Beltane, Lady Day, or May Day, May 1st, was one of the great historic fire festivals celebrated across the Gaelic speaking portions of the British Isles and Ireland. The seed planted into nature’s womb at Imbolc is beginning to come to fruition. Pregnant women would jump over the fires to ensure a healthy birth. The may pole was erected and encircle with colorful ribbons. The Druids used fire to bless their cattle.
Interestingly, on the continent the celebration does not follow lines of the other historic Celtic cultures. Rather it follows the lines of the pastoral regions of Northern Europe. For the Norse it is “Summer Finding”.
Now we celebrate the fertile potency of the E(e)arth with both a capital and lowercase ‘e’. The Horned God is out in the land. The young stag’s antlers are beginning to take form. Animals are entering their rut.
For Anglo-Saxons May Day was the first full moon following the Spring Equinox. It marked the time when animals produced the most milk and they moved their herds to the summer grazing lands.
Here in New Orleans of course spring comes a little early. We did have the recent few days of chill to remind us that it’s not yet high summer…
Blessed be!