, and as talismans against hail, thunder and lightning. Fresh cut trees and effigies decorated with vegetation to represent the spirit of vegetation were burned to give more sun to the plant life. Other effigies being burned representing witches and other malignant beings (to kill or warn off) were more common and lasted later into near modern times. Animals such as cats, white cocks, and cattle were also sacrificed, possibly a remnant of human sacrifice.
More History and A Step By Step Rite
Bibliography
Farrar, J.&S., A Witches Bible Compleat.
Fraser, J., The Golden Bough.
Hall, J.R.C., A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary.
Slade, P., An Encyclopedia of White Magic.
Squire, C., Celtic Myth and Legend.
Stenton, F.M., Anglo-Saxon England.
Tolkien, J.R.R., The Return of The King.
Lugnasadh takes place August Eve through August 2. It is still celebrated in some form in the British Isles: Lúnasa (August) in Ireland: Lunasda, Lunasdal, and Lùnasad in Scotland; Laa Luanys and Luanistyn (August) in the Isle of Man; Gwl Awst (August Feast) in Wales. It is the time when the first fruits, vegetables, and grains can be harvested, and is the hottest part of the summer.
In Paganism, Lugnasadh is also known as Lughnasadh and Lammas. It is one of the Cross-Quarter Days, hence a Greater Sabbat. It is also the first of the three harvest festivals. At this time the Grain God is sacrificed by the Goddess who is now Crone (or at least crone-like), and His blood is spilled in the fields to ensure a bountiful harvest.
It is also the beginning of the Tide of Consolidation (Lugnasadh-Samhain), a time of joyous generosity exemplified by the earth's bounty being given freely with no restrictions; a time for giving and receiving. Its energy is negative, and its word is Benevolence.
The original Lugnasadh ("The Commemoration of Lugh" or "The Wedding Day of Lugh") was held to have been started by the god Lugh in honour of his foster-mother, Tailtu (Tailltiu). She was the daughter of the Fir Bolg king Mag Mór (Great Plain) and later became the queen of the Fir Bolg. As a favour to Lugh she cleared the Forest of Breg, making a plain for cultivation, and died of exhaustion for her trouble. Lugh then decreed that a feast was to be held in her honor every August 1 at Tailtean (Telltown, Co. Meath). This tradition was a later one, one which may have been misleading as the funeral games held there every year would more likely have been in honour of the sacrificed God i.e. Lugh himself. The original length of the feast was fifteen days.
Many of the Telltown Games were in fact holdovers from the óenach, or tribal gathering. These gatherings were a mixture of tribal business, horse racing, athletic contests, and ritual. Tailltean was the site of the High King's óenach, being only fifteen miles from Tara, the Seat of the High King. The games were held around the graves on the hill of Tailltean. The last games were held August 1, 1169 under Ruraigh Conchobar, last High King of Ireland.
In addition to athletic contests (from which the Wiccan "Feast of Skills" is derived), there existed the custom of "Telltown Marriages", or trial marriages, very similar in intent to the greenwood marriages (sexual frolicking) of Beltane. This combined with the funeral games aspect suggests that originally this holiday centred around a sacrificial mating theme (as implied by the myth of Llew Llaw Gyffes, the Welsh counterpart to Lugh).
Lugh himself was the chief god of the Tuatha dé Danaan in their later years. He was the son of Kian and Eithlinn, daughter of Balor, the Formorian king. To escape Balor's wrath he was fostered out to Mannanán, Goibhniu, or Tailltiu, depending on the version of history you read. Later Lugh helped the Danaans defeat the Formorians, and drive them from Ireland, killing Balor in the process (and thus fulfilling the prophecy that Balor was trying to thwart). He is named Samhioldánach ("equally skilled in all the arts") and is the patron of craftsmen and artists. He seems to have been one of the younger gods, taking over from the elder gods Balor/Cromm/Bres, taking the fruits of their power but not the power itself. (This often happens when an invasion or a technological revolution takes place, in this case Lugh asking Bres for advice on ploughing, seeding, and sowing.) He was later replaced by Cúchulain/Finn, and then St. Michael and St. Patrick. Lugh remained in memory as Lugh-chromain ("little stooping Lugh"), or Leprechaun.
With the coming of Christianity Lughnasadh became Anglo-Saxon Lughomass ("Lugh's Mass") and later Lammas (from OE hlaf-mas,'loaf mass'). It's roots were in the corn (grain) harvest and the killing of the corn king, but were "officially" replaced by a mass in which the loaves of bread made from the first sheaves harvested were taken to church and blessed. Columcille (St. Columba) tried to change Lammas into a "Feast of the Ploughmen", with no success.
Now, thousands of pilgrims climb Cruach Padráig (St. Patrick's Mound) starting on the Friday before the Sunday before August 1, called Aoine Cromm Dubh (the Sunday being called Domnach Cromm Dubh, a popular holiday in its own right). Originally, Crom Dubh (Cromm Cruaich, "bowed one of the mound") was a deity to whom it was thought human sacrifice1 was made at the Cross-quarter Days, including Lughnasadh. Later the sacrifices evolved to bulls, then today to where pilgrims do extremely difficult pilgrimages" up a 2510 ft. mountain.
There are scholars (such as P.B. Ellis) who have put forth the theory that the human sacrifice that took place in honor of Cromm was in fact not part of the regular worship but was an aberation introduced by King Tigernmas, who was nick-named "Lord of Death". The sacrifices stopped around the time of his death, apparently as the ultimate sacrifice to Cromm.
More History and A Step By Step Rite
Bibliography The Autumnal Equinox, also known as Mabon and Alban Elved, takes place on or around September 21st. This is the time when the sun is directly over the Equator, and day and night are of equal length. The harvest is well under way, birds are starting their southward journey, and leaves are in their autumn splendour. In many Pagan paths, this Equinox is one of the Quarter Days and is the second and most important of the harvest festivals. As day and night are of equal length, it is a time of equilibrium, moving toward the dark half of the year.
Paradoxically, it is a time of stress and turbulence, as humans and Nature alike change gears, preparing physically and psychically for the cold hard season to come. The theme is rest after labour, as well as thanksgiving for the bounty of the earth. This is the middle of the Tide of Consolidation (Lugnasadh - Samhain), a time of joyous generosity exemplified by the Earth's bounty being given freely without conditions; a time for giving and receiving. Its energy is negative, and its word is Benevolence. For the Gods it is also a time of stress and change. The Grain God is dead and is on His way to the Underworld. Alternatively, the Sun God dies, leaving His physical body and begins His journey to rebirth. (Traditionally the Underworld or Otherworld is equated with the Mother’s womb.) He is initiated into the Mysteries of Death and Rebirth, becoming the Lord of Death at Samhain. The Goddess, meanwhile, is in Her aspect of Bountiful Mother, Corn Goddess, etc. At the same time, though pregnant with the God, She is getting older, more mature, as is seen in the dying plant life and colder temperatures. There are many customs associated with the harvest. One of the most widespread is the corn dolly made out of the last sheaf of wheat cut. Known variously as the Wheat Bride, Kern Baby, Old Woman, Wheat Mother, etc., it was kept carefully throughout the winter, then either ploughed into the fields the following spring, or burned and the ashes scattered over the fields. Each path of Paganism also had their own customs concerning the making of the dolly. Some simply made the doll from the cut stalks (averting their faces so that the Grain Goddess couldn’t tell who had struck the killing blow) while others left a tuft of wheat uncut, plaited it , and then had the men throw their scythes at it until it was cut. Some places made the carrying of the Corn Dolly to the house a kind of rugby match where one man tried to run back with it without anyone else taking it away from him. As the embodiment of the Spirit of Vegetation, the dolly was put in a position of honor in the home. Sometimes a communal dolly was kept in the church. As always, a large feast, with much consumption of alcohol, took place after the last of the harvest was in. Some traditions of Paganism name this sabbat after the Welsh god Mabon, son of Modron (‘Son, son of Mother’), also known as Maponus in Britain and Gaul. The story of his imprisonment and release is told in the tale Kulwch and Olwen (found in The Mabinogion) which is summarized as follows: Mabon and Modron seem to be prototypes of the aspects of Young Son and Mother Goddess. Their true names are unknown, and most of their story is lost. Historically Mabon seemed to be a version of Young Huntsman and Divine Youth who, with the coming of the Romans, became associated with Apollo (as Maponus/Apollo) and acquired his attributes of God of the Sun, Music, and Hunting. He was very popular among the Roman soldiers stationed along Hadrian’s Wall (especially during the cold, gloomy winter). Faces of Mabon were found carved into the wall, the faces ritually blank as the mark of a youth who has studied or suffered for too long. Why venerate Mabon at this time of year? As the Great Prisoner, he is held prisoner for time out of mind, or outside of time, phrases usually associated with Death and Renewal in the Goddess’ Womb (similar to what the witches’ God is doing just about now). Imprisonment and Death are also initiatory experiences (helped along here by the ‘totem’ animals), themes which are also appropriate for the season. Thirdly, as a Huntsman his time is the fall, the ideal time for culling the herd as females are no longer pregnant, and babies are weaned.
Bibliography
Corrigan, I., Once Around The Wheel(casette).
Ellis, P.B., A Dictionary of Irish Mythology.
Farrar, J.&S., A Witches' Bible Compleat.
Matthews, C., The Celtic Tradition.
Rees, A., & Rees, B., Celtic Heritage.
Slade, P., Encyclopedia of White Magic.
Squire, C., Celtic Myth and Legend.
Olwen’s father gives Kulwch thirty-nine impossible tasks (anoethu) which he must complete before he will let him marry his daughter. One of these is to find Mabon, son of Modron (because only he can lead the hound Drudwyn ap Greid who can only lead the hunt for a certain boar etc.), who has been missing since he was three hours old. Kulwch sends four of Arthur’s Companions to look for him: Eodoel ap Aer, Gwrhyr Gwastas Ieithoedd (who knows the languages of bird and beast), Cai (=Sir Kay), and Bedwyr (=Sir Bedevere). Gwrhyr starts to question the oldest beast that he knows: the Ouzel (Blackbird) of Cilgwri. The ouzel replies that he had pecked an anvil down to the wood, yet in all that time had not seen or heard of Mabon. He then sends them to see an older beast, the Stag of Rhedynfr, who sends them on to the Owl of Cawlwyd, then the Eagle of Gwern Abwy. Only when they talk to the Salmon of Llyn Llyw do they hear a rumour of Mabon. The salmon takes Gwrhyr and Cai on his back to a castle named Caer Loyw (in Gloucester) where they hear a terrible lamentation. Gwrhyr asks who is there, and gets the answer: "It is I, Mabon, son of Modron". They go and fetch Arthur’s men who storm the castle while Cai breaks down a wall and carries Mabon out on his back. That task completed, they go off in search of a boar, Twrch Trwyth.
Cunningham, S., & Buckland, R.,Llewellyn’s 1993 Magical Almanac.
Farrar, J., & Farrar, S.,A Witches Bible Compleat.
Jones, G., & Jones, T., trans.,The Mabinogion.
Matthews, C.,Mabon and the Mysteries of Britain: An Exploration of the Mabinogion.
Slade, P.,Encyclopedia of White Magic.
Squire, C.,Celtic Myth and Legend.
Thomas, R.,The Old Farmer’s Almanac 1993.
