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Enjoy the Merriment and Fun of An Ancient Love Holiday

What is the holiday in May where people dance around the maypole and make love in the woods as part of the celebration? –Karen from Toronto, Canada

Beltane is the ancient Celtic fertility holiday that celebrated the rites of spring with much frolicking and fun. In Beltane: The Lovers Entwine, it’s explained this way: "Beltane, or May Day, as it also known, occurs at the peak of Spring. This is the time of year when the earth basks in the gentle embrace of the sun’s warmth. The warmth of the sun helps plants blossom, crops fertilize and the rivers overflow with the melted snow of winter past. Animals frolic about searching for mates. People fall in love and consume each other in fiery passion."

Beltane is symbolic of the passion and love between the Goddess and God. It was believed that this divine passion was made evident in all the life and vegetation springing forth during this time of year. As an ode to nature, and an offering to God and Goddess, maids and lads frolicked in the fields and part of this celebration included enacting the rites of fertility as an offering to ensure continued fertility of the lands. The Maypole was made of oak and wreaths, and had ribbons of many colors. The pole represented the male aspect of divinity; the ribbons represented the feminine. Women would grab a ribbon and dance around the maypole and as it entwines, the last woman left holding the ribbon would be crowned the May Queen. As part of the celebration there was also an Oak King selected. The king and queen, representing God and Goddess, would consummate their "marriage" as a symbolic gesture of fertility. But it was also believed that the act of dancing around the maypole would ensure fertility for women, cattle and crops.

One of my favorite examples of Beltane in a mainstream movie was the scene in the movie Camelot, where Queen Gwenevere goes off with her court "a-maying." I recall her in a very cool medieval dress, singing the Lerner and Lowe song: It’s May. It’s May…the lusty month of May!

Beltane, today, remains a major Sabbat in Earth and Goddess-based spirituality, and participants continue to dance around the Maypole. It remains a joyous ritual, and although the fertility rites of yesteryear are enacted symbolically, I don’t know of any modern-day love fests where people make love as part of the festivities. However, many people celebrate the romance of this holiday privately, and honor it as a time of fertility, possibility and rebirth. It is a celebration that nurtures joy, at a time that is ripe for creation. The Sabbat begins April 30 and the holiday itself is celebrated May 1.

Beltane is a celebration of the full bloom of earth and the passions of all people... the time to celebrate spring with merriment, joy and love. From a non-denominational or secular perspective, anyone can celebrate the rejuvenating powers of spring in their own personal way. If you do not have a partner or friend to share this sacred time with, be loving to yourself on Beltane! Pamper and give to yourself and let Beltane be a glorious day filled with a sense of love and new beginnings. It is a good time to do a love ritual (see below) or just give into fun and self-nurturing. Do so knowing that all your joy and self-love is also an offering to the divine!

© Copyright 2001 Reverend Laurie Sue Brockway  All Rights Reserved. 

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