Beltane means fire of Bel. It is also the Gaelic word for May. Belinios is the name of the Sun King, and Beltane is a celebration of his feast of coronation- or crowning. It is celebrated on April 30 (Beltane Eve) and May 1st. At this time, the Earth was being warmed by the sun and bringing forth life- new flowers were blooming and baby animals were frollicking about. In Celtic times, May Day, or Beltane, was a time for married couples to shed their wedding vows for just one night. Children born out of this were known as children of the green wood. And it was a time of courtship and uninhibited sexuality for younger, unmarried people. For our ancestors, this was the time to move the cattle and sheep away from the village, partly to protect the newly sown crops and also to allow the hay in the near meadows to develop for hay, necessary for winter fodder.
It also got some of the older boys out of the village, taking care of the herds on the hills, the ones too old to be under their mothers' feet, but not yet old enough to become men. (it also kept early maturing boys from troubling the girls). It was a responsible job, to keep the herds together and protect them from raiders or predators, (wolves and bears were British residents back then!). One or two of the boys would trek back to the village for food every couple of days, but otherwise they were out there doing a job for the good of the whole village. Older boys would be learning the trades of the village, or going trading, learning a certain amount of warrior craft, etc.
Enjoy it all. All goes well, I will call on the ancestors in the centre circle of the henge at noon precisely.
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