Beltane
It is May the 1st today, also known as Beltane.
Beltane (or Beltaine, in its variant spelling) was an ancient holy day on the Celtic calendar, in honor of Belenus, or Bel, a Celtic sun god.
It is thought that fairies used to celebrate this date as well!
Apart of the original festivities involved the traditional roundelay about a maypole (as depicted in one of my favorite films, “The Wicker Man,” 1975).
In this ritual, men and women would weave to and fro about a phallic symbol, an act symbolic of the regenerative process, signifying the sowing of seed and the fertility of the Spring season.
I’m unsure as to whether this date is still celebrated or this ritual still practiced, by neopagans today.
|